7 B2B Advertising Opportunities You Are Missing

B2B advertisers generally target smaller, harder to define audiences than consumer advertisers, which puts a major premium on effective targeting in B2B advertising.

However, many B2B marketing groups are continuing to use the same targeting options they mastered in print and direct mail, simply applied to newer digital marketing tactics.

Today, B2B marketers have many new options available. Below are 7 options and potential providers for each one.

Use Your Keyword Data

If you are like most B2B marketers, search is a staple component of your outbound marketing mix. However, most B2B marketers are still missing other ways to use search data.

  1. Search Retargeting. Search retargeting allows you to buy display ads targeted to people that have searched for your keywords. You can also include competitors products that may be restricted in traditional search. Providers: Simpli.fi, Chango, Fetchback.
  2. InText Ads. Buy your keywords in the text of articles on news and content sites. Providers: Vibrant Media, Kontera.

Use Your Own Audience Data

Data is one of the keys to modern online advertising, take full advantage of the audience data you already have in house.

  1. Retargeting. One of the oldest targeting tactics in B2C, retargeting is still underutilized by B2B marketers even though it is generally one of the most cost effective tactics. Providers: AdRoll, Fetchback, Retargeter.
  2. CRM Retargeting. Retargeting doesn’t have to stop with your site traffic. With CRM retargeting, one of the newer options included in this list, you can target people in your email database across the web. Providers: Retargeter, LiveRamp.

Target by Company, Industry or Role

You probably already work with publications that cover your industry or role, such as Industry Week for manufacturing or Information Week for IT management. Today you can reach your audience across much more general sites as well, often at a significant discount.

  1. Audience Targeting. Bizo has established themselves as the leading provider of B2B audience data, here are the segments they have available.
  2. Company Targeting. Do you have a list of specific target companies or accounts? Cherry pick your targets and deliver ads only to people at those companies. Providers: Bizo, Demandbase, Neustar.
  3. LinkedIn Data Targeting. Through a new partnership, LinkedIn can now sell ads across the web targeting using their own profile data. LinkedIn is the gold standard for B2B data, making this one of the most interesting new offerings in my opinion. This is really a type of audience targeting, above, but it is separate here because self-reported LinkedIn data is different from typical audience data.

Although some tactics, such as retargeting, are catching on in B2B now, B2B advertisers are still missing many of the new opportunities modern online media provides.

Your Turn

What online advertising opportunities do you see B2B marketers missing today? Share your answer, or a question about where to start, in the comments below, with me on Twitter (@wittlake) or by email (available under my bio in the sidebar).

Image Credit: Archery Lessons by ProAdventure on Flickr

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