With all of the emphasis on search marketing and social media with regard to b2b digital internet marketing strategies, I have been writing lately on online display advertising, covering such topics as retargeting and demand side platforms (DSPs). The keys to effective banner advertising campaigns are targeting, message, and efficient pricing models.
Therefore, this is my third and final post in this series on display advertising targeting opportunities. For this post, I’ll review the opportunity to target actual businesses and company names. Really.
Why would you want to target individual firms?
- You have a product/service that specific firms may need to complement their own solutions
- You’re targeting a very specific company type and size, and want to minimize waste
- You wish to nurture existing customers at these companies, or reach out to new key influencers at target companies.
The ability to target specific industries, job functions, revenue tiers, and specific companies, gives a new light to display advertising strategy. Online display can now be a demand generation tactic, along with content syndication and paid search in its ability to drive low-cost qualified leads that meet B2B advertisers’ target demographics.
Here are some platforms that offer this kind of granular message targeting:
The LinkedIn ad platform has been offering company targeting for awhile. Below is an example of a number of targeting variables available within the LinkedIn ad platform.
LinkedIn suggests similar companies as well, to complement your target list:
Facebook does allow you to do a little of B2B advertising. Hidden under advanced targeting is an option to target workplaces.
Facebook doesn’t ask for job titles in their profile management, so it’s not easy to target specific job functions. You may wish to experiment with interest targeting as below:
B2B DISPLAY ADVERTISING PLATFORMS
B2B Advertising and Lead Generation platforms are offering company targeting utilizing their large big data databases of b2b buyer intent and website usage. Their technologies allow advertisers to target display ads toward specific companies or companies that meet a list of desired attributes.
Demandbase just recently unveiled their new company targeting platform
Madison Logic offers a similar service, called Data Match Lead Retargeting
Bizo, a B2B ad platform, also announced company targeting recently. Bizo also allows you to retarget firms in your CRM or marketing automation platform. That’s a unique lead nurturing tactic!
By integrating with CRMs, you can have the capability of targeting firms
Here’s Bizo’s targeting capability: If you need help planning a campaign, well, that’s why I am here- to manage this tactic for you.
Like all ad campaigns, they need to be tagged for analytics, measured, optimized, and have clear conversion goals in mind. As always, must test.
Take a look at the platforms described above, and determine if company targeting with social ads or display ads are right for you. What do you think?
