Industry Guide · 1 of 16 chapters published
Google Ads for B2B: Your Buyers Search Long Before They Call. Pay for the Searches That Ask for a Quote.
A B2B company sells to buyers who research for months, bring several people into the decision and rarely search in big numbers. One won account can order for years, so a quote request from a student, a job seeker or a one-time hobby buyer costs more than its click. These sixteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order we build them, using real searches, websites and ads from twelve B2B companies in one example market, the Milwaukee area: made-to-order manufacturers, equipment makers, distributors and service firms. Your numbers will differ. The method works for a B2B company anywhere in the US.
One Won B2B Account Can Order for Years. Build the Account Around the Leads That Become Customers.
New account? Chapter 1 comes first. Each chapter uses the setup from the ones before it.
Measure
Count every call and quote request, then send back the leads your sales team qualified and the orders they won
Offline Conversion Tracking Tells Google Which B2B Leads Became Sales. A Spreadsheet Is Enough to Start.
Quote Searches First
Judge on the Sales Cycle
Build
One page per product or process, buyer keywords on exact match, bids set by hand, and ads that turn away non-buyers
One Page per Product
Sort Keyword Ideas by Hand
Exact Match on Buyer Searches
Manual Bids Below 30
Ads That Turn Away Non-Buyers
Launch
The Google defaults to change, and the hours and budget pacing to set, before the first click
Schedules and Budget Pacing
Scale
Wider campaigns only once qualified leads flow back, ads by sales territory, and AI Max last
Performance Max on Qualified Leads
YouTube After Search Pays
Ads by Sales Territory
AI Max at the End
B2B
Bonus chapters: keeping job seekers and students out, distributors bidding on your brand, and reaching the buying group
Bonus: Keeping Non-Buyers Out
Bonus: Distributors on Your Brand
Bonus: The Buying Group
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on the product, part and process searches your buyers type, bids set by hand, and your company name in a campaign of its own.
Exploration
Broad match with a target CPA once the account logs about 30 qualified leads a month. Many B2B accounts take longer, and manual bids stay until then.
Performance Max
The usual pace, not the rule. It waits until about 30 qualified leads a month hold steady and your sales team's results flow back to Google.
Demand Gen and AI Max
YouTube once Search brings in qualified leads and the budget can carry at least 10 times your target CPA, and AI Max last.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Sending qualified leads and won orders back to Google comes before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Sell through distributors or dealers?
Read the channel conflict chapter. Who bids on your brand name is decided before your brand campaign launches.
Chapter 15 →One example market
Examples come from twelve B2B companies around Milwaukee, from a machine shop and a fastener distributor to a 3PL, described as we found them. Your numbers will differ; the method is the same.
Chapter 05 →Google Ads for B2B
A Quote Request Is a Maybe. The Purchase Order Tells Google Who Actually Buys.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.