B2B Digital Marketing Strategy: Your 2019 Playbook

[Website] Content typesTestimonialsReviews today are more importantthan ever; testimonials are reviewsof your company’s work, and keyto building prospect confidence.Ask happy clients to fill out areview form and to rate you onlineto build your credibility.Industry leadershipFAQsBesides being convenient for prospectsbrowsing your website, including FAQson your site demonstrate your company’sexperience and consideration before aprospect even engaged with asalesperson.Clients trust companies who are well-known to bedominant in their industry; produce and marketcontent that demonstrates cutting-edge innovation,progress, or culture, best practices and newfindings, or wide reaches of influence on otherindustry players or consumers otherwise toestablish your company as a leader in its trade.

Tactics

The digital marketing funnelThe digital marketing funnel is a framework to help understand the different stages buyers progressthrough during the customer lifecycle – it informs much of our digital marketing strategy:Social MediaProspectingSEOPaid SearchABMEmail Remarketing(Marketing Automation)Social MediaRetargetingMarketingAutomationSocial MediaRetargetingAction / ConversionAwareness The prospecting stage: The consumer audience has had little tono contact with your brand Goal: Attract initial interest and prompt prospectiveleads/consumers to learn more by browsing the websiteNurture The re-engagement stage: You are able to identify and retarget thosewho have visited your site or shown initial interest in your offering Goal: Continue educating and engaging audience with increasinglyconversion-focused touch points that bring them back to the websiteConvert The hard-sell stage: There is a clear audience of users who are have shownstrong interest in/desire for your offering but may or may have not convertedyet Goal: Entice users who have shown strong interest in your offering to convert(and convert again), including with promotions and offers

Key tactics for your marketing playbookUtilization of each of the tactics below will modernize your marketing and allow your digitalmarketing strategy to accomplish a multitude of objectives throughout the digital marketing funnel,from growing your brand awareness to converting leads.Paid Search AdvertisingAccount-based Marketing (ABM)Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Social Media Advertising

Social Media AdvertisingSocial media advertising is an effective, low-cost channel primarily used for top-of-the-funnelpurposes (brand awareness for entirely new prospects) with a broad worldwide user base.Because these platforms have extensive, sophisticated ad audience options, they are alsoincreasingly being used for mid- and bottom-funnel purposes, nurturing users who have previouslyindicated interest and bringing them back to the website for additional visits and hopeful conversion.Facebook Largest and most widely-usedsocial media networkworldwide with 2.23 billion monthly users One of the cheapest advertisingplatforms across all digital andtraditional marketing methodsInstagramLinkedIn Managed through Facebook Professional network with 500 M 1 billion monthly users worldwideusers Visual content platform effective Rated the most effective socialfor growing brand awareness andplatform for lead generationfor education/converting potential Highly accurate targeting capabilities,leads that use the platformbecause users maintain professionaldata and experienceSources: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog, 2017

Facebook & Instagram

Facebook: your business profileThe first step to utilizing Facebook for your business is to create a company profile page –these are public profiles that let businesses connect with customers. Users just have to like apage to start seeing updates from the page on their news feed.To get your company profile started, follow the steps Facebook has provided for /Having an incomplete or out-of-dateAbout – most important part of your page; include address,business page looks worse than notcontact information, hours, website URL, and morehaving one at all. Many people goonline to find specific information abouta business; make sure your potentialleads/customers are able to find whatEvents - update your event schedule if you are holding eventsor attending tradeshows, and invite others to attendHome page & posts – Post regularly: updates, companyannouncements & milestones, blogs, content, company photos,they’re looking for. Make sure youcontests & giveaways, etc. Make sure to respond to anymaintain the following for accuracy:comments or messages – and be personable, and not toosalesy

Facebook: your business profileThere are also many extra sections you can add to your company page – not all will makesense for your business / audience needs, but some can add great value to your businesspage for potential customers:Reviews – customers can rate and review yourbusiness; these show up at the top of your page andserve as social proof for potential leadsServices – add a photo of your specialty, its name,pricing, description, and durationOffers - you can post discounts and deals, whichcan encourage people to visit your page (runorganic or paid posts post about your offers listed!)Shop – on-page inventory where users can buyproducts / services directlyInfo & Ads - shows all the ads you’re currentlyrunning and add transparency to your brand

Instagram: your company accountIf your company has the resources to regularly share interesting and compelling visual content(photos and/or videos) to your audience, you can also set up an Instagram account and runInstagram ads. While you are unlikely to generate many leads directly from Instagram, it can still beused effectively by B2B companies to increase brand awareness and name recognition, and nurtureleads / interested potential consumers: Showcase your physical product ininteresting, creative ways Show off your employees and companyculture Show you care about what your audience base cares aboutShowcase user-generated content: even if your product or service isn’t visually stimulating, youcan post consumer-generated posts or images that show your service or product in action, orpositive results from your work

