B2B e-commerce continues to evolve as more businesses turn to B2B e-commerce software to market their goods and services and find vendors for their own needs. The B2B e-commerce services industry should be followed closely so that you can stay on top of the changes as they affect your own marketing platforms. E-commerce providers continue to open up and offer less expensive alternatives and consultancy services that you need to follow so that you can take advantage of the best deals out there.

Find the most information you can about B2B e-commerce providers by keeping up with the latest B2B e-commerce news and trends. Whether you run a small business or a large corporation, you need to receive regular news regarding B2B e-commerce solutions to remain competitive. Look for B2B e-commerce solution news by communicating with other business owners with similar needs. Find out about local web-based reverse auction services through trade associations. Use industry publications and business-owner blogs to receive the latest e-commerce info. Discover numerous ways to keep up with B2B e-commerce news and trends.

1. Use trade association publications to keep up B2B e-commerce provider news

2. Subscribe to publications for B2B e-commerce service providers

3. Sign on for email alerts and newsletters from e-commerce providers

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

Share information with other B2B e-commerce businesses

Blogs are increasingly becoming the media of choice for many small business owners looking for quick and efficient means to communicate with other like-minded professionals. Find an Internet blog that provides trustworthy information and attracts reliable posting participants. Talk to other local payment solutions users in your networking groups to find out what they are doing that may be new or innovative.

I recommend: Keep up with other retailers using e-commerce solutions on the blog at Get Elastic. Stay on top of the latest industry information through the peer review journal First Monday.

Read up on changes in B2B e-commerce software

News about e-commerce developers and providers continues to dominate many of the hi-tech publications available online and in hard copy print versions. While you may get regular email alerts and newsletters from your trade association, it's a good idea to stay on top of the industry as a whole so that you can know about changes that affect the industry as a whole.

I recommend: MarketingSherpa runs conferences and publishes cases studies on B2B e-commerce. E-Consultancy provides information about e-commerce development, events and training opportunities through its newsletters, blogs and forums.

Receive B2B e-commerce services email alerts

While most business owners are trying to clear out their in-boxes to save time, you should allow at least one information provider to get into your email with alerts about new e-commerce companies and their latest news. You shouldn't miss out on vital industry alerts just because you want to avoid spam.

I recommend: Sign up with Market Research to get regularly updated email alerts focused solely on the e-commerce industry. Sign up for industry-specific email alerts and receive educational and new development papers from the E-Commerce Digest.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider the source when you are gathering information about B2B e-commerce news and trends. When information comes from a vendor, it will be biased toward that company's own products and ideas. Ideally, you should be getting your updates from a couple of different sources.

B2B companies often have a lot invested in their websites, but still aren’t effectively using them in the pay-per-click marketplace. The Forrester's Marketing Effectiveness Survey, from Q2 of 2006, reported that only 59% of B2B companies surveyed are using search engine marketing. And while B-to-C marketers use 35 to 60% of their online spend to paid search, B-to-B companies only devote 20 to 45% of their online budget to search ads.

Pay per click marketing is an important source of potential leads for business-to-business companies because search engines are the #1 starting place for prospects as they enter their buying process – more so than the a vertical directory or industry portal that you’re so familiar with. For many companies, pay per click search engine marketing allows them to compete against their larger competitors on a much more level playing field. It’s also an essential way to educate, interact, and engage potential customers in a ‘pull’ environment.

Take advantage of these tips and tricks to get the most out of your B2B pay per click campaigns.

Steps:

1. Start with the best possible offer

2. Send traffic to the right place to increase leads at no extra cost

3. Choose the right source of traffic for your business

4. Focus your ad copy around the offer

5. Select your keywords wisely

6. Don’t forget to measure results

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

Never send traffic to your home page

Most B2C marketers have learned this lesson, and there have certainly been enough studies to prove the point, but approximately 75% of B2B companies still send search traffic to their home page instead of a relevant landing page.

I recommend: Stop doing this, and you’ll likely see an immediate ROI improvement. A 2004 study from AtlasOnePoint suggested that the average B2B home page had a 6.3% conversion rate from PPC traffic, compared to a keyword relevant landing page with a 9.3% conversion rate.

