Search engine marketing (SEM) can be a remarkably effective channel for connecting with potential customers. But as is the case with other marketing channels you use, SEM’s effectiveness will depend on how your prospective customers use the channel—search in this case—to research and purchase the types of products and services your business offers. The more you know about how your B2B customers use search, the more successful SEM will be for your business.
Online’s Role in B2B Buying
Two years ago, B2B search-marketing company Enquiro Search Solutions conducted a survey of 1,086 B2B buyers to pinpoint exactly how buyers use online resources at various stages (awareness, research, negotiation, purchase) of the buying cycle. A full 85% of respondents reported that they go online at some time during the buying cycle, with 83% saying that they go online to find a vendor. Furthermore, across purchase categories (supplies, software, hardware, business services, equipment, parts and components), 1 in 2 respondents reported that in addition to researching vendors, products and services, they also purchase online.
Search’s Role in B2B Buying
For B2B buyers, search plays an important role in all stages of the buying cycle. Two out of three buyers report that search is where they start their online activity:
- 51% claim they start from a general search engine such as Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft Live Search
- 12% say they start from a vertical search engine, such as KnowledgeStorm, Business.com or ThomasNet
- 36% start at a particular vendor or distributor site, and those who do so say they frequently use search on the vendor site to find what they’re looking for
Not surprisingly, of the general search sites, Google dominates, with 77% of respondents saying they start there, followed by Yahoo! (14%), Microsoft Live Search (7%), and other search engines (2%).
The primary task that B2B customers turn to search for is information gathering: More than 70% use search to learn about a product/service (e.g., pricing, availability, requirements, features, specifications), compare products/services or read reviews about a product/service.
SEM’s Role in B2B Buying
The likelihood that your B2B customers will find you through search is directly dependent on whether—and how well—you optimize your Web content for search (SEO) and you participate in PPC advertising programs. Both determine your company’s chance of appearing on the coveted first page of the search results.
But if potential customers do find you there, what is your best chance—PPC ad or organic search listing—to get a click through? Enquiro’s study reports that overall, paid ads get about 25% of the clicks on a search engine results page (SERP); organic results draw the other 75%.
Drilling down even further within a SERP, Enquiro looked at specific positions. The graph that follows shows how various organic and paid positions rank for clicks on a SERP. Of the clicks that go to PPC ads, about half go to PPC ads that appear at the top of the SERP and a quarter go to the ads that appear to the right. For PPC ads that appear at the bottom of the organic results (as on Yahoo! or Microsoft Live Search), searchers click a mere 0.2% of the time.
What to Make of It All
When it comes to SEO and PPC advertising (or, more likely, some combination thereof), it all comes down to what your customers will use most and how able you are to deliver the goods. Where do your best leads come from now? How do your customers use search? How well is your site currently optimized for search? How soon do you want to see results? How much money can you really afford to spend?
Most clicks will come through ranking highly in the organic results, but a high rank takes time to grow through well-executed, consistent SEO practices and valuable link-building. PPC advertising is a much faster way to make a page-1 appearance—you can be advertising within a few minutes after signing up for an account—but bidding for specific positions might be very costly. Whether you decide to experiment with SEO, PPC or both, or you decide to consult with an expert, remember that your SEM strategy will only be effective if it meets the needs of your customers. So, how do your B2B customers use search?
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