B2B PPC: From Strategy Creation to Proven Lead-Generation Tactics

PPC for B2B isn’t about flooding Google with ads and hoping something sticks. Today’s B2B buyer does the homework alone—81% have picked a preferred vendor before your sales team ever hears from them. Meanwhile, US companies are projected to spend $18.3 billion on B2B digital ads this year, but click costs are rising.

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If your B2B PPC campaign looks like your old B2C playbook, you’re not just wasting budget—you’re missing out on qualified leads. Real B2B PPC means adapting to longer buying journeys, more stakeholders, and a B2B audience that ignores one-size-fits-all ads.

As Dennis F., PPC Team Lead at Ninja Promo, puts it:

“In B2B, you’re guiding the user through 45 touchpoints before they even consider a decision. Optimizing for micro-conversions and patience is critical.” What actually works? Data-backed tactics, smarter segmentation, and a campaign structure built around what buyers need at each stage. We’ll show you how.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to build a B2C PPC campaign that gets clicks and promotes sales.

 

What Is B2B PPC Advertising?

B2B PPC advertising is business-to-business pay-per-click: paid search ads built specifically for companies, not random consumers. You’re putting your offer in front of real decision-makers—think owners, IT heads, or operations leads—right when they’re searching for solutions.

What platforms are in play? Google Ads is the heavy hitter (used by 98% of B2B advertisers), with Bing not far behind for certain industries. LinkedIn’s sponsored content and Lead Gen Forms are big for targeting exact job titles at target accounts. Dennis F. says LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are “often dismissed as too expensive, but when paired with the right offer and setup, they deliver very high-quality leads—especially in SaaS, fintech, and consulting.”

The point of a B2B PPC advertising campaign isn’t just driving clicks. It’s about serving ads to a B2B audience that matches your ideal buyer profile. Every click should bring a company you really want to talk to—that’s how you get qualified traffic and avoid paying for noise.

Why B2B PPC Is Different from B2C PPC

B2B PPC is a whole different animal from B2C. The sales cycle isn’t days—it’s often months. You’re not selling shoes or gadgets to one person on impulse; you’re targeting committees that juggle eleven decision-makers on average, and 70% of the research is already done before anyone even speaks to your brand. That means your PPC has to map to a buyer’s journey that zigzags between search, LinkedIn, and a dozen PDFs.

Here’s where most brands go wrong: treating B2B paid search like it’s just B2C with a higher CPC. The result? Unqualified leads, wasted spend, and “why aren’t we closing anything?” panic at the next pipeline meeting.

Let’s break down what sets PPC for B2B apart:

• Longer Sales Cycles: Deals can take 30–90+ days. Patience (and retargeting) is non-negotiable (average B2B buying cycle lasts 11.3 months).
• Multiple Decision-Makers: Marketing to the CFO, Head of Procurement, and end users—all at once.
• Ad Messaging: No flash discounts or “buy now.” Instead, your B2B PPC advertising should lead with value, credibility, and proof.
• Targeting Nuance: Precision trumps scale. Layer in company size, industry, and job title for every B2B PPC campaign.
• Budget Priorities: Focus on keywords and platforms that match B2B intent, not just volume.

Dennis F. puts it simply:

“Urgency triggers and discounts flop in B2B. We tried running flash discounts—20% off today only—for a SaaS product, and it completely backfired. Prospects saw it as a cheap product. The buyer wants proof you can solve real problems, not a coupon code.” 

If you’re used to B2C, expect a mindset shift. Success is measured by pipeline impact and sales-qualified leads—not just the number of clicks.

What does this mean for your next round of PPC optimization? Think like a B2B buyer, not a consumer, and design campaigns that speak to each step of their unique decision path.

Why PPC Advertising Is Crucial for B2B Companies

PPC advertising is the direct route to market for B2B companies that want control and speed. When you need to reach a niche B2B audience—whether it’s CFOs in healthcare or IT managers at mid-market SaaS firms—paid search campaigns let you show up exactly when people are ready to act. That level of targeting is nearly impossible via organic alone, especially in crowded verticals.

What makes business-to-business pay-per-click unique? You can test messages, measure every step, and scale fast when you find your sweet spot. It also fills key gaps in the B2B marketing funnel: get demand at the top, nurture with precise retargeting, and capture bottom-funnel actions with custom landing pages.

