Your Google Ads are quickly running, Facebook ads are waving to its million active users, and Bing leads several leads to your page. That’s a good catch right there.
But, have you looked on LinkedIn Ads?
Do you want to build relationships with like-minded professionals? LinkedIn is the solution. But, did you know LinkedIn is also a highly valuable tool for inbound marketing?
According to B2B social media statistics, LinkedIn is one of the top three most used social media channels by B2B Marketers. Why? Because 45% of marketers acquired customers through their LinkedIn ads. More so, LinkedIn is 277% more effective in generating leads than Facebook.
Table of Contents
- Who should create a LinkedIn Ad Campaign?
- Who can see LinkedIn Ads?
- What are the Types of LinkedIn Ads?
- How Much LinkedIn Ads Cost?
- 5 Steps on How to Set Up LinkedIn Ads
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You might not realize this, but if you use LinkedIn to create targeted content, you have more power in your hands. That’s because it is developed as a powerful ads platform. If you have an idea of how to use the pay-per-click (PPC) technique on some of your social media platforms, then consider yourself lucky! It makes it easier to add LinkedIn to the list.
In this post, we will talk about several essential things associated with LinkedIn Ads to help your business grow. From the basics to how the system works. We also have a separate article about LinkedIn ads’ best practices.
Let’s start finding out about LinkedIn!
Who should create a LinkedIn Ad Campaign?
Before you can tell whether LinkedIn is the right platform for your business, ask yourself– “would a professional be interested in the product or services I offer?”
That question is all you need to determine whether it is worth the try. Business-to-business (B2B) is the perfect marketing for LinkedIn Ads.
If you offer something that greatly benefits business owners or professionals, they are probably interested in your business.
Who can see LinkedIn Ads?
Well. you could tell that LinkedIn Ads are not as evident as the ads on other platforms. It is not like something on Google, YouTube, or Facebook that you see nearly every day.
There are four formats of LinkedIn ads, and each has its special features. Recent research claims that LinkedIn is the second-best social platform for distributing content and securing audience engagement.
What are the Types of LinkedIn Ads?
There are four types of LinkedIn ads format that you could use for your campaign. When you decide on the format on which to use, you have to consider some factors– audience, budget, and campaign objects are a few.
You can choose among these four main types of LinkedIn ads to build your ad campaigns. Base your ad content and purpose within these formats:
Sponsored Content
If you use sponsored content for your ads, it will appear on your target audience’s news feed as organic content. Your audience will see similar content on LinkedIn like the one below.
These types of ads work similarly with the promoted posts that blend in social media feeds. There are three formats for sponsored contents:
- Image – Usually, image ads only feature a single image.
- Carousel ads – It is a slider that features two or more images.
- Video ads – You can only embed one video.
Commonly, the sponsored content has the highest average cost-per-click (CPC). You have more freedom with this ad format. Create exciting posts that look natural for the audience. Include attention-grabbing headlines and introduction.
We recommend larger images for sponsored content. You can have 1200 x 627. Also, do not forget the URL.
Message Ads/InMail
Your target audience will directly receive the message ads in their LinkedIn inbox. So, you might want to write to them in a friendly way. You can be informal with message ads. It is not displayed as ads.
Using this LinkedIn Ad allows you to send your content directly to your target audience. You will receive better data for engagement metrics, as it will be based on the recipient’s response and action.
Dynamic Ad
This LinkedIn ad is more personalized than others. Whenever an audience views a content, a dynamic ad will change its content based on the audience preference. The personal data of your target audience is used to tailor the creative content.
Take note; only the member can see their data. Data is not shared with other members.
Dynamic ads have three formats, but are only available in the desktop platform:
- Follower Ads – to promote LinkedIn company page
- Job Ads – for job opening promotions
- Spotlight Ads – to advertise unique offerings
Text Ads
You can find the text ads on the top or right column of the LinkedIn page. It is the most straightforward LinkedIn ad, but it effectively boosts awareness and reaches out ot the audience. Commonly, CPC or CPM is used for Text Ads.
Keep your Text Ads simple. You can add an image, but it is optional, and it only allows 50 x 50 pixels. Usually, marketers use their logo on the image option for Text Ads.
How Much LinkedIn Ads Cost?
With contextual CPC ads, the pricing cost will depend on the target criteria and competition. Some CPCs start at $2 and cost at a maximum of $5 per click. If your click-through rates are not impressive, then you might be paying the higher end.
LinkedIn considers the click-through rate of 0.025% good, but you can do better by using attention-grabbing images and compelling copies of laser-targeted ads. Aim between 0.08% to 0.1%. With this rate, your goal is to have one click in every 1,000 impressions.
Do not run more than two ads at the same time. Instead, it is best to switch ads often– you could do this at least once a month. Test early and do it more often. You have to know this: new ads will receive an impressive boost, and have a higher chance of having a higher CTR than previous ads.
