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Smart marketers know Google AdWords is an essential part of a strong B2B marketing strategy. Since Google searchers are actively looking for either pertinent answers or solutions, marketers can quickly capture their attention and convert them to leads with search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns—as long as they take the right approach, of course.

Neatly Organize Your Keywords and Ad Groups

One of the most critical elements of your SEM campaigns is the organization of your keywords. Here are the best practices to create ad groups:

• 
Group keywords with similar themes: For example, put all “software” keywords in one ad group, separate from “solutions” or “platform” keywords

• Divide informational keywords and transactional keywords: For example, “what is customer relationship management” versus “buy crm software”, or “do i need crm” versus “customer relationship management solutions”

Structuring your ad groups like this allows you to tailor both your ad copy and your landing page to best fit the keywords, and makes it easier to detect performance patterns and execute appropriate bid and status adjustments.

By grouping keywords by theme, if a prospect searches “crm platform” and is served two ads—one with the headline “Top CRM Software” and one with the headline “Top CRM Platform”—that prospect is more likely to click on the latter. Relevancy is key in every part of SEM campaigns.

The second recommendation is primarily so you can match your landing page to the searcher’s level of intent. It would be unwise to use a direct-response ad (“Call Us Now”) and a Contact Us landing page with an individual who searched “what is crm.”

Similarly, you may not want to send someone who searched “buy crm software” to a landing page where they’re invited to download an eBook about general customer relationship management advice.

BONUS TIP: It’s all right to have ad groups with only one keyword if there are no similar terms with which that keyword can be grouped. But do not create a “Miscellaneous” ad group to lump together all of the keywords that don’t seem to fit anywhere else. If the keywords in an ad group aren’t related, you won’t be able to create ads relevant to each of them, which will lead to poor click-through rates and low conversion rates. So please, just don’t do it.

Enhance Your Ads with Extensions

AdWords offers many ways to beef up your search ads with extensions, and you should use as many as possible. Here’s why:

• Your ads will take up more of that precious real estate in search results, pushing your competitors farther down the page

• Searchers can learn more about your company without clicking your ad

• You can provide links to additional landing pages

• Google rewards those who use ad extensions with higher quality scores, which means lower cost per click and, in turn, a lower cost per conversion


The biggest downside of AdWords is the character limit. It’s difficult to give a complete summary of the content you’re offering or the total benefits of your product in only 70 characters.

With ad extensions, marketers can not only include more information about the company (using callout extensions and structured snippets), but they can also include four more links in addition to the main landing page. This means you can offer five different conversion opportunities with one ad.

Also available is the review extension, which allows marketers to append a product review to the ad, helping lend credibility to your business. There is also the call extension, which lets marketers add a phone number to the ad, encouraging high-intent searchers to connect with your company immediately.

Not all of the AdWords extensions will be appropriate for your advertising, but there certainly are no drawbacks to using those that are.

Use the Proper Landing Pages

B2B SEM campaigns traditionally use two types of landing pages: direct-response and content downloads. Both are equally important in paid search marketing.

Many marketers make the critical mistake of not taking advantage of content. They assume the best practice is to cut to the chase and simply tell searchers, “Let’s talk,” regardless of where the searcher is in the buyer’s journey. However, the actual best practice is to use paid search together with content marketing to start the lead nurturing process.

Say a prospect is just beginning his research. He’s heard of CRM software but isn’t sure if his business needs it, so he Googles “what is crm software.” Marketers who recognize the importance of intent (and who have meticulously organized their ad groups) would serve an ad featuring a free download of their eBook, “The 10 Benefits of Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software.”

The searcher sees this ad, is interested in the download, and submits the request form. The prospect now has a useful guide to help him with his research, and the company has his contact information.

The core principle of content marketing is to start a conversation with prospective customers by offering them helpful eBooks, whitepapers, blogs and industry reports related to their needs, rather than jumping right into a sales pitch.

Content marketing is about demonstrating value to prospects, which is crucial in a consumer-empowered marketplace. Sending a visitor straight to a Contact Us page when he’s in the early stages of the buyer’s journey is kind of like proposing on the first date.

BONUS TIP: Feel free to have multiple conversion opportunities on your PPC landing pages. For instance, include a link to a gated PDF download of an industry report or eBook on a Contact Us page (example below). If a prospective customer arrives on the landing page but doesn’t want to chat right then, they can download the content instead, and you still capture their email address. Win-win!

The proper use of content in AdWords campaigns allows marketers to build trust and establish the kind of relationships with prospects that help them feel more comfortable making what is often a hefty financial commitment. And with HubSpot’s Ads Add-On, it’s easy to manage both content and AdWords campaigns in one platform.

