The article I’m linking to today was written at the start of the year, but the trends it observes will probably be even stronger now. But first let’s keep to basics. Are you using Google AdWords? They’re the small ads which appear at the top and on the right on Google results pages, and on many third-party sites like the site I used to edit, Engineeringtalk, and thousands of others. Let’s just say now, unequivocally, that if you’re in UK B2B marketing, you should be using AdWords. If you’re not, I’d guess you’re already way behind many of your competitors. I can quote you companies in the engineering and scientific sectors whose advertising spend (of all types) over the years up to 2005/2006 fell steadily to almost zero, but over the past two or three years has rocketed up again past previous levels - and it’s all going on Google AdWords. These people aren’t daft. Google AdWords works, and unlike most other forms of advertising, can immediately be shown to work (or, importantly, not to work).

One of the choices Google AdWords gives you is whether to just advertise on the Google results pages, or to advertise there and on the third-party sites (the “content network”). Getting good results from the “content network” is harder, and many people ignore that option. However, the advice is changing, as The AdWords Content Network - Better Than Ever on the PPC Discussions blog explains.

Getting started with Google AdWords and getting more efficient with Google AdWords both feature on our Insider Programme - another reason to sign up with us.