The benefits of PPC advertising for B2B companies range from immediate visibility to precise audience targeting that traditional marketing can’t match.

Dennis F. explains, “SQLs—sales qualified leads—are the real KPI for B2B PPC. Clients obsess over CPLs, but what matters is how many leads actually speak to sales and match your ideal customer.” That’s the difference-maker: PPC gives you a way to track real opportunities, not just vanity metrics.

Hook up your CRM so you’re not flying blind on offline conversions. Run a competitive PPC analysis to see where competitors are leaking budget or missing the mark. Dial in your optimization using real conversion data—no guesswork, no “set and forget.” With the average B2B cost per click at $2.69 and conversion rates hitting 5% or better, even small tweaks can make paid search your top revenue driver.

Map KPIs to business impact. For example: if your sales team closes 1 in 5 SQLs, and your target is two new deals per month, you’ll need ten SQLs—and you can reverse-calculate your target CPL or PPC budget using your close rate. Dennis F. puts it this way:

“Anyone can get form fills, but unless those leads turn into real pipeline, it’s just noise.”

What does this look like in practice? Replace “Lead volume” in your report with:

• Cost per sales-qualified lead (SQL)
• Number of demos or consultations booked
• Pipeline created from paid search

If you’re not sure how your metrics stack up, run a quick PPC audit to see where you’re strong—and where you’re burning budget. High-value B2B PPC strategy is about clarity.

Understand Your Target Audience and Buyer Journey

B2B PPC campaigns fall flat when they ignore who’s really clicking. You’re not targeting a faceless corporation—you’re reaching people with specific titles, problems, and priorities. Start with a no-BS persona breakdown that includes:

• Job titles and responsibilities
• Pain points and trigger events
• Information sources they trust
• Decision-making power (influencer, recommender, approver)

Don’t just use demographics. Get into your audience’s head. If you’re selling to CFOs, what keeps them up at night? What reports are they judged on? What language do they use? A B2B audience hates generic messaging—your keywords and ads need to speak their language.

Next, plot the B2B customer journey. Dennis breaks it down:

“We use a simple model—TOFU (Awareness), MOFU (Consideration), BOFU (Decision). For each stage we define who the decision maker is, what questions they have, and what content format works best. Then we match platforms accordingly.”

 

Role	Funnel Stage	Primary Concerns	Effective PPC Approach	Example Keywords
C-Suite (CEO, CFO)	Decision	ROI, Strategic Impact, Revenue	Executive-focused case studies, ROI calculators	“[solution] for enterprise”, “ROI [solution]”
IT/Tech Leaders	Consideration + Decision	Integration, Security, Maintenance	Technical webinars, compatibility docs	“[solution] API integration”, “secure [solution]”
Marketing Leaders	Awareness + Consideration	Performance, Time Savings, Analytics	Comparison guides, demo videos	“[solution] vs competitors”, “automated [task]”
End Users	Awareness	Usability, Features, Support	Feature highlights, tutorials	“how to [specific task]”, “best tools for [task]”

 

What does this look like in practice? If mid-funnel buyers want product comparisons, your B2B PPC campaign should bid on terms like “X vs Y software” and send clicks to comparison landing pages. If top-funnel prospects are searching for solutions to problems, your ads should speak to pain points, not features.

Understanding this journey is why companies with B2B marketing channels mapped to buyer stages see 50% better conversion rates. Know your audience, know their journey, then build your campaign to meet them exactly where they are.

Choose the Right PPC Platforms

One PPC platform does not rule them all—especially in B2B. Each one has strengths, limitations, and ideal audiences. The trick: knowing which tool to use for which job.