AdWords can be a profitable channel, but it’s important to remember that SEM campaigns can take time to show their worth. If you’re patient, follow this advice and use all of the tools at your disposal, you’ll see how much paid search can boost your overall ROI.

For most people, adding a caption, emoji, or even a cool filter to a Snapchat before shipping it is enough to satisfy their creative needs. And that’s perfectly fine. There are plenty of people and brands doing really cool things on Snapchat without going all “Van Gogh” on their pictures and videos.

… But there are also people who prefer to go that extra mile when it comes to dressing up their Snaps.

You see, Snapchat lets you draw on your pictures and videos before you send them to your friends or your Story, like this:

Image Credit: Mashable

While most of us (myself included) use Snapchat’s drawing tool for crude drawings and scribbling extra words, there are folks out there who see this as an opportunity to create incredible works of Snapchat art. And some of them are really darn good at it.

We searched far and wide for the best Snapchat drawings out there and created the list below. This collect serves as a mix of artwork from “professional Snapchatters,” brands, and just normal folks who happen to be really good at drawing on their phones.

Check ’em out, and get ready to be inspired to create your own Snapchat art. You may not become the next Picasso … but you might at least make someone laugh. (And read this blog post to learn more about how to use Snapchat, including a detailed look into HubSpot’s own Snapchat strategy.)

49 of the Most Impressive Snapchat Drawings We’ve Ever Seen

1) Making breakfast a little more interesting.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

2) Ahhhhhh zabenyaaaa.

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

3) Ah! Get it off of me!

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

4) Presidential pals.

Image Credit: emgarber

5) Oh hey there.

Image Credit: Tech Insider

6) Getting abstract.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

7) This needs a caption contest.

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

8) On cloud nine.

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

9) Plug puns.

Image Credit: emgarber

10) That right angle though…

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

11) Oh hey, Bacchus.

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

12) SWIM!

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

13) Can this be real life?

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

14) Better than Ellen’s Oscar selfie?

Image Credit: Tech Insider

15) Saving the world one Snap at a time.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

16) The name’s Gatsby, Jay Gatsby.

Image Credit: BuzzFeed

17) It was him!

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

18) Once you go Dunkin’, you never go back.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

19) Single and ready to flamingle.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

20) Squad goals.

Image Credit: thetrinitykiller4

21) To the Alps, by unicorn!

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

22) Another year older, another year wiser?

Image Credit: emgarber

23) IT GOT SUPERMAN.

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

24) This guy is more excited than you.

Image Credit: Tech Insider

25) Hey there, lil guy.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

26) He’s in it for the marshmallows.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

27) Yo, what’d you do to my eggs?

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

28) Seeing dots.

Image Credit: Tech Insider

29) And then I woke up.

Image Credit: emgarber

30) Feel FRIDA call me.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

31) Are we sure this is a drawing?

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

32) Getting literal.

Image Credit: emgarber

33) You’ve got a friend in me.

Image Credit: BuzzFeed

34) He asked for it, amirite?

Image Credit: Smosh

35) Tigers are the best princess sidekicks.

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

36) That eye will haunt my dreams.

Image Credit: Reddit

37) We mermaid for each other <3

Image Credit: Smosh

38) Mer wine, please. 

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

39) Better than a face tattoo.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

40) Rock climbing. 

Image Credit: emgarber

41) Mad (cat) scientist. 

Image Credit: Tech Insider

42) THIS IS SPARTA.

Image Credit: Smosh

43) No, I am the walrus.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

44) Hmm. Just humans.

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

45) Do you want to build a snowman?

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

46) The deep blue sea amber ale.

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

47) Go fish.

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

48) You can stand under my umbrella.

Image Credit: Snapchat Mi

49) Un-BEAR-ably cute.

Image Credit: @geeohsnap

Which Snapchat drawings are your favorites? Share with us in the comments.

After years of trying to understand the ins and outs of using Twitter for business — from hashtag best practices to running paid campaigns — many marketers have been left wondering … “Does any of this Twitter stuff actually work? Where are the numbers? Where’s the science?!”

At long last, we’ve been able to uncover the answers to these questions. And with the help of our friends at Audiense (formerly SocialBro), we’ve created an infographic that showcases the science behind achieving Twitter success.

In the infographic below, you’ll find a host of stats that can help you to better understand where you should be allocating your Twitter resources and what tactics you could be using to expand your reach. Let’s dive in …

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<p><strong>Please include attribution to hubspot.com with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /><a href=’http://ift.tt/1X6GiQS’><img src=’http://ift.tt/1s5js0m’ alt=’The Science of Twitter Success [Infographic]’ width=’669px’ border=’0′ /></a></p>

Know of any other Twitter statistics that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.