In the B2B world, tracking your pay per click online marketing campaigns can be complicated for many reasons. First, the sales process often starts with a request for information, whether through a phone call, a sample request, an email, or a request for quote. The sales cycle can be much longer, businesses may start gathering information months before they actually make a purchase.

In B2B, a larger client can be far more valuable in terms of revenue and profits (so you need to be able to determine the value of a particular lead or have the ability to trace where a certain valuable client came from). A business buyer often needs to issue a purchase order and is not able to purchase using your shopping cart. Also, business people don't remember where they came from, they are too busy trying to get their job done (so simply asking people when they call how they found you is usually useless). Plus, your salespeople are not going to want to ask people where they came from.

Ironically, the very speed and freedom with which information flows on the internet presents another challenge for advertisers. Most search engines distribute ads on many different sites. Users typically have no way of knowing where the ad really originated. Ad newtworks sometimes advertise on other search engines and get organic traffic. Thus, it's very likely that a user could have done a search on a larger search engine, then, clicked through to another site and found your ad.

Ultimately, proper tracking can both lower expenditures and increase profits. It's vital to know where your good leads are coming from. You need to be able to track the number of leads that you are getting and determine their value. If you know exactly which keywords on which search engines are bringing you the most conversions, you can shift your budget to maximize your results. Despite the challenges, it is vital for B2B advertisers to have a comprehensive tracking solution.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Always conduct some testing to make sure your tracking system works. You may even want to order your own products via your online shopping cart.
• If you are not getting the results you want on certain keywords, do a comparison study with your competitors and consider why certain products aren't converting for you.