Here’s where each major PPC platform shines for B2B:

 

Platform	Best For	B2B Audience Examples	Strengths	What to Watch Out For
Google Ads	High-intent searches, bottom-funnel leads	SaaS buyers, consultants, tech solutions	Massive reach, buyer intent	Expensive keywords, broad targeting
LinkedIn	Precise firmographics, account-based targeting	Enterprise execs, finance, HR, SaaS, legal	Targeting by job title, industry, company	High CPCs, requires strong offer
Microsoft Ads	Older demographics, B2B verticals, less crowded	Healthcare, manufacturing, finance	Lower CPCs, strong in certain industries	Smaller search volume
Meta (Facebook)	Awareness, retargeting warm leads	Founders, SMB owners, early-stage buyers	Cheap impressions, visual storytelling	Weak direct intent, low lead quality
Niche/Industry	Hyper-specific buyers, vertical solutions	Specific B2B segments (e.g., engineers)	Contextual targeting, low competition	Limited scale, manual optimization

 

Dennis sees too many teams spraying budget across “default” platforms and hoping the right buyers show up. Instead, work backwards: get clear on who you want in the funnel, then pick your PPC platform accordingly. For example: LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences can zero in on the exact companies you want to work with, while Google Ads wins for buyers with clear intent “[your product] for [industry]”.

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If you’re targeting CIOs for an enterprise IT product, LinkedIn beats Meta every time—but if you want to retarget site visitors company-wide, Facebook can stretch your budget. Microsoft Ads is an under-the-radar powerhouse in industries where Google’s prices are sky-high.

Bottom line: choose the PPC platform your real buyers use.

Map Campaigns to Funnel Stages

Too many B2B PPC campaigns dump everyone into the same bucket and hope for the best. You’ll get better results—and waste less budget—when you build campaigns for each stage of the B2B buyer’s journey: awareness, consideration, and decision.

Here’s how to plot it out:

 

Funnel Stage	What They’re Doing	Campaign Types	Winning PPC Moves	Example KPI
Awareness	Researching problems, not solutions	Search, Display, LinkedIn Sponsored	Pain-point keywords, useful content ads	Content downloads, webinar signups
Consideration	Comparing options, looking for proof	Retargeting, Product comparisons	Case studies, “X vs Y” ads, MOFU offers	Case study views, comparison page clicks
Decision	Ready to choose a solution or talk to sales	Exact match search, Lead Gen Forms	Demo, trial, “get pricing” call-to-actions	Demo requests, consultation bookings

 

Dennis F. says:

“We split campaigns by TOFU, MOFU, BOFU—broad content at the top, proof and product at the middle, hard asks at the bottom. When you match your offer and messaging to each stage, your cost per qualified lead drops, and your pipeline fills with buyers that actually close.”

✅Pro tip: Don’t send everyone to the same landing page. Each ad should land buyers on content built for where they are—otherwise, you’re leaving deals on the table. To spot leaks or dead zones in your funnel, review conversion actions for each stage and make sure you’re tracking more than just form fills. For a deeper dive, run a PPC optimization on your funnel stage set-up and see where your leads are leaking out.

Proven B2B PPC Tactics to Drive High-Quality Leads

You don’t need trend-chasing or copy-paste advice to get results. The highest quality B2B leads come from PPC tactics that are focused, dialed-in, and built to filter out the wrong crowd. This next section breaks down practical moves that get you there.

Target High-Intent, Long-Tail Keywords Specific to Buyer Roles

Skip the broad keywords and generic ad groups—if you want leads that don’t waste your sales team’s time, get hyper-specific. Start by thinking like your actual buyer: what would a VP of Operations type into Google when they’re already feeling the pain you solve?

Here’s how to put that into practice:

• Swap “project management software” for “project management tool for engineering teams” or “workflow automation for manufacturers.”
• Break out keywords by role: the CFO searches for ROI calculators or integration costs; IT leads want security features or migration checklists.
• Use the language your buyers use—not what your product team calls it.

Dennis F. says:

“Industry modifiers are gold—‘CRM for logistics,’ ‘B2B SaaS platform for fintech.’ There’s less competition and way more relevance. It also means cheaper clicks and better leads.”

Give each long-tail keyword its own tight ad group (yes, even just one or two per ad group). That way, your ads speak directly to the intent behind each search. You’ll see fewer junk clicks and more qualified conversations.

Create Hyper-Relevant Ad Groups for Each Stage of the Funnel

Treat your ad groups like VIP sections—each one should serve a specific buyer at a specific stage. Instead of mixing top-funnel “how to improve onboarding” searches with bottom-funnel “B2B onboarding software pricing,” separate them out. This move keeps your messaging tight and your Quality Scores happy.

Dennis F. puts it simply: 

“We split ad groups by funnel stage and buyer role, then serve content and calls-to-action that fit. The result? Lower costs and leads that don’t ask ‘So… what do you do again?’ on the first call.”