Start with optimizing your offer

So much of the focus these days is on the nitty gritty aspects of PPC management, but we forget that in order for a customer to be willing to provide his or her personal information to your business, you have to provide a pretty good incentive. Common marketing collateral includes white papers, webinars, and demos, with white papers being the preferred reading material of 71% of B2B researchers.

I recommend: Make sure to test offers against each other on the same advertising channel, since different offers may appeal to different audiences. KnowledgeStorm also has a great article on B2B content preferences to help you optimize your offerings (registration required).

Optimize your landing page to increase leads at no extra cost

Now that you’ve chosen the right offer, make sure your landing page doesn’t stand in the way of people converting. Keep your registration form as short as possible, since each additional field adds friction to the page. Remove excess navigation, and keep the page focused on a single goal with a prominent call to action. Test short copy vs. long copy. Headlines, images, and color are other top priorities for testing.

I recommend: Landing page optimization is a huge topic which can provide excellent results with no additional marketing costs. Optimize your page using these top tips from MarketingExperiments. If you have buy-in from the IT staff, you can get amazing results by using Google’s Website Optimizer tool to automate landing page testing.

Choose the right search engines

Your campaigns can only be as good as the traffic they solicit. 65% of B2B buyers source off a search engine when they are developing awareness at the beginning of their purchase cycle, so it’s important to appear in these results. Google is the preferred engine for 77% of B2B buyers, so it’s a must have. Yahoo may be a problem because they don’t have as effective of limitations in geography, so you’ll likely be paying for international leads.

I recommend: You’ll find these great stats at SearchEngineWatch. Plus, don’t forget to look into the niche search engines and vertical directories which focus on business customers. See my other guide to B2B search engines for a good list.

Focus your ad copy around your offer

While flashy copy will entice the searcher to click, don’t forget your goal is to convert that visitor into a lead. Focusing at least one line of your ad copy on the offer will increase the relevancy of your page for those who click through. Doing so with a call to action also helps to prep the prospective customer for the action you want them to take. Don’t forget that the search engines will bold a word in your ad copy if it matches with the search query, so relevancy is key. Other top tips: Numbers help quantify your benefits, don’t hesitate to try out the word ‘free’ in lead gen campaigns, questions as titles create interest in your offer.

I recommend: This is another area with lots of best practices and studies already done for you. Use the information to your benefit, and you’ll start out ahead of the game. See these articles: MarketingExperiments' PPC Ad Copy Tested and ClickZ's Part 1 and Part 2 on PPC Copywriting Strategies.

Select your keywords wisely

Keywords in your pay per click campaign, are the equivalent of the demographic selections in your direct marketing lists. They shouldn’t be chosen without giving the task a little forethought. The most common mistake is to use too few keywords, which means your competition (and thus CPC) will be stiff. That’s no place to be if you’re just starting out and not using professional management. There’s no real rule of thumb, but I suggest aiming for a minimum of 500 keywords.

I recommend: Review my guide on Negative Keywords, another essential part of keyword research.

Don’t forget to measure your results

Yes, it will take you longer to launch if you have to get your IT department involved, but it is essential to have the tracking data from the start. I know you have other priority things on you plate, which is why this gets pushed to the side time and time again. But having statistics for your campaigns will help you make future budgeting decisions. And since PPC is typically a high ROI area of marketing, you can get great stats to back up the program (and your hard work) in the future.

I recommend: Google Analytics is one of the easiest to implement, but since it’s separate from the search engine accounts, it’s also easy to ignore the data. If you want the lowest common denominator, go with the conversion tracking systems built into the pay per click search engines. Sure, once you’re doing more business, there are reasons to use other systems, but this is a simple and integrated way to start out.

B2B e-commerce can work in your favor as a vendor or a buyer. Use B2B e-commerce software in conjunction with your website to make shopping easier for your clients. E-commerce providers can set you up to sell all your products and services through your site and use the B2B e-commerce services to take payments through hosted online payment solutions or with credit cards.

You should be using B2B e-commerce solutions to increase your business and to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Save resources on sales commissions by letting your clients reach you through your B2B e-commerce providers. Order your own supplies, business services and merchandise from vendors who provide web-based reverse auction services. Easily compare prices and shop the competition with the help of online auction tools. Find a number of ways to start using B2B e-commerce as you grow your business. Look for law firm marketing ideas from a number of places.

