When it comes to B2B marketing, a professional website is a necessary investment. You want the digital face of your firm to be professional, credible, and authoritative. Many firms that we work with want to maximize the ROI of their investment in their new website, and we couldn’t agree more.
Before a website launch, it’s important to put together a post-launch strategy that includes various channel campaigns to promote the website. The main goal is to get the website in front of the target market and to get them to engage with the website (and hopefully become a lead).
Below are six different tactics for B2B marketing professionals looking to maximize the ROI of their new website.
Paid Search Campaigns
Even the most well-optimized web design will take some time to get indexed and start ranking in search engines like Google and Bing. While organic SEO is a long-term, consistent strategy, we always recommend that B2B firms launch their website along with a pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign. Regardless of whether you have a monthly PPC budget of $500 or $5,000, it’s essential to run an AdWords or Bing PPC campaign to drive relevant traffic to your website.
Just getting started with AdWords? Check out a Quick Intro to PPC & AdWords.
Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ad campaigns are designed to optimize your brand’s visibility to potential clients how have already been on your website.
Here’s how retargeting ads work:
- A potential client visits your website
- A tracking cookie is placed on their computer
- The prospect leaves your website
- As the prospect browses the internet, they are shown ads from your company
The main purpose of retargeting ads is to stay top of mind with potential clients. They have already shown interest in the products or services your company offers. In B2B marketing, retargeting ads ensure that even if your prospect isn’t ready to convert today, your firm is top of mind when they do want to convert in the future.
Social Media Marketing
Professionally designed websites typically include links to a firm’s social media so that potential and current clients can connect and engage with the firm. Social media is also a great way to get your followers to visit your firm’s website. We recommend to our clients that they promote their new website launch on their social media channels. A website launch is an exciting event that your followers will be interested in and is a great way to get clients and prospects to your website.
With all the time and resources you’ve invested in your new web design, it’s also worthwhile to pay to promote your update about your new website on social media. Even a budget of $150 – $300 on Facebook or LinkedIn allows you to choose your ideal audience to expand the reach of your post.
Learn more tips about how to amplify your content on social media.
Email Marketing
Unless you are a brand-new business, your B2B marketing team likely has a list of past, current, and/or potential clients and their email addresses. Another great avenue for promoting your new web design is to send out an announcement via email. The email should have a professional design and clearly match the branding on your new website. In the email, share why you’ve designed a new website and any benefits for your prospects or clients.
We’ve seen quite a few successful email campaigns announcing website launches and always recommend them to our clients. The only warning we have for our clients is to wait at least a few weeks to send the announcement. The reason for this waiting period is to ensure everything is functioning smoothly on the website and to allow time for any post-launch edits or updates to the site that may be necessary.
Find out how to create a newsletter your clients won’t hate.
Press Releases
Press releases have long been in the domain of public relations professionals. However, they are also a great fit for a comprehensive B2B marketing strategy where the goal is to drive traffic to the website, garner exposure for an event or new product/service, and publicize recent news about a company.
Press releases are a fantastic way to announce the roll-out of a new website and any other related newsworthy events or happenings. For example, a great strategy is to announce a new website launch along with a complete rebrand. Explaining why the company went through the rebrand and how the new web design fits into this new brand make for interesting, newsworthy press releases.
Company Events
Big or small events are a great avenue for creating hype around your new website launch and to get your employees, clients, vendors, partners, and prospects interested in the new web design. The promotional event doesn’t need to be a major affair. It can be as simple as brining in breakfast and having a company-wide meeting to announce the new website, explain the new design and website goals, as well as answer any questions about the new website. Or, if you’d like to make it a large affair to celebrate all the work and time spent on the new website, throw a large party where you invite clients, prospects, vendors, and employees. At Bop Design, we launched a new website in2016 and had a big party to celebrate – check out the live videos of the event.
Promote, Promote, Promote
It’s easy to lose steam about a website once it is launched due to the time and effort invested in the process. However, having a promotion strategy in place before the website launches ensures that your firm gets the maximum ROI from your new B2B website.
Looking for more ideas? Check out 5 Things You Must Do Immediately After a Website Launch.
Interested in learning more about how to design your new website or maximize your existing website? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
