Reading: 0118 322 4395 | Manchester: 0161 706 2414 | Oxford: 01865 479 625 | info@sharpahead.com | Office hours: Monday-Friday 9:00am - 5:30pm

 | Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

 | Email  | Office hours: Mon-Fri 9:00am - 5:30pm 

A/B Testing for B2B Marketers

A/B Testing B2B Marketers
A/B Testing B2B Marketers

A/B Testing for B2B Marketers

In this article we explore A/B testing for B2B marketers and why you might be wasting your time, or worse, believing the wrong outcomes.

What is A/B Testing? 

A/B testing, also sometimes referred to as split testing or bucket testing, is a research methodology used to determine which of two variants is more likely to produce the optimal outcome. 

In most cases the A version is the control (or often the live) variant and the B version is the test or “new” variant. 

Traditionally A/B testing is a very effective way for marketers to test and optimise all sorts of outcomes, including copy, conversion and usability features or changes. 

Quite simply, you put both variants live, split the traffic between them, and the version that performs best wins.

Why it doesn’t add up

The methodology is very compelling for marketers and we love the idea as much as anyone, but the hard truth is that more often than not, it’s simply not workable for B2B marketers.  The reason lies in the maths around statistical significance.   We’ll dig into the details of the mathematics behind this challenge in a future blog article (sign up for our newsletter here if you don’t want to miss it).  But here is a simple illustration of the problem:   If you had a campaign where the A variant resulted in 1200 conversions and the B variant resulted in 800 conversions, you would choose A the version as the winner. You could also implement that version with a high level of confidence that you are doing the right thing for the success of your marketing activity.  But let’s consider another scenario.  If your A version had three conversions and your B version had two conversions, you would have very low confidence in the outcome of the test.  Mathematically speaking, the ratio of the two scenarios is the same! A has performed 50% better than B in both tests. But I think we’d all agree that a 3 vs 2 “victory” doesn’t prove anything.   For your A/B testing to be effective, you need a reasonable large number of conversions to get a meaningful result—otherwise you may as well just toss a coin.  You can calculate the exact numbers with a bit of statistical knowledge, but a good rule of thumb is a minimum of 100 conversions for a meaningful outcome. 

How much longer?

So, for high value low volume B2B organisations the reality is that it could take three to four months or even longer to achieve that meaningful threshold of conversions.  And during that time that particular marketing activity is locked down, because otherwise it would invalidate the test. So you sacrifice your agility while the test slowly grinds on.  Worse, if the world changes around you during this months-long testing period, including anything from competitor price changes, feature rollouts, new opportunities or significant economic changes could invalidate the whole test. Maybe the A version was the winner BEFORE your competitor rolled out that new feature last month, but now the B version is stronger. Your test is wrecked.  Sadly, the numbers are working against you as high value, low volume B2B marketer. 

Will it ever work?

All that said, there can be a place for A/B testing in your marketing mix.   For example it can prove useful at the top of your funnel where you have higher volume activity, for example content downloads, webinar sign ups, or search ad copy.  That said, beware the B2B clickbait trap, whereby you’re making changes to your paid campaigns to flatter your click through rates—all at the expense of relevant, quality leads. 

If you want to find out more how to optimise and test your B2B digital marketing campaigns or have any questions about B2B digital best practice, we’d love to chat. Get in touch!

Maximising Success with B2B Paid Social Media Remarketing Campaigns

Maximising Success with B2B Paid Social Media Remarketing Campaigns
Maximising Success with B2B Paid Social Media Remarketing Campaigns

Maximising Success with B2B Paid Social Media Remarketing Campaigns

Effective paid media campaigns are essential for generating leads, building brand awareness, and driving conversions. But what if you could get more out of your current digital marketing strategy? That’s where remarketing campaigns on social media platforms come in. While social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram are typically associated with B2C marketing, advertising on these platforms can also be an effective way for B2B businesses to re-engage potential clients and prospects. In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of remarketing campaigns on social media and we’ll share tips for implementing a successful B2B social campaign to help achieve your marketing goals.

What is Remarketing?

Remarketing (also known as retargeting) is a digital marketing strategy that involves targeting individuals who have previously engaged with a business (usually through websites and social media). When users visit a website or interact with content but don’t convert, B2B businesses can use remarketing to remind them of a product or service through targeted ads.

