The B2B Paid Media Playbook

Strategies to Maximize ROI

In the competitive arena of B2B marketing doing paid media right is a game-changer. It can be the most effective way to get your message in front of the right people at the right time. And when done correctly, it can deliver a serious return on investment (ROI) -  think an average of two dollars back for every dollar spent - a power play like that can’t be ignored. But don’t be tricked into believing it’s as simple as throwing money at ads and hoping for a game winning hail mary. There’s an entire strategy behind it, and I’m going to break it down for you. Consider this your 2025 paid planning coaching session. I’ll discuss the fundamentals of an integrated paid media plan, from setting clear objectives and understanding your audience to choosing the right platforms and crafting ads that drive results. Ready to become a paid media champion? Let's step onto the field!

What is Paid Media?

Simply put, paid media is any advertising you pay for. Types of paid media include search ads on Google, display ads that appear on ad networks, sponsored content on social media, and even content syndication programs. It's a way to get your message out there beyond your owned channels (like your website), allowing you to reach a wider audience and achieve specific marketing goals.

Why Paid Media Matters for B2B

Paid media is a powerful tool that helps you reach audiences who haven’t discovered your brand organically. With the right targeting and messaging, you can reach decision-makers exactly when they're looking for solutions like yours. In turn, it helps generate leads, increase sales, and achieve specific campaign goals.

Think about it: today's B2B buyers are doing their homework. Decision makers conduct extensive online research before even initially engaging with companies. In fact, the 2022 B2B Buyer’s Survey from DemandGen found that 67% of B2B buyers start their buying process with a broad web search. An effective paid media strategy makes sure your company is present at all stages of the buyer’s journey, even before they’ve started talking to a team member.

Now, you might be thinking, "Can't I just achieve this with organic content?" Sure, organic is important, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. In fact, paid media tactics and organic strategies are a key dynamic duo that work best when used together in an integrated, coordinated plan. While organic content is crucial for building long-term brand equity and trust, paid media offers a few key advantages:

• Precision Targeting: Like a star quarterback, you can laser focus on your ideal customer based on everything from their job title to their interests
• Fast Results: Score quick wins and see leads and traffic way faster than with organic efforts
• Total Control: You call the shots! You decide exactly what your message is, when it appears, and where people see it

For example, you might create some great organic posts on social media. However, algorithms limit who this post will reach organically. With paid ads, you can break through these limits to directly reach your ideal audience. And these ads can also improve conversion: research found that traffic generated from PPC ads had a 50% higher chance of converting than traffic from organic channels.

Paid vs. Owned vs. Earned:  Know the Players

Before we get into strategy, let's clear up the difference between these three media types. Understanding the difference is key to crafting a well-rounded marketing strategy. Each one plays a unique role, and by combining them strategically, you can maximize impact.

• Paid Media: You pay to play (think Google Ads, social media ads).
• Owned Media: You own the field (your website, blog, social media profiles)
• Earned Media: The crowd is cheering for you (reviews, media coverage, social shares)

(And yes, I know what you're thinking: "More sports analogies? Really?" It's true, I have a tendency to lean on them—it's a bit of an occupational hazard when you're passionate about both marketing and athletics. But hey, at least they're easy to understand, right? )

Your Paid Media Playbook

While paid media offers a lot of potential, it's important to approach it strategically. Without a well-thought-out plan, you risk wasting your budget and not seeing the results you want. A paid media plan that’s integrated strategically into your overall marketing strategy becomes a powerful tool for driving results. Ready to create a winning strategy? Here's how to draft a paid media plan that delivers

1. Set Clear Objectives & Expectations

Start by defining your goals. What's the game plan? More leads? Website traffic? Brand awareness? Get specific!

Pro Tip: Frame objectives as SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) for easier tracking and evaluation.

2. Know Your Audience (and Your Competition):

There is a lot of research to conduct for paid media. But start with audiences. Investigate your target audience's demographics, pain points, interests, and online behavior. Clearly define your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and personas. Understand their motivations and challenges to create highly relevant messaging. Pull relevant keywords to evaluate volume and interest.

Pro Tip: Consider creating buyer personas to represent different segments of your target audience. This can help you tailor your ads even more effectively by using specific messaging for each persona type.

Secondly, research competitors’ paid media tactics. Which platforms do they utilize? What types of ads do they run? How much do they spend? What messaging seems to resonate with their audience? What is their keyword focus? What does their creative work look like? This analysis can reveal valuable insights and untapped opportunities. Look for gaps in their strategy—platforms they're not using, audiences they're not targeting, or ad formats they haven't explored. These gaps are your chance to differentiate and stand out.

3. Budget

Determine your financial investment in the campaign. Factor in your objectives, audience size, platforms you plan to use, and expected costs. Start with a manageable budget and scale up as you see positive results.

4. Pick Platforms

Based on your research and budget, choose the platforms that best align with your goals and audience. Consider LinkedIn, Google Ads, programmatic advertising, content syndication, or other relevant platforms.

5. Content & Messaging Strategy

Develop a comprehensive paid media plan outlining asset utilization, key themes, messaging, ad types, platforms, timelines, and performance metrics. Craft compelling ad copy, design visually engaging creatives, and ensure your landing pages are optimized for conversions.

6. Build It Out

Execute your plan by creating audience segments, developing ad copy and creatives, and setting up landing pages or optimizing existing content.

7. Launch the Campaign

Launch your campaign and closely track key metrics. Monitor impressions, clicks, conversions, and other relevant data points to gauge your campaign's effectiveness. Ensure conversion tracking and analytics systems are set up correctly before launch.

