Is SEO Losing Value as a Channel for B2B? The Balance Between Capturing and Creating Demand

Without a doubt, or an argument, B2B marketing is a difficult skill to master. Many people choose the route of implementing SEO because of how simple it is to pick off the “low-hanging fruits” and to do such things at scale. But, one question remains and has been gaining popularity: is SEO still valuable, or should companies shift their focus and resources to new strategies like dark social and events to generate demand? The answer isn’t as simple as it seems – it’s more of a strategic combination of both. Companies need to do one thing well: channel intent. SEO and demand creation aren’t mutually exclusive; they serve different purposes at different stages of the buyer’s journey.

Capturing Demand is Best with SEO

People – your potential customers – have to search for the solutions they need. For many, Google is the first place they tend to look. This is why SEO excels at capturing the segment of “in-market” demand. It’s a high-intent channel for B2B companies looking to get their products and services in front of buyers who are already looking for them.

Even if this is the case, which it is, companies still have to take note as to when SEO is worth the investment. Here’s some ideas:

• You Have Product-Market Validation: When your products or services are already in demand, SEO gets all the more better (if that’s a phrase). If people are looking for the solutions you provide, SEO will make sure you’re capturing those intents.
• Your Brand Is Recognizable: When your brand is automatically top of mind when people discuss a product or a service, then SEO can help you leverage that recognition. When potential buyers make searches such as “[YOUR BRAND + THING]” then you’d already be showing up in those search results.
• It’s Feasible to Drive Search Traffic: If your competition isn’t ridiculously nuts and your industry has good search volume, then SEO can be used to drive high-quality traffic to your website.
• You’re Patient: Yeah, we said it. SEO takes time, it isn’t overnight, if you’re starting from scratch then it could take as long as a year to see any sort of results. But once the machine is running, SEO will give you long-lasting results and compounding returns.

When SEO Isn’t Worth the Investment

As good as we make it out to be (it really is that good – just saying), there are some cases in which SEO isn’t worth the time as it won’t deliver the best results. Some of those cases include:

• No Search Demand: If no one is searching for your product or service, SEO is useless. Think about it, if no one is Googling whatever it is you offer, then how the heck would SEO function? Niche industries or novel products might not yet have established demand needed to justify the SEO investment.
• Competition is Fierce: When you have an industry that has the top dawgs remaining the top dawgs and breaking through is seemingly impossible, then it isn’t worth the time.
• Misalignment with Buyer Behaviors: SEO needs to align with how people look for your offer. For example, job marketplaces used to rely on SEO, but now buyers just go right to the job board or use platforms such as LinkedIn.
• Need Fast Results: We don’t have to explain much with this… We just said it was a long-term game, so if you need a fast pipeline of leads, relying solely on SEO should not be your go-to.

What is Dark Social

Dark social is just a common reference for platforms such as LinkedIn, podcasts, webinars, and B2B events. While SEO is great for capturing active demand, these “dark social” platforms are good for educating buyers early on in their buyer journey. Dark social pushes awareness and creates your future pipeline of customers, but it doesn’t do as well of a job at converting. They tend to be more for passive engagement, not active solution seeking.

The best way to go about it, or to think about it, is just staying on the radar with your potential customers. Building brand awareness and generating thought leadership that pays off later when the buyer is ready to seek a solution.

Who Succeeds? Those Who Do Both

The best B2B marketing consists of a little bit of both – capturing demand through SEO and creating demand with dark social and events. Each channel plays its own role in the B2B buyer journey, and the most effective companies use both to their advantage. SEO is a longer-term strategy to capture those buyers who are in-market, while dark social keeps your brand on everyone’s radar.