Facebook Business Manager & Ads ManagerFacebook has several tools that help organize all that you do on Facebook, Instagram, & more – beforebeginning any sophisticated social media marketing, you should look into setting up these free dashboards:Facebook Ads ManagerFacebook Business ManagerA centralized dashboard for businesses / agenciesAn all-in-one tool for creating ads on Facebook,to securely manage their company’s Pages and adInstagram, Messenger, and it’s Audience Network – itaccounts they work on without sharing loginalso allows you to manage when and where ads willinformation or being connected to coworkers.run and track how well campaigns are performing.Use it to manage:Use it to: Business pages Create sophisticated ad campaigns Ad accounts Create and edit audiences Payment methods Edit and optimize ad messaging and creative Requests Analyze results and pull reportsYou can run Facebook posts via Business Manager, but werecommend using Ads Manger, which has more robust options

Facebook campaign structureFrom the Facebook Ads Manager, you can start creating your campaigns. Understanding thevarious layers of a campaign and which aspects of your campaign are determined in whichlayer are key to developing an intelligently-designed Facebook ad strategy:We’ll talk more about thebelow terms in blue in thefollowing slides!Facebook Ads ManagerCampaign 1Ad Set 1aAdAAdBCampaign 2Ad Set 2aAdCAdAEach campaign should be based on a broadtheme; at the campaign level, you select anadvertising objective (like driving web traffic).AdBAd Set 2bAd Set 1bAdCAdAAdBAt the ad set level, you specify targeting &delivery parameters - target audiencesegment, budget & schedule, and adplacements.AdCAdAAdBAdCCreate ads for each of your ad groups – thereare various ad formats available for each type ofadvertising objective.Ad messaging and creative should be tailoredto speak to your audience’s needs/interests,and should tie closely to your ad’s landing page.

Building campaignsWe recommend structuring your Facebook strategy in two main campaign types: Prospectingand Retargeting:Prospecting Campaigns [Top-of-the-funnel]Used to introduce new viable user audiences to your brand, to drivewebsite traffic, and to gather more leads to add to the conversion funnel.Ads are typically fairly general, but targeted to general audience groups toensure messaging / products / creative is relevantRetargeting Campaigns [Mid-funnel]Used to re-engage users who have shown initial interest (indicated byinteracting with your brand via advertising and/or your website), withthe goal of driving them closer to conversion.Ads typically speak more specifically to presumed interests / needs of the userbased on any previous web activity and/or interactions with the brand

Building campaigns – ad objectiveFor every campaign you create, prospecting or retargeting, you will select an advertising objective– what you want people to do when they see your ad. Each objective comes with tailored ad layoutoptions that are best for achieving your selected goal.Some ad objectives areclear fits for either aprospecting or retargetingcampaigns. As a reminder Goal of prospecting:introduce new users tobrand, ideally via site visitGoal of retargeting: reengage users & nurture withmore specific, need-basedcontentWe often prefer the “Consideration” objectives over “Awareness” objectives – since these are set up to drivewebsite traffic, you are able to collect more retargeting and tracking information for future use

Building ad setsAt the ad set level, you set parameters that tell the ads in that ad set how to run, and towhom:Create audience Filtered / saved Targeting parameters Lookalike Location SizeCustomSet budget & delivery scheduleBudgetBid strategyStart & end date / timeScheduleOptimizationCost controlsChoose ad placementsDevicesOperating systemsPlatformsPlacements onplatforms

Building ad sets – audiences (prospecting)You will choose an audience for each ad set you create; there are several audience types – thetwo types below are ideal for prospecting campaigns, as they are built by narrowingFacebook’s huge base of users unaware of your brand with your specified parameters.Filtered / Saved AudiencesSelect parameters that filter down the user base toyour ideal target profiles, including:DemographicsLookalike AudiencesCreate a new audience, determined by Facebook’salgorithm to be similar to an existing audience,including filtered and custom audiences and Facebookpages:Geographic locationEmployerAgeJob titleInterestsOccupationsBuying habits& moreSpecify source, location, and size – the larger theaudience you specify, the broader and less closelytied to your base audience your lookalike will be.

Building ad sets – audiences (retargeting)Custom audiences are ideal for retargeting campaigns – these are audiences you can createmade up of existing customers or individuals who have otherwise interacted with your brand.Custom AudiencesWebsite trafficWill include anyone who has visited the website in theprevious XX (up to 180) days that has Visited your website at all Visited a specific page or set of pages Was in the top 25%, 10% or 5% of users whostayed on your site (or specific pages) longestCustomer file uploadCreates an audience made up of any matchesbetween your email lists and Facebook users Email lists, prospect lists, etc.Engagement with your ads to target users who have Watched your videos, interacted with yourFacebook page, filled out a lead form, etc.Tip: Use Facebook’scalculation of dailyreach for yourspecified audience,placements, andbudget budget to getan idea of how manyclicks / results you canexpect – simplymultiple your dailyreach estimate by anestimate of the clickthrough-rate youbelieve your ads willreceive.