Here’s how to pull this off:

• Build distinct ad groups for awareness, consideration, and decision intent.
• Use keywords and copy that reflect the precise pain or need at that funnel stage.
• Link each ad group to a landing page that fulfills the promise you made in the ad—no bait and switch.

Want an edge? Use a PPC agency that’s obsessed with structure and relevance. Done right, your B2B PPC campaigns will rack up higher Quality Scores, better conversion rates, and less wasted spend—guaranteed.

Build Dedicated Landing Pages for Each Offer

If your paid search campaign drops every lead on the same vanilla landing page, you’re leaving conversions (and money) on the table. A high-performing B2B PPC campaign matches each ad group—and each funnel stage—with a landing page that speaks to that audience’s needs.

Here’s how to make each landing page count:

• Write headlines and copy that echo the search intent: “Demo request for [B2B product]” for decision-stage, “See how [solution] solves [problem]” for awareness.
• Feature different proof for different roles—case studies for the cautious CFO, integration details for a technical buyer, or customer logos for busy execs.
• Strip out the clutter. The fewer distractions, the more likely your visitor moves to the next step you care about.

Dennis F. is blunt about it:

“If you can’t show a one-to-one match between your ad and landing page, you’re paying double—once for the click, again in lost leads.”

Curious how your pages stack up? A proper PPC audit will show you what’s working, what isn’t, and where your landing pages are leaking high-value B2B leads.

Use LinkedIn Matched Audiences to Reach Specific Companies

If you’re serious about landing B2B deals with the right logos, you can’t beat LinkedIn Matched Audiences for getting your ads in front of the exact companies and decision-makers on your hit list.

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Here’s how to make it work:

• Upload a list of target company domains or use LinkedIn’s filters to zero in by job title, function, or seniority.
• Layer job titles and company size to cut out irrelevant clicks and up your odds of qualified conversations.
• Time your outreach for max relevance. Dennis F. points out, “We combine company lists with job title filters—high-LTV prospects, zero spam.”

Campaign example: If you’re selling a B2B product for SaaS marketing leads, zero in on Marketing Directors and CMOs at fast-growing SaaS companies. For your sponsored content, speak to what truly keeps these roles up at night. For instance, highlight how your tool helps CMOs cut wasted ad spend—a pain point for anyone trying to stretch limited budgets.

For advanced moves, pair Matched Audiences with retargeting to nurture the warmest prospects through your funnel. It’s a proven, low-waste way to make your B2B advertising campaign work smarter.

A/B Test Messaging for Different Decision-Makers

You can’t win B2B PPC by guessing what resonates. A/B testing isn’t just about colors or button text—it’s about dialing in your pitch for the right decision-makers at every level.

Here’s a smarter way to experiment:

• Test unique ad copy for different roles: CFOs get ROI and budget value, IT leads want integration details, and end users prefer hands-on features.
• Rotate value propositions, CTAs, or even offer formats (demo vs. calculator vs. comparison guide) and track who bites at each stage.
• Split your creative not just by persona, but by funnel stage. For example: high-level “why switch?” messaging for awareness, nitty-gritty specs for decision-makers.

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Dennis F. reports:

“For CEOs, we pitch strategic value and ROIs. For marketers, it’s all about automation and reporting. The results are night and day when you segment like this.”

Track results with robust conversion tracking—and don’t just measure clicks. Look for sales-qualified leads, booked meetings, or product trials tied to each creative variation. If you want a shortcut, a solid PPC budget plan helps you give each test enough data to get meaningful answers.

Layer Demographics and Firmographics for Precision

Stop wasting ad dollars on audiences who were never going to buy from you. The winning PPC campaigns stack demographic and firmographic filters to serve ads only to decision-makers who matter.

Here’s how to tighten your targeting:

• Combine job title and seniority filters (“VP of Supply Chain,” not just “manager”).
• Drill down by company size, revenue, or growth stage—enterprise buyers see different ads than startups.
• Use industry and tech stack insights (think “uses Salesforce” or “healthcare sector”) to get hyper-relevant.

Dennis F. suggests:

“Exclude junior roles and build in negative audiences. It keeps your spend focused on stakeholders who can truly move things forward.” It’s not only about who you do want, but who you don’t.”

