SEO & SEM – Importance for B2B Marketers
by Brand Nucleus Branding+Print+Web+CampaignTalking about B2C and B2B
marketing in general, B2B marketers have recently caught on with the idea of
making use of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for increasing online visibility of
their products and, subsequently, augmenting sales. Being more research intensive,
SEO and SEM are the key tools for B2B marketers today. In this article, we
outline the importance of these tools.
In the
current marketplace, B2B (business to business) transactions are
characteristically different from B2C or consumer transactions since decisions
require collaboration and coordination between various entities in order to
reach the final stage of the transaction. It’s no surprise at all that all B2B
dealings turn out to be ongoing processes that involve a certain lapse of time
between researching the product and placing the order. Snap decisions are
unheard of in such a scenario! It, therefore, goes without saying that search
engines play a dominant role in B2B purchases whereby they are extensively used
during the research phase (early and mid) of the transaction.
Being mostly the domain of B2C
businesses thus far, B2B marketers have recently caught on with the idea of
making use of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for increasing online visibility of
their products and, subsequently, augmenting sales. Since the research done in
B2B marketing is far more intensive than traditional research during product purchase,
therefore, SEO and SEM become key players in the research.
Findings from a study on B2B marketing trends based on Search
Engines
A recent study conducted by Enquiro highlighting “the role of
search in Business to Business buying decisions” has concluded the following facts after an extensive survey:
·
Search engines play a leading role in making purchase decisions.
About 93 percent of the respondents agreed they would lookup online prior to a
B2B purchase. That should be a very encouraging number for marketers!
·
Search engines are predominantly used during the early and mid
research stage (95.5 percent of the cases) of the buying cycle.
·
Not only is Google favored over other search engines, but the
research actually begins at least a month or two prior to actual purchase.
·
Organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) contributes to over 70
percent of the clicks as compared to paid clicks. Needless to say, B2B
marketers must build a strong SEO strategy.
·
86.9 percent of the respondents admitted that even after checking
out the manufacturers’ sites and industry portals, they come back to search
engines when fixing a budget for their purchases, mainly for the purpose of
making comparisons.
Since SEO and SEM are non-intrusive marketing tools, therefore,
B2B marketers need not worry about interrupting consumer behavior or annoying
them with unnecessary ads or mails while they can reach out to their target
audience through high page ranks and impeccably done websites.
Ensure Cost-effective marketing through SEO/SEM
For any marketer, it is obviously profitable to go for a
cost-effective marketing strategy. SEM fits the bill perfectly for economical
B2B online marketing plan. Maximizing web traffic through optimization of web
pages and constant monitoring using the analytics tools provided by Google and
other related engines are far cheaper than placing expensive ads on various
websites.
However, B2B marketers must also keep in mind that since purchase
decisions are made after a lot of consideration unlike B2C ecommerce scenario,
therefore, it makes a lot of difference in B2B buying cycle if the marketer is
able to get shortlisted to the preferred list of suppliers with the help of
sound SEO/SEM strategy. The nature of the optimized web-page copy should be
strong so that the company can clearly put its message across to buyers who
would be compelled to delve deeper into the site and make a favorable
acquisition from the list of products and services.
About Author:
Brand Nucleus, as an advertising and branding agency, has been
involved in brand creation and consolidation for more than 14 years. Based at
New Delhi, we are in the business of managing perceptions of your target
domains – perceptions that can be created, consolidated or completely changed!
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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.