Content Marketing As B2B Lead Lure, Facebook Ads for the SMB

In our blogosphere recap we’ll examine four blog posts from last week that look at B2Bs’ use of content to generate leads, Google’s Panda 2.2 release, benefits for small businesses choosing to use Facebook advertising, and the latest search and display ad revenue and market-share forecasts. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:

• B2B marketers’ number one priority is lead generation and their primary method for attracting leads is content marketing.
• Google has released its 2.2 version of Panda, providing additional tweaks intended to reward positive usability and quality of content.
• The ability to segment and cap costs, makes Facebook ads an attractive fit for small businesses.
• When it comes to projected search ad revenues, Google is the 200-pound gorilla, but Facebook is expected to continue leading the display ad market in 2012.

Luring B2B Sales Leads With Content Marketing

eMarketer | 6-21-11

This article looks at a study of B2C and B2B marketers, what their strategic goals are and which types of content are most helpful in supporting these goals. The three top goals of B2B marketers are lead acquisition, lead conversion and brand awareness. According to separate studies, 63% of U.S. B2B marketers use content marketing to attract leads. More precisely – 78% used articles, 61% used e-newsletters, 55% used case studies, 43% used white papers, and 42% used webinars.

Additional Information:

• Whitepapers and webinars may take more time and be more labor intensive to produce than articles and newsletters, however they typically have more longevity and tend to catch B2B buyers early on in the purchasing process.
• Useful lead generation content often also focuses on best practices, industry trends, emerging market outlooks, or how-to information.

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Google Quietly Launches Panda Update Version 2.2

Search Engine Watch | Danny Goodwin | 6-21-11

Google launched its update to Google Panda without any fanfare or official comments regarding their algorithm tweaks. As early as 6-16 sites were seeing losses in traffic and now Google has confirmed the released changes, although have offered no specifics about what is different. However, it’s been speculated that this algorithm tweak will address site scrapers (re-publishers of web content who then unfairly generate AdSense revenues and rank higher in search.)

Key Takeaways:

• For businesses and website administrators struggling to maintain traffic amidst Google’s changes, this article offers a number of links to additional articles which provide guidance regarding Panda’s goals, how to recover, etc.
• When in doubt focus on “diversifying your traffic, addressing usability issues, and creating high-quality content.” Google has claimed these are all activities, which Panda rewards.

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Why Small Businesses Should Get Into Facebook Ads

ReadWriteBiz | John Paul Titlow | 6-21-11

Facebook advertising is an attractive option for small businesses for several reasons: first, because Facebook has a huge number of users. Second, because a small business can get extremely granular and specific when determining criteria of the users they wish to target. Third, because budget-conscious advertisers can limit their spending to a certain number of clicks daily.

Key Takeaways:

• Facebook has the potential to be an exceptionally effective tool for reaching niche, target audiences. Advertisers can cross-segment based on geography, age, likes, relationship status, and more.
• Given the ability to cap your spending and go straight to your target market, Facebook has the potential to provide excellent bang-for-your-buck.

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Forecast: Google To Have Nearly 80% Of US Search Revenues In 2012

Search Engine Land | Greg Sterling | 6-20-11

eMarketer has posted forecasts for the search and display advertising markets in 2011 and 2012. Google is anticipated to dominate the $17 billion search ad market with 77.7% share in 2012, while Facebook is expected to remain the front-runner in the almost $15 billion display ad market with 19.4% of overall share.

Additional Information:

• Bing has made strides in the search ad market increasing its projected shares from 8% in 2011 to 10% in 2012.
• Google is focused on growing its display ad revenue stream. Neal Mohan, in charge of display ads at Google, speculated that the display ad business could eventually reach $200 billion.

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