Example: If your ideal B2B customers are mid-market FinTech firms, target “Director” and above, filter by company headcount, and layer in vertical-specific keywords. You’ll see higher-quality leads and lower your cost per acquisition.

Optimize Campaigns for Funnel-Specific Actions

Hitting goals in B2B PPC isn’t just about sending traffic—you need to track the right actions at every stage and refine your campaigns around what directly impacts qualified pipeline and real sales outcomes.

Here’s how to make it actionable:

• Set up conversion tracking for micro-conversions (like content downloads or webinar signups) at the top, and for hard goals (like demo requests or purchase forms) at the bottom.
• Optimize bidding strategies for the action that matches stage and value—not just form fills. For example: at the top, bid to maximize engagement; at the bottom, maximize conversions or target CPA.
• Score leads by quality, not just quantity. Dennis F. recommends linking your PPC with sales data: 

“The B2B teams winning in 2025 are the ones connecting what happens after the click—if a lead never talks to sales, it shouldn’t count as a win.”

✅Quick pro tip: Integrate your CRM to pipe in offline conversions, or use a business-to-business pay-per-click dashboard that tracks each conversion back to its funnel stage. The more you optimize for actions that match real buying behavior, the more your B2B PPC works like a true growth engine.

Top B2B PPC Mistakes That Drain Your Budget (and How to Fix Them)

Even smart marketers make costly PPC mistakes. Here are the seven biggest budget-killers in PPC advertising campaigns and how to fix each one.

Your Keywords Are Too Broad

Broad, generic keywords are the silent budget killers of B2B PPC. They bring expensive clicks from people who have zero interest in your actual solution—students doing research, competitors checking you out, or prospects who aren’t remotely qualified. You feel busy with all the traffic, but your sales team wonders where all the good leads are.

It’s so tempting to cast a wide net, especially when Google’s keyword planner keeps suggesting those high-volume terms. The platform loves recommendations like “marketing software” instead of “enterprise marketing automation for financial services”—because broader terms mean more clicks and more revenue for not necessarily for you.

So what should you do instead? Try these steps:

• Tighten your keyword approach with industry-specific, role-based phrases that real buyers search
• Review your search terms report weekly
• Ruthlessly cut anything bringing in unqualified traffic
• Reinvest that budget in high-intent queries where you stand a chance of converting

Your CRM and Google Don’t Talk to Each Other

When your CRM data doesn’t feed back into Google, you’re running blind. Your campaigns optimize for leads that look good on paper but never close. You might think a particular keyword is a rockstar because it brings in tons of form fills, but if sales can’t reach anyone or the leads aren’t qualified, you’re just paying for expensive contact information.

This disconnect happens because most teams get the leads flowing in one direction only—Google to CRM—but completely neglect the critical return loop. Marketing celebrates hitting lead targets while sales quietly curses the quality. Meanwhile, your bidding algorithms keep learning the wrong lessons about what makes a good prospect.

To solve this, focus on the following:

• Set up offline conversion imports to tell Google which leads turned into opportunities and deals
• Make sure your bidding optimizes for pipeline quality instead of form fills
• Regularly sync your CRM and ad platform data
• Prioritize cost per qualified lead, not just cost per form fill

You Left AI on Autopilot

Automated campaigns like Performance Max deliver volume but can quickly become convenience stores for low-quality leads when left unchecked. They’ll happily spend your budget on questionable placements, irrelevant audiences, and channels that never convert—all while showing improving metrics in the dashboard that don’t translate to real business.

The “set and forget” mentality is just too easy to fall into. You enable the automation, see some initial results, get busy with other priorities, and stop paying attention to where your budget goes. Meanwhile, Google’s automation gets better at driving cheap conversions, not necessarily valuable ones.

To keep automation working in your favor, consider these steps:

• Schedule monthly check-ins for your automated campaigns
• Look beyond aggregate numbers and review actual placements, audience segments, and performance by network
• Exclude junk placements or irrelevant segments
• Fine-tune your creative regularly
• Treat AI as a co-pilot, not a replacement

You’re Only Tracking Bottom-of-Funnel Actions

By only measuring final conversions like demo requests or contact forms, you’re missing most of the buyer journey and can’t optimize the earlier stages that fill your pipeline. It’s like only counting home runs while ignoring singles, doubles, and strategic walks—you miss the complete picture of what builds a winning game.

