Introduction

B2B ads can drive real growth if done right. This guide shows CMOs how to stop wasting ad money and start seeing results.

What's the Problem It Solves?

Most B2B companies run ads that don’t work well. They either target the wrong people, use boring content, or don’t track results properly. This guide helps marketing leaders fix that by teaching what actually works in B2B advertising today.

Quick Summary

This guide is for CMOs and marketing leaders at B2B tech companies who want better results from their advertising. It explains that many businesses don’t get much out of their ad budget because they use the wrong channels, boring creative, or weak offers. It also says most companies don’t track where their best leads are really coming from, so they can’t improve their ad game.

The author, Kevin Lord Barry, has helped companies like DoorDash and Ramp spend over $100 million in ads. His team found that great B2B ad results come from five things: picking the right channels, using clear creative, testing strong offers, having a system to track results, and hiring people who’ve done it before. He explains how strategies change based on your audience size-from big enterprise targets to millions of small business owners.

The guide also breaks down how to build ad teams, test different offers (like ebooks, demos, or gift cards), and why simple text-on-image ads often work best in B2B. Finally, it shows how to hire or outsource ad experts who know how to spend money smart and scale campaigns fast. It’s not about guessing—it’s about building a machine that can test, learn, and grow your pipeline fast.

Key Takeaways from the Article

• Most B2B ad efforts fail because companies pick the wrong strategies or don’t track well.
• Ads work best when they’re tied to strong offers like gated content, demos, or smart incentives.
• Clear ad text (called “visual headlines”) matters more than fancy design.
• Your strategy depends on audience size: big company targets need a different plan than smaller business targets.
• Gated content is still very useful, especially when paired with a strong sales team.
• Offers should change often to avoid ad fatigue-don’t just push demos.
• Ads should be made and tested quickly-don’t overthink approvals.
• Track where leads come from using tools like Hubspot and Salesforce, and keep source data clean.
• Hiring people with real B2B ad scaling experience is key-not generalists.
• Most great ad performance comes from getting 5% of your ads to win big, so volume and testing matter.

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