Do Facebook Ads work for B2B companies?

We’ve been asked this question many times by our B2B (business-to-business) clients, and the answer is: yes, they can be very effective, but they must be tailored carefully to your particular business model.

Facebook has more than 2 billion monthly active users, including business owners and employees- real people who visit this social network every day. Being the biggest social network worldwide, Facebook has become a place where companies can connect with potential customers and grow their business significantly.

Considering the size and potential of Facebook, it seems like a no-brainer to use Facebook Ads to reach your potential customers, right?

According to an eMarketer study, 96% of social media marketers around the world believe Facebook gives the best ROI and is vital to social media marketing success. And there are plenty of B2B businesses who use Facebook Ads to raise awareness and convert leads: Moz, MailChimp, and Salesforce are some of the biggest examples.

Up next, let’s look at some best practices to use Facebook Ads for B2B companies:

• Build a  Sales Funnel

Marketing on Facebook as a B2B company is different from marketing as a B2C since you’re targeting an entirely different audience, and the length of the buyer’s journey is different. B2B decisions can take longer than B2C decisions, which is why you need to build a sales funnel to move your buyer forward with smaller, incremental conversions.

• Target Specific Job Titles

Aside from demographics, Facebook Ads allows marketers to reach their targets with a comprehensive range of categories, interests, and behaviors, including job titles. You probably already know the job titles of your buyer persona and, for B2B companies, it’s a great tactic to target them in your campaign.

In addition to selecting job titles, you can also include job seniority, industries, and even companies. Some B2B businesses already know the companies they would like to reach; using Facebook Ads allows you to target those businesses directly as part of a campaign.

• Define the Right Messaging

After building your sales funnel and finding the right audience, craft the right message: take into account that the message to a CEO cannot be the for a Human Resources Manager. And remember when writing for a B2B company, keep your tone professional, honest and trustworthy.  Avoid overly casual or familiar language, get straight to the point, and be wary of “salesy” language you might instinctively use in a B2C context.

• Create Custom Audiences and Retarget

Besides raising awareness and converting leads, Facebook Ads can also help to encourage a visitor back to your website; to accomplish this, you’ll need custom audiences.

A custom audience is a list created by Facebook based on the people who already have a relationship with your business, like website visitors, video viewers, leads, and more.

Retargeting means reconnecting with these people to speed up the sales process, and it’s the best way to move your audience through your sales funnel. For example, after a person sees your video ad, you can show them a subsequent ad with a different message.

Have we changed your mind about Facebook Ads for B2B companies?

There are so many ways B2B companies can use Facebook advertising to reach their audiences. And remember, behind every large B2B company, there’s a decision-maker that’s a person like you and me — they probably won’t make the purchase decision right away just from viewing your Facebook ad, but if you spark their interest, they’ll enter your funnel- and then it’s up to you to build the relationship towards conversion.