Benefits of B2B Remarketing Campaigns 

1. Increased Conversion Rates By targeting users who have already shown an interest in your products or services, leads are more likely to convert to clients.  2. Nurturing Leads Remarketing allows B2B businesses to nurture leads prospects during typically long B2B consideration cycles and target users at different points in their journey.  3. Brand Visibility Consistent exposure to a business through ads and content helps build brand awareness and stay at the forefront of the minds of prospective clients.  4. Precise Targeting Retargeting based on specific actions such as visiting key web pages means that ad messaging can be tailored to the target audience based on previous activity.  5. Cost-Effective Advertising and improved ROI In B2B marketing, remarketing social campaigns usually spend very little due to lower audience sizes. They often result in a higher return on ad spend due to higher conversion rates, lower ad costs and more precise targeting.

Tips for Implementing a Successful B2B Remarketing Campaign 

1. Choose the Right Social Media Platforms: While LinkedIn is often the go-to platform for B2B marketing due to targeting options such as job titles and company size, platforms such as Pinterest and TikTok can also be effective in re-engaging audiences.  2. Install the Remarketing Pixel: On each chosen social media platform, install the remarketing pixel or tracking code on your website. This code tracks user interactions on your site and allows you to create custom audiences. It’s also important to be mindful of any impact installing a pixel will have on your cookie policy or CMP.  3. Segment Your Audience: In order to run targeted campaigns with tailored messaging, we recommend segmenting audiences based on the specific products or services they’ve shown interest in.  4. Set Frequency Caps: Setting frequency caps in your campaigns reduces the risk of ad fatigue and prevents overexposure to remarketing audiences.  5. Lead with Value: Deliver valuable content to your audiences.  6. Monitor and Optimise: Finally, it’s important to monitor the live campaigns and make any optimisations needed to improve key metrics such as CPCs and CTRs.

Retargeting Options on Social Media Platforms 

There are various retargeting options available on each social media platform, which is why it’s important to carefully consider your B2B remarketing strategy when choosing the right platforms to advertise on.

TikTok Audiences 

Creating a custom audience

Pinterest Audiences

Reconnect with users

X (formerly Twitter) Audiences

Choose an audience type

Snapchat Audiences

Select a type of audience to create

Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Audiences

Choose a custom audience source

Remarketing social campaigns can be a game-changer for B2B businesses. By reconnecting with users who have previously shown interest in your products or services, you can stay top-of-mind, nurture leads, and increase conversion rates. It’s a cost-effective strategy that can significantly boost your B2B marketing success.

Have questions about remarketing paid social campaigns or any other aspect of B2B digital marketing? We’d love to hear from you—and we offer a free 30-minute consultation. Get in touch!

Generative Search and the Future of B2B Search Marketing

Generative search and the future of digital marketing
Generative search and the future of digital marketing

Generative Search and the Future of B2B Search Marketing

Some thoughts on the direction of travel…

It’s obviously risky to make predictions about something as radically innovative and fast-moving as Generative AI. But I’m willing to take a chance and make some observations about the likely impact on B2B search marketing, at least in general terms. And if I’m right, there are some obvious things that B2B marketers can be doing right now to help future proof themselves and their work.

I took a look in detail at Microsoft and Google’s Generative Search tools (Bing Chat and Bard) earlier this year. I updated that research for my recent presentation at Leeds Digital Festival. Even with that short gap of a few months, there was a lot of change and improvement in both tools. Here are my observations and predictions:

  1. Generative Search is already useful for some types of B2B research, and it is getting better at a rapid pace. So generative search will at least partially replace the conventional search engine experience for B2B research in the future.


    I’m not saying that conventional search engines will disappear overnight, or that they will ever disappear completely, but we’re going to see at least some non-trivial fraction of B2B search activity switch away from conventional search engines in favour of generative search. This creates both an opportunity and a threat for search marketers.

  2. Microsoft is making a really big bet on generative search for B2B. For instance, “Bing Chat Enterprise” gets a prominent position in MS 365.



    I think it’s likely this strategy will see some success, so expect to see Bing gain some market share from Google in B2B search.

  3. B2B SEO strategies will need to change as generative search gains popularity. In particular, there will be no prizes for P4 in the new world where the generative AI is building a shortlist of the top three.

  4. Google has a problem because generative search has fewer opportunities to monetize than conventional search engines. Google will fight hard to maintain its revenues, so B2B PPC advertisers will need to pay more money for fewer impressions and fewer clicks – but in return, may get higher quality traffic from better-engaged and better-qualified search. Expect B2B PPC CPCs to rise, perhaps dramatically.

