Paid advertising playbook for B2B growth

Introduction

When I first ran Google Ads in 2010, it looked very different. Still, the core mistake I made is the same one I see marketers make today. I wasted most of the budget in the first two weeks. Not because the channel didn’t work, but because I didn’t fully understand what made people click or what made them convert. I picked keywords that felt right, wrote ads that looked clever, and assumed the rest would follow.

It didn’t.

What I learned through painful trial and error is that paid search only works when you treat it like a precision engine. You have to know exactly what your buyer is searching for, why they are searching, and what they need to see to trust that you are the right answer.

This playbook exists to help you skip that painful learning curve. It shows you how to pick intent-driven keywords, write ads that earn the click, and set up your account for fast feedback and real pipeline instead of vanity traffic.

If you’ve been meaning to launch paid search for your B2B company but weren’t sure where to start, or if you’ve tried it before and didn’t see results, this playbook is for you. It is practical, step-by-step, and focused on getting your first profitable campaign live.

Chapters

1

Campaign structure and account setup

Set up your Google Ads account, define your campaign structure, and organise ad groups so every euro is traceable to a business outcome.

Read chapter

2

Keyword research and match types

Find the search terms your buyers actually use, choose the right match types, and build a negative keyword list that protects your budget.

Read chapter

3

Ad copy and extensions

Write search ads that earn the click by matching intent, and configure extensions that increase your ad real estate and click-through rate.

Read chapter

4

Bidding strategy

Choose the right bidding strategy for your goals, set target CPA or ROAS, and configure bid adjustments by device, location, and audience.

Read chapter

5

Search campaign optimisation

Review search term reports, refine match types, test ad variations, and reallocate budget to the campaigns that drive qualified pipeline.

Read chapter

Paid advertising

tools

Google Analytics

Web analytics that tracks user behaviour and conversions, essential for understanding traffic and lead sources when configured well.

Rating

From

€

per month

Explore tool

My review

Google Tag Manager

Tag management that lets you add and control scripts, events and pixels with versioning and consent rules.

Rating

From

€

per month

Explore tool

My review

HubSpot

All in one CRM with marketing, sales and service, strong when you want one system that teams adopt.

Rating

From

€

per month

Explore tool

My review

Looker Studio

Free dashboard tool that pulls data from many sources, great for quick reports and shareable views.

Rating

From

€

per month

Explore tool

My review

Books

Breakthrough Advertising

Eugene M. Schwartz

Rating

A field guide to message market fit. Use stages of awareness to pick angles, craft offers and brief ads that speak to real pains and jobs.

My review

Traffic secrets

Russel Brunson

Rating

A broad look at audience building. Useful ideas for content, partnerships and email that compound over time.

My review

Traction (channels)

Gabriel Weinberg

Rating

A method to discover your best channel. Prioritise, test and focus resources where traction is most likely.

My review

Dotcom Secrets

Russel Brunson

Rating

Translate funnel templates into clean journeys. Focus on offers, sequences and pages that convert instead of tactics that age badly.

My review

Wiki

Landing page

Create focused standalone pages for paid campaigns that remove distractions and guide visitors toward one specific action to improve conversion rates.

Read concept

Cost per click (CPC)

Calculate what you pay each time someone clicks your ad to evaluate channel efficiency and determine if paid traffic costs justify the leads generated.

Read concept

Paid social advertising

Target prospects based on demographic, firmographic, and behavioural data, interrupting their social feeds with relevant offers and content.

Read concept

Cost-per-X

Master the economics of customer acquisition by tracking what you pay for each meaningful action across channels.

Read concept

Paid search

Capture high-intent prospects actively searching for solutions by bidding on relevant keywords and appearing in search engine results.

Read concept

Other playbooks

Data & dashboards

Build the dashboards and data pipelines that show your growth engines in one view so you can spot bottlenecks and make decisions in minutes, not meetings.

Read playbook

Planning & project management

Set up project boards, sprint rhythms, and communication habits that keep growth work on track without endless status meetings or lost context.

Read playbook

Increase pricing

Raise prices strategically through better packaging, value communication, and positioning so revenue grows without adding customers.

Read playbook

Increase line items

Develop cross-sell and upsell motions that expand accounts by solving more problems for customers who already trust you.

Read playbook

Increase contract length

Build retention strategies, success milestones, and renewal processes that keep customers committed for longer periods.

Read playbook

Improve win rate

Strengthen your closing approach — objection handling, negotiation, and follow-through — so more proposals turn into signed contracts.

Read playbook

Paid advertising

Introduction

Chapters

1

Campaign structure and account setup

2

Keyword research and match types

3

Ad copy and extensions

4

Bidding strategy

5

Search campaign optimisation

Paid advertising

tools

Google Analytics

Google Tag Manager

HubSpot

Looker Studio

Books

Breakthrough Advertising

Traffic secrets

Traction (channels)

Dotcom Secrets

Wiki

Landing page

Cost per click (CPC)

Paid social advertising

Cost-per-X

Paid search

Related topic

Demand generation

Other playbooks

Data & dashboards

Planning & project management

Increase pricing

Increase line items

Increase contract length

Improve win rate

Keep reading