B2B audience targeting: Meta Ads as an alternative to LinkedIn

Benefits of targeting a B2B audience on Meta include:

• Lower advertising costs: Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram offer significantly lower advertising costs compared to LinkedIn Ads.

• Access to a similar audience: The same professional audience that uses LinkedIn can also be found on Meta platforms, allowing advertisers to reach them in a different environment.

• Potential for cheaper acquisition: Despite the lack of precision targeting compared to LinkedIn, the trade-off for cheaper acquisition costs can be worthwhile if the ad is interesting enough to capture the audience's attention.

Effective creative strategies for B2B lead generation on Meta include:

• Simple banner ads: These are often sufficient for B2B contexts as business consumers look for solutions that help them advance or work more easily.

• Right messaging: It's crucial to have the right messaging that speaks to the needs of the target audience and how the product can make their life easier.

• Use of videos: While not necessary to have high-production values, videos can still be used effectively in B2B lead gen on Meta.

• Authentic imagery: Sometimes, even a good iPhone photo with the right messaging can be more effective than a studio shot, depending on the product and audience.

To target B2B audiences effectively on Meta, consider the following:

• Use customer lists and create lookalikes: This helps in targeting similar profiles to your existing customers.

• Leverage Meta’s interests and detailed targeting: You can target people based on their workplace, role, and industry.

• Avoid multiple ad sets for each target: Instead, stack them up into one large audience for better quality leads.

• Consider dynamic creative: This allows for mixing and matching several ads within one ad unit, which can be more effective than multiple standalone ads.

• Utilize UTM parameters: Include these in your landing page URLs to track the performance of campaigns and ads.

• Feed lead data back into your CRM: This helps in identifying the most valuable leads that turn into sales.

• Target engaged non-converters: Add website visitors who did not convert, video viewers, and page engagers to your audience selection.

New methods for targeting B2B audiences on Meta include:

• Tailored campaigns with lead objectives: Similar to Advantage+ shopping for lead generation, this approach offers less control but is worth testing, especially with larger budgets.

• Campaigns with a call objective: If phone calls are preferred, use a call tracking number so that the CTA leads to a call, and the system can optimize for the best results.

• Advantage+ audiences: Borrowing from Google’s Performance Max, this feature provides audience suggestions that the system uses as a base to find the target consumer.

Yes, B2B ads on Meta can be run with a smaller budget by utilizing dynamic creative. This involves creating one ad unit with several ads and letting the system mix and match, which often yields better results than multiple standalone ads. Additionally, testing with a small portion of the allocated budget can provide insights into the potential of Meta Ads for B2B lead generation without requiring a large investment.