LinkedIn started in 2003 as a career platform for professionals to connect with other professionals and support career advancement and development. Hitting one million users in its first year, LinkedIn quickly became the leading professional networking site. Today the platform has over 900 million users.
As one of the top choices for social media marketing, LinkedIn has continued to grow its capabilities and now not only offers a place to list your professional qualifications but also a place to build your own personal brand and business connections. Because of this advantage, LinkedIn is a game changer when it comes to attracting top-tier leads and lucrative opportunities.
Understanding LinkedIn Advertising and Its Benefits
Advertising on LinkedIn is a bit different than other social platforms in the sense that it is specifically tailored for B2B advertising which makes it the best choice to connect with businesses and professionals.
Some of the benefits of marketing on LinkedIn include:
- – Professional targeting
- – High-quality audience
- – B2B Advantage
- – Content-centric platform
- – Leadership trust and engagement
- – High lead quality
- – Varied ad formats for professional context
- – Higher return on investment
According to Sprout Social, recent statistics show that LinkedIn produces leads for 62% of B2B marketers and has a 2x higher conversion rate and 33% increase in purchase intent. Additionally, if profiles are public then a user’s interactions are visible to connections, which allows you to see posts in your feed for people who you may not be following. That makes LinkedIn ideal for brand awareness and getting your brand in front of the right people.
Types of LinkedIn Ads and When to Use Them
Selecting the right ad format depends on what your marketing objectives are. By using the right format, you can create effective LinkedIn campaigns that really resonate with your audience.
Sponsored content: Sponsored ads are paid ads promoting blog posts, case studies and are intended to drive traffic to your website. These types of ads can be images, videos or carousel ads.
Message ads: Message ads are personalized and sent directly to the user’s LinkedIn inbox. They are great for direct engagement and sending deals or invitations.
Text ads: Text ads are smaller ads that will appear in the right-hand sidebar to promote something simple like a sign-up or trial. These ads usually reach a wide audience and are best for budget-conscious campaigns.
Dynamic ads: Dynamic ads encourage users to take specific action and are personalized to capture attention and build brand awareness.
Video ads: Video ads are ads that integrate with LinkedIn’s event feature to promote business events like webinars or conferences.
Carousel ads: Carousel ads are ads that include multiple images together and can be swiped by users to tell a story or to showcase multiple products in one single ad.
Lead gen forms: Lead gen forms are ads that include pre-filled forms so that users can share contact information without exiting the LinkedIn platform.
Event ads: Event ads are ads that integrate with LinkedIn’s event feature to promote events like webinars and conferences. These ads reach professionals that are in specific industries or are interested about select topics.
Crafting an Effective LinkedIn Advertising Strategy
A strong LinkedIn advertising strategy will ultimately establish your brand as a thought leader within your industry. In order to craft the right LinkedIn advertising strategy, you need to make sure that the core components are outlined.
Define Objectives
Determine if the goal of your campaign is to raise brand awareness, entice strong engagement, or ultimately convert. The type of campaign you run may impact how you identify and gauge success.
Target Your Audience
One of the best parts about LinkedIn is that it is geared toward a professional network. Make sure you understand where your brand falls and cater to that audience. This may take into account the industry your organization resides in, various job titles, the size of the companies you are trying to target, etc. Knowing who you are speaking to will help you to put the right content out in front of the right eyes.
Create Engaging Content
Your creative is key to your strategy. Plan out engaging ad content with compelling headlines, visuals and call-to-actions that really resonate with your designated audience. The creative and the content you put out should match the audience you are trying to reach and the goals you are trying to achieve.
Set Your Budget and Manage It Continuously
Set a realistic budget. Make sure that you use budget caps to help you control costs and avoid overspending. Monitor performance consistently and review metrics like cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL) to determine if further adjustments need to be made.
Best Practices for Maximizing LinkedIn Ad Results
As important as a strategy is for strong LinkedIn marketing, in order to maximize ad results you will need to review your strategy frequently and use LinkedIn analytics to monitor performance. Experimenting with various ad formats and diversifying your campaigns with text ads, video ads, message ads and more will help to understand what type of content is appealing to what audience.
You can use LinkedIn’s retargeting features to re-engage users who have previously interacted with your website or ads, increasing conversions with a lower cost per acquisition. This also will keep your brand top of mind. If the ads are not aligned with your brand’s professional message and offering the right user experience, optimize landing pages to include clear CTAs. Make sure to consider organic social activity so that your paid efforts complement your organic efforts.
Contact Our Team to Discuss Your LinkedIn Strategy
With around 140 million people logging into LinkedIn each and every day, it’s clear that leveraging the power of this platform to advertise your brand can be highly beneficial. If you are ready to start LinkedIn advertising, contact our expert team at HardPart Media. We can help craft impactful campaigns that boost your visibility and engagement!