1. Use B2B e-commerce providers to set up your website

2. Use B2B e-commerce portals to purchase your goods and services

3. Use B2B e-commerce services to increase business

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

Find B2B e-commerce service providers

More and more business is moving towards the Internet, reshaping the way B2B transactions of every kind take place. Many companies have ventured into the e-commerce arena through their website, requiring clients to call to place final orders. You can streamline that process by finding a good B2B e-commerce provider to set you up with online ordering and payment solutions.

I recommend: Use Volusion to set you up with appropriate shopping cart software so that you can reach your business clients easily and add profits to your bottom line. They have e-commerce solutions for small, medium and large businesses. You can use Technicon to help you transfer your catalogues online so that your clients can begin to participate in your e-commerce transactions.

Look for B2B e-commerce solutions

Through auctions and online catalogues, it's easier to compare prices and spend time reviewing various service providers in your own time. Look to online providers to save time talking to sales reps and make decisions across department lines by sending everyone in your company to the e-commerce sites you prefer.

I recommend: Use First World Trade Portal to find links to B2B e-commerce links for most industries around the world. Join for free as a shopper and if you are pleased with the results, you can add your own company to the links. Use GXS to help you navigate the e-commerce landscape with all its nuances. GXS can assist you in setting up your own shopping portals and provide advice about other e-commerce companies with which you can do business.

Integrate B2B e-commerce software into your business

You need to include all departments and your entire team when you develop an e-commerce marketing plan. In addition to a better online presence and targeted advertising, you should instruct your buyers and sales department which e-commerce sites you've approved. Allow your key employees to be involved in the transition from personal sales to an e-commerce culture.

I recommend: Use Infopia for an entire turnkey e-commerce operation. They offer a multitude of e-commerce options that could make your company more profitable. Let your team members use the e-commerce software demos from Insite to see if they have the best solutions for your business needs.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure that your B2B e-commerce providers upgrade you software on a regular basis as part of their initial contract.

Business to business (B2B) ecommerce is the exchange of products and services online between two businesses. The concept of B2B ecommerce is similar to ecommerce transactions with consumers. The difference is that B2B ecommerce is much more common and often takes place without the knowledge of consumers. This is because many B2B transactions are made at a fraction of the cost a consumer pays for the same products, due to wholesale prices and other discounts given to businesses.

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

Business to business (B2B)

Business to business refers the exchange of goods or services between businesses that have partnered together. These transactions are secure so consumers do not have access to pricing information. The majority of ecommerce transactions are B2B and not business to consumer (B2C).

I recommend: Vista Consulting provides an explanation of the difference between B2B and B2C ecommerce.

Co-branding

Co-branding is an agreement between two organizations to create a partnership. The partnership is presented to the consumer through a single company with the brand, logo and product information.

I recommend: All Merchants provides an article on the benefits of using co-branding in ecommerce.

Digital cash

Digital cash is a system to set up digital money or merchant accounts with a specific bank. This allows ecommerce businesses to send and receive online payments.

I recommend: The College of Business at Austin State University provides a look at a cashless society and how digital cash and other online transactions are growing in popularity with businesses.

Secure servers

A secure server is a specialized server that uses encryption to keep unauthorized users from seeing messages and sensitive information passed through the system. All B2B ecommerce transactions take place on secure servers to keep company information from going public.

I recommend: FastVirtual provides a guides on secure servers, how to obtain an SSL, and common issues when using a secure server with other applications.

Service level agreement (SLA)

A service level agreement is used between a merchant and another merchant or a merchant and a consumer to define the boundaries of service. This explains what and when the service will deliver.

I recommend: CIO Magazine provides an introduction to service level agreements and explains why it is important to have one under specific circumstances.

Cost of goods sold

Cost of goods sold refers to the total cost for a consumer to purchase the finished product. In B2B ecommerce, cost of goods sold can refer to the total cost of purchasing the raw materials plus the total cost of manufacturing raw materials into the finished product.

I recommend: Accounting Coach provides more information on cost of goods sold.