Building ad sets – budget & biddingYour budget allows you control your overall spend for an ad set; bid strategies help you controlthe cost of a single result (like a click or ad engagement).While budget is typically set at the ad set level, Facebook also offers the option to setit at the campaign level. Whichever level you choose, there are two types of budgets:Daily budgetThe daily average amount you're willingto spend on an ad set / campaignLifetime budgetThe amount you're willing to spend over theentire run-time of your ad set / campaignBidding allows you to control costs on the ad level; you can bid to optimize your ads to:Achieve the lowest possible cost perAcquire the highestNot exceed aselect optimization event (purchase,value purchasesminimum return-on-click, engagement, etc.)possiblead-spend (ROAS)

Building ad sets – deliveryFacebook has extensive delivery options that dictate which ads are shown and at what frequency,where ads are displayed, and when they are shown.For every opportunity to show someone an ad, anauction determines which ad is shown – the winneris the ad that offers the highest total value to users:Over time, FacebookTotal value bid estimated action rates ad quality and relevance At the beginning of a new campaign, Facebook spends equally on each adoptimizes spend on ads As time goes on and Facebook processes each ad’s performance duringbased on how wellthe “Learning Phase,” it begins to prefer / spend more on the highest-each is performing:performing adsThe Facebook algorithm will also, over time, double down on aspects of delivery that are working well – itwill pick up when and where ads perform best and show them more frequently at those times and in thoseplacements.

Building ad sets - ad placementsAds can be displayed in a variety of places within Facebook and across other apps and services– Instagram, the Audience Network (publish Facebook partners with), and Facebook messenger.MessengerFacebookFeedsInboxSponsored MessagesInstant articlesAudience NetworkBanner, interstitial, & native adsRewarded videoIn-stream videoIn-stream videoRight-rail e specific placements of those available for each ad format, or you let Facebook optimize yourad across them all; our recommendation: start with all ad placements – after a couple of weeks,analyze results, filtered by placement, to weed out those with the lowest performance.

Building adsYour ads are what users will actually see. At the ad set level, you design the ad creative,including format, image(s) and/or video(s), text, and a call-to-action.For best engagement results, ensure your ads will be eye-catching, compelling, relatable, andhighly relevant to the audience specified in the ad group. Don’t be afraid to have fun with your ads– try different brand ‘voices’ and tones, creative approaches, etc.Don’t forget: A/B test!Develop a test schedule, in which you change onevariable in a set of otherwise identical ads. Testresults can provide insights that will help youcreate ads tailored to your audience’s preferencesspecifically – they’ll likely vary across audiences,and you’ll be able to fine tune your approach bytarget consumer group and apply learnings toother marketing channels too!

Building ads – ad formatThere are nearly a dozen ad formats across all of Facebook’s ad objective categories – usually,there are 3-4 of the options below available for a single objective type. Pick formats based onwhat fits best with the content you’re advertising – we suggest testing formats against each othertoo, to find your audiences’ ad format preferences.VideoImageCarouselSlideshowOffersPage LikesSee extensivedetail on eachad format ngagementEventResponses

Building ads – content tipsSocial media ads have the challenging job of attracting the attention of someone who is passivelyscrolling through their feed – users aren’t searching for information on your business, so ads mustbe eye-catching and highly relevant to the user (like a digital billboard!)To ensure ads are relevant to the users they’re delivered to, be very thoughtful in yourad group audience segmentation strategy, and think through what specific, targetedand creative message would most resonate with each audience segment.Facebook also suggests the following tips in building effective ads1:Start with a goal. Choose anobjective for your ads, thentailor the style and formataround what you hope toachieve – ex. you can increaseawareness of your brand bytelling the story about thepeople behind your productsin adsLess (text) is more. Too much textis distracting and can lead to yourad being shown to fewer people –because images with less than 20%text perform better, Facebookmight not show ads with high-textimages. Images that areuncluttered by text have greaterimpactShow people benefiting /enjoying your service orproduct. To create attentiongrabbing ads that feel like afamiliar part of someone's socialfabric, show images of peoplebenefiting from your product,instead of just the product itself1) 8508

Building ads – creative tipsOur go-to toolsDeveloping creative that looks professional, strikes the right toneand message, and fits all Facebook’s technical specifications canbe more of a pain than you would expect – here are some tips andCanva: User-friendly, drag-and-droptricks to help you navigate creative development:graphic design tool for infographics,Know what you need. Every ad format has a different set of text andimage requirements – you can find a great cheat sheet laying them outby WordStream hereflyers, ad graphics, and more; has videotutorials as part of it’s Design SchoolPlay around (and preview!). Be sure to play around with different imagesand formats before you commit to a particular ad, and always previewhow your ad will look “in the wild” before you run itQuality matters. Use high resolution images – pay attention to the sizeand quality of the media files you're working withIf you don’t want to pay for a graphic designer to create attractive,professional-quality, on-brand ads, th

Key players in your digital marketing playbook We’ll review the assets, tactics, and reporting tools you need to have in your digital marketing approach to keep up in the online marketing world in 2019 (and beyond). I. Assets a. Your website Website optimizations & helpful tools II. Tactics & helpful tools a. The digital marketing funnel b.