Pro Tip: Utilize UTM codes in your ad URLs to easily track campaign performance in your analytics tools.

8. Analyze & Optimize

Make a habit of checking your campaign data so you can identify trends and areas for improvement. How is performance faring compared to your goals? Experiment with different approaches, refine your targeting, and optimize your ads for maximum impact.

Pro Tip: I highly recommend A/B testing ad variations. It’s a great, data-driven way to see what messaging works best for your audience.

Tactics and Tools to Elevate Your Strategy

You know the basic steps of creating a paid media plan. So now, what is the best way to go about implementing it? Check out these key paid media tactics and tools to help effectively lay out your marketing strategy.

Paid Search (Google Ads)

This is one of the most effective paid media tactics to get website traffic, as Google has 82% of search engine market share across the world.

• Why It Works: Google Ads can help you get to the top of Google SERPs (search engine result pages). Did you know that over 99% of searchers are unlikely to go past the first page of results or even scroll below the fold? Getting your ad in those top spots dramatically increases your visibility and chances of driving clicks to your website.
• Metrics to Watch: Impressions, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, cost per click (CPC), and quality score
• Recommendation: Don't just throw money at the highest-volume keywords. Try looking into long-tail keywords that get at the finer details of your audience's needs and interests. This can help you drive more qualified leads who are more likely to convert.

Display/Banner Ads

Display or banner ads are visual ads that show up on websites within an ad network (typically the Google Display Network).

• Why It Works: Display ads are an excellent paid media strategy for building brand awareness, even for users who aren’t searching for your products or services yet. They can also be used for retargeting or reminding previous website visitors of your offerings and enticing them to return.
• Metrics to Watch: Impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and view-through conversions (conversions that happen after someone sees your ad but doesn't click on it)
• Recommendation: Design visually appealing and relevant banner ads that align with the look and feel of your brand. Use strong calls to action to encourage clicks and drive traffic to your website.

Social Media Ads & Boosted Posts

Social media platforms - such as LinkedIn, Meta, Tik-Tok - offer different ad formats to target users based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. While LinkedIn is the undisputed champion for B2B, don't discount other social channels. Experiment to see where your audience is most active and receptive.

• Why It Works: With 45% of people starting their product research on social media (with this increasing to 50% for Gen Z), it's clear that these platforms play a crucial role in the buyer's journey. In fact, 53% of B2B buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions, and 46.5% use it to contact B2B companies. This is why social media ads are key paid media tactics for both B2C and B2B.
• Metrics to Watch: Impressions, engagement (likes, comments, shares), click-through rate (CTR), conversions, and cost per engagement (CPE)
• Recommendation: Test different ad formats and targeting options to find what works best for your audience. Don't be afraid to experiment with video ads, carousel ads, lead gen forms, and boosted posts to find which ones drive the best engagement and most conversions.

Content Syndication

Content syndication involves republishing your owned content (blog posts, eBooks, white papers, etc.) on third-party platforms. It's a powerful paid media strategy because it can reach new audiences, generate leads, and enhance your SEO efforts.

Content syndication is not only an effective paid media tactic, but it also has an SEO benefit. By sharing your content with other sites, you can reach a larger audience, increase brand awareness, and build backlinks.

• Why It Works: By leveraging subscriber-based platforms that utilize first-party intent data, you can deliver your content to a highly targeted audience who are actively seeking information related to your industry. This results in more engaged leads and a higher likelihood of conversions.
• Metrics to Watch: Lead volume, lead quality, conversion rates, and overall ROI
• Recommendation: Choose a reputable syndication platform that aligns with your target audience and industry. Ensure your content is high-quality, relevant, and offers a clear call to action to drive lead generation.

Retargeting

Many users don’t make a purchase the first time they encounter your brand. Retargeting — showing ads to users who have visited your site before — is a great way to capture initial interest and drive it towards conversion. It's a second chance to capture their attention and guide them back towards becoming a customer.

• Why It Works: Retargeting is incredibly effective at re-engaging potential customers. Research shows that retargeted ads see a 400% increase in engagement rates and a 10 times higher CTR than typical ads.
• Metrics to Watch: Impressions, clicks, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA)
• Recommendation: Segment your retargeting audience based on their behavior on your website. If you can establish a framework of their interests at different stages of the buying journey, you’ll be able to tailor your ads more precisely to audience needs.

Note: While the terms "remarketing" and "retargeting" are often used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference between them:

• Remarketing focuses on re-engaging users through owned channels. While it can involve paid media tactics some of the time - such as showing social ads to past customers - it primarily focuses on owned channels where you don't need to pay for placements. Think email marketing, on-site personalization, and push notifications.

• Retargeting focuses on reaching users through paid advertising on third-party platforms like Google, LinkedIn Ads, etc. and relies on tracking data like cookies (which have seen some shifting rules in today’s increasingly privacy-focused world).

Drive Value & Great ROI with a Strong Strategy

Paid media is a powerful tool in your overall marketing strategy, especially when you need to reach a wider audience and connect with those valuable leads. But let's be real, crafting a winning paid media strategy isn't just about clicking a few buttons and watching the magic happen. It takes dedication, research, and a whole lot of testing.

Think of it like building a championship team. You need to scout the best players (your target audience), analyze their strengths and weaknesses (their needs and pain points), and develop a game plan that maximizes their potential (your paid media strategy). It's not always easy, but trust me, the rewards are worth it. With a well-crafted paid media strategy, you can achieve those marketing goals and drive serious ROI.

Need help navigating the complex world of paid media? I can help you maximize your impact and achieve your goals. Contact me today to get started.