With a network of over 200 million members in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, LinkedIn Ads can be a great way to target business professionals.
Unlike Google AdWords and other similar PPC sites, which can be used to target people searching for exactly what you offer, LinkedIn Ads have to lure your target buyer away from their morning coffee and peruse of Linkedin (i.e checking out whos been stalking them in the days previously – we all do it!).
Clicks on LinkedIn cost a minimum of $2 and with the click-through rate being extremely low compared to the likes of Google AdWords, it’s crucial you make the most of your spend so here are a few beginner tips to get you going:
1. Target the right audience
The best feature about LinkedIn Ads is the ability to target the relevant audience for you. Get this bit right and itll ensure your dollars are better spent.
You can select your audience based on the following criteria:
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- Location (Example: US, California, or Los Angeles) – required field
- Company
- Company Name
- Industry
- Company Size
- Job Title
- Specific Job Title
- Job Function
- Seniority
- Schools
- Skills (Example: HTML or Project Management)
- LinkedIn Groups
- Gender
- Age
2. Create effective ads
Remember youre trying to capture peoples attention away from their daily flick around LinkedIn.
Some tips for good ads include:
Catchy wording – ask relevant questions that may draw your targets gaze. For example, if you’re selling business broadband, try starting with Slow Internet or Internet costs too high?
Use striking images and colours – the image ads on LinkedIn are only 50 x 50 pixels, so make sure they stand out. Strong and relevant calls to action – what might your target business professional be most interested in? If it’s a whitepaper download or free trial you offer, push that in the ad: Download Now or Start Today.
3. Test, test and test
As you would with any PPC ads, test your advert copy and images to see what resonates best with your target audience. Choose to rotate ads evenly, so you can identify what works best and continually optimise to make these increasingly better. Remember, having a good bid price isn’t enough to show on LinkedIn. If no-one clicks your ad, why would LinkedIn show it?
Remember, a click-through rate of 0.025% from LinkedIn would be a good result so don’t expect a huge sales boost from LinkedIn Ads, rather an incremental increase in volume with the benefit of extra brand awareness.
Something we hear back from our clients using LinkedIn is that while sometimes the leads cost more, and they are of low volume, the quality can be great. Targeting a final decision maker might just bag you a really quick sale.
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