5 Steps on How to Set Up LinkedIn Ads
Below, we have enumerated the five easy steps to set up your LinkedIn ad campaign.
Start with Campaign Manager
Are you familiar with Campaign Manager? If not, it is the all-in-one tool for the advertising platform of LinkedIn. You can create an account quickly.
When you use the Campaign Manager, you can select the objectives, set the budget, and control the campaign timeline. You can use several Campaign Manager features that are helpful to meet your advertising goals, which includes:
- Detailed demographic results of LinkedIn members who clicked your ads.
- Dynamic visual reports of every data gathered.
- Detailed breakout of the actions generated by the campaigns.
Step 1: Choose Campaign Objectives
The campaign objective will determine the rest of your campaign creation experience. You cannot start your campaign ads without selecting an objective first. There is a need to choose from the objectives that could provide you with the results you desire:
- Awareness: Brand awareness
- Consideration: Engagement and website visits
- Conversion: Website conversions and lead generation
Step 2: Select Target Criteria
You have to select a target audience regardless of which ad type you will use.
After selecting the campaign objectives, you need to choose the right target audience. You could set them by audience attributes. Some of the details include:
- Company size
- Member interests
- Member groups
- Skillset
- Job title, and more
Effectively reach the right audience by using the targeting tools offered by LinkedIn.
Step 3: Choose LinkedIn Ad Format
Now, you have successfully logged in to Campaign Manager. It is time to create and manage ad campaigns. You have to choose which LinkedIn ad format you would want to start with, or you can have the combination of all of the four formats.
Sponsored Content
If you choose sponsored content, it appears directly on the LinkedIn feed of your target audience. It may be in different formats: image ads, video ads, or carousel ads. Also, it can help you:
- Effectively target the most valuable prospects with the use of accurate and profile-based data.
- Drive leads, build brand awareness and connect to every customer on every sales cycle.
- Reach a highly engaged audience.
Message Ads
When you use message ads, you are reaching out to professional prospects on the LinkedIn message. It is an advantage as users mostly spend their time making professional conversations with their followers or applicants. If you use the message ads, you can have the following benefits:
- Directly send messages to the prospects to gain immediate action.
- Drive more robust engagement and response.
- Measure the performance by monitoring which companies and roles are responding more to your messages.
Dynamic Ads
A dynamic ad format helps you creatively personalize the ads to reach out to every target audience member. They use the profile data of the members on LinkedIn, which includes their photo, job title, and company name to personalize ads accurately. When you use dynamic ads, you will increase the engagement of the following formats:
- Follower ad: You can promote their showcase page or LinkedIn page to invite more members to follow their pages with a single click on the ad.
- Jobs ad: It will help increase the relevant applicants when personalizing ads.
- Spotlight ad: Drives web traffic or invites action for a new product.
Text Ads
You can use text ads for pay-per-click or cost-per-impression options. It is compelling, and it is easier to create and launch. The message in your text will tailor more professionals to reach out. It is also budget-friendly as you will only pay for the clicks or impressions made by the ads.
Step 4: Set Budget and Schedule
By this moment, you have selected the target audience and ad format. It is the right time to set the campaign ad budget. You have three options for setting your budget:
- Cost-per-Click (CPC) – It is used for action-oriented ad campaigns. You will only pay if the target audience clicks on the ad campaigns. These campaigns include event registration or lead generation.
- Cost-per-Send (CPS) – Use the CPS option when you run the message ads campaign. You will pay for every message successfully delivered.
- Cost-per-Impression Model (CPM) is the best option if your goal is brand awareness.
As you choose the best option that will fit your campaign, you will set the suggested bid, start and end dates, daily budgets, and total budget. Do not worry about the end date. You can cancel the campaign at any time.
You have to remember that LinkedIn has an integrated auction system to bid for rewards engagement. It means you can win an auction without being the highest bidder.
Step 5: Measure and Optimize Campaign
Let’s celebrate! Your LinkedIn ad campaign is now live! You can monitor its performance. Access the analytics feature on Campaign Manager, and select the campaign you want to evaluate.
You can track the overall impressions, social actions, clicks, and budget of the campaign ads. Data on social activities initiated by members of LinkedIn who have interacted with your content. They are considered free and organic engagement.
Click through each of the campaigns to determine how each ad is performing. Use the data to edit your ads, modify your target audience, customize ad variations, and adjust budget ads.
Try Using LinkedIn Ads
When LinkedIn first launched their advertising platform, creating managed accounts would mean you have to work with customer service representatives. What’s more, their fixed price was discouraging. Luckily, throughout the years, LinkedIn improved their advertising platform. They are now offering the self-service platform and improved their UX (User Experience).
If you are worried about your budget for the campaign ads, there’s no need to worry. Y ou can freely set budgets, bid types of ad formats, and still stay on top of the game.