If I’m right about these trends, here are some things that B2B search marketers can do right away to be ready for the future:

  • Try out Bing Chat and Bard with some realistic B2B research tasks, to get some first-hand experience of these new tools. And keep trying them from time to time, to track the emerging user experience.
  • Stop ignoring Bing. If Microsoft’s generative search strategy works, we can expect Bing to become a lot more important in B2B search marketing in future. At a minimum: set up Bing Webmaster Tools, so you can track use of Bing for your existing web content. And consider testing out Microsoft Search Ads for your B2B PPC.

And two more strategic areas to think about over the next few months:

  • Re-evaluate your SEO strategy in the light of the generative search user experience. The long tail of positions 4,5, 10, 100… are going to be much less valuable when the generative AI is building a shortlist. Where can you be position 1, 2 or 3?
  • Build confidence in the ROI from your B2B PPC. And focus relentlessly on the user experience of your PPC landing pages. Because CPCs are going to rise, and only companies who are confident in their PPC investments, and who do the most to extract the most value from PPC clicks, will be able to compete.

For more details on these ideas, check out the recording of my Leeds Digital Festival presentation:

Have questions about generative search or any other aspect of B2B marketing? We’d love to hear from you—and we offer a free 30-minute consultation. Get in touch!

Step-by-step Guide to Enabling LI 2FA

Step-by-step Guide to Enabling LinkedIn 2 Factor Authentication
Step-by-step Guide to Enabling LinkedIn 2 Factor Authentication

Step-by-step Guide to Enabling LI 2FA

LinkedIn, like many other social media and SaaS platforms, is moving towards two factor authentication or 2FA as it often, and mostly without affectionate, known. 

As annoying as 2FA is, it really is the most effective way to avoid hacks, so we recommend moving sooner rather than later. 

Besides, although they aren’t telling us the exact date that it will become mandatory, it will no doubt happen on the day you want to use your phone to post an update from the best event you’ve attended in years… 

It should take no more than five minutes assuming you have ready access to the following:

  • The email account you use with LI (note it may be a personal account) 
  • Your LI password (note you can check your password manager if you can’t remember it)
  • Your phone to set up either SMS authentication or Authenticator App (I chose SMS because it always feels less painful somehow)

I’ve included a step-by-step guide below for anyone who is feeling a little skittish and here are a few gotchas:

  • Enabling 2FA will immediately log you out of LI on all devices
  • When you log back in, you will need to follow the 2FA process you selected (i.e. either SMS or an Authenticator app)
  • Enabling 2FA also affects your preferences for LI Campaign Manager
  • Reminder that by default, giving LI your phone number means anyone who has that number can find you on LI, but you can change that preference in Settings

Step-by-step Guide to Enabling LI 2FA 

You’ll be presented with this notice and assuming you have access to the information I mentioned above, choose Update Settings
Two Step Verification for LinkedIn

Or you can follow these steps:

Enabling Two Step Verification Steps

Here LinkedIn helpfully explains a little more about about 2FA, choose Set up:

Two Step Verification for LinkedIn Explained

You’ll need to login and then you’ll see this prompt:

6-digit Code Sent for LinkedIn Two Step Verification

It’s decision time, which will it be SMS or an Authenticator App??

Authentication Methods LinkedIn

Note the small print reminder about being logged out of all devices!

Two Step Verification Methods LinkedIn

Next steps for SMS users:

Adding a Phone Number for LinkedIn Two Step Verification

Grab your code from your phone!

Entering Verification Code for LinkedIn Two Step Verification

Grab your code from your phone!

Enabling Two Step Verification LinkedIn

More information on how LI is using your phone number and how you can manage those preferences here.

Who can connect with your LinkedIn profile if they have your phone number?

Reminder if you have time and did the above on desktop, go ahead and sort your phone or other devices out before you forget.

If you have any questions about 2FA for LinkedIn, or any of aspect of B2B digital marketing, please get in touch!

Get expert help from top PPC specialists:

  • Choose the right blend of PPC platforms
  • Optimise your campaigns’ performance
  • Increase your paid advertising ROI

Or contact us directly on
01865 479 625 or
info@sharpahead.com

Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:30pm

Thank you for downloading our doc...

Check out our in-depth guide to B2B SEO content using Google's EEAT guidelines

B2B Digital Rocket Fuel
straight to your inbox

Add your email address below to receive our biweekly newsletter and stay up to date with the latest B2B digital marketing news and insights.

You'll also get instant access to our growing catalogue of marketing resources.

    “An invaluable resource for getting the latest and greatest ideas and tips on B2B digital marketing. My students also benefit from the industry insights”.

    Louize Clarke, Founder, The Curious Academy