This tunnel vision happens because it’s easier to track one final conversion than to set up multiple touchpoints. Plus, leadership often demands “hard leads” rather than engagement metrics. The result? Your campaigns ignore all the research-stage activity where buyers form their shortlist—and guess who’s missing from that shortlist when they’re ready to talk?

To get a full-funnel view, use these steps:

• Start tracking micro-conversions throughout your funnel (content downloads, video completions, pricing page visits, and return visits to key pages)
• Optimize each stage separately so buyers move smoothly from awareness to consideration to decision
• Use these earlier signals to nurture prospects long before competitors notice them

Your Campaign Structure Is One-Size-Fits-Nobody

Generic campaigns that lump all audiences together are like delivering the same sales pitch to every prospect regardless of who they are or what they need. Your CFO prospect gets the same message as the IT leader—and both wonder if you really understand their specific challenges. Meanwhile, your costs climb while conversion rates drop.

Building the right campaign structure takes time, and most marketers prioritize “getting something live” over architecting properly. It feels faster to have one big campaign with a bunch of keywords than to create targeted segments with custom messaging. But this shortcut costs you far more in wasted spend and missed opportunities than taking the time to build it right.

To rebuild your structure for real results, follow this checklist:

• Break your campaigns into buyer persona segments and funnel stages
• Create tightly themed ad groups with specific messaging for each audience
• Align keywords and offers to each segment’s pain points and buyer journey stage
• Regularly review and refine campaign groupings based on performance data

Your Landing Pages Are Generic Brochures

When everyone lands on the same generic page, your conversion rates suffer because the content doesn’t speak to specific roles or needs. The CFO wants ROI numbers but sees technical specs. The IT lead needs integration details but gets high-level benefits. Nobody feels understood, so nobody converts—and you wonder why your traffic doesn’t translate to leads.

Creating multiple landing pages takes resources, so teams often settle for the one-size-fits-all approach. It seems more efficient to build a single page that covers everything. But this efficiency is an illusion—you save time on page creation while losing far more in opportunities and wasted ad spend on clicks that never convert.

To make your pages work harder, try this approach:

• Build landing experiences for each key business role and buying stage
• Show finance teams pricing transparency and ROI calculators
• Give IT security details and integration documentation
• Highlight strategic benefits and case studies for executives
• Always align page content with the specific ad and stage that brought the visitor

You’re Using LinkedIn Like Another Search Engine

Pushing bottom-funnel offers to cold LinkedIn audiences is like proposing on the first date—it feels pushy, comes too soon, and usually ends with rejection. Yet B2B marketers routinely take their Google search tactics to LinkedIn without adjusting for the platform’s completely different user intent and behavior patterns.

This mismatch happens because LinkedIn feels like just another ad platform in your mix. The interface looks similar, the targeting options feel familiar, and it’s tempting to use the same direct-response tactics that work elsewhere. But LinkedIn users aren’t actively searching for solutions—they’re networking, learning, and researching. Your “Book a Demo Now” CTA falls flat.

To realign your approach on LinkedIn, do the following:

• Use LinkedIn for account-based targeting and relationship building (not just lead forms)
• Test content-first approaches: thought leadership, industry insights, and educational resources
• Position your brand as a trusted advisor before direct CTAs
• Reserve hard asks for retargeting and warm audiences who already know you

These fixes save money and align your PPC with how real buyers make decisions. Regular audits and pipeline-focused metrics will transform underperforming campaigns into genuine growth engines.

Ready to Maximize ROI from Your B2B PPC Campaigns?

You’ve seen what works—and what drains your budget. B2B PPC isn’t a guessing game, and you don’t need another “set and forget” campaign that fills your pipeline with leads your sales team can’t close. When every click and form fill actually connects to real revenue, your entire marketing machine feels different: clearer data, happier sales teams, and growth you can defend in front of any board.

The step-by-step strategies here will help you build a smarter, tighter, and more profitable paid search engine. But if you want your campaigns managed by people who live and breathe B2B PPC, you don’t have to do it alone. Consider whether to outsource PPC to specialists who focus on B2B dynamics.

Book a call with Ninja Promo and start turning clicks into deals—not dead ends.