Paid advertising on social media allows brands to expand their reach to those who aren’t currently following their pages but would benefit from knowing about their message. LinkedIn has evolved significantly over the last 5 years to become a major player in the social networking game. Business-to-business (B2B) brands have found a home on LinkedIn that fills a void for reaching users based on their professional interests and work history.
Leverage these four Pro Tips to help you launch your brand’s paid ad presence on LinkedIn.
Pro Tip #1 – Select the correct objective that best fits your goal.
When creating an ad on any social media platform, the first thing you should determine is your goal. The goal may be to have your audience engage with your content, start following your page, generate leads, or gain general awareness about your brand. LinkedIn breaks down the objectives into three categories: awareness, consideration, and conversions. Some ads may fall under multiple categories, but it’s important to consider the primary goal and select that objective to be the foundation of your campaign.
Pro Tip #2 – Reach the right professional audience.
Arguably the most important category is the audience that will see your ad. LinkedIn is unique in the ability to successfully reach people based on their professional interests and job experience. Use the refined search capabilities to narrow in on the right audience for your brand and specific message. Often the location is less important compared to other platforms. Targeting by industry, company, and member groups will give you a more accurate selection of users who will accomplish your ad’s objective. Custom audiences such as Lookalike can also be created from valid matched audience segments (websites, video ads, lead gen form, company lists, contact lists, and third-party data), but this type of audience will only generate properly with at least 300 matched members.
Pro Tip #3 – Get the most bang for your buck with more money over a shorter run.
LinkedIn is a high-end advertising expense. Unlike other social media platforms, the average cost-per-conversion is $6-$12, except for video views which is much lower. Don’t let this deter you from advertising on the professional network if that’s where your message will be seen by the correct audience. Consider running an ad with a higher budget for a shorter time period for the best optimization. Since most users are harder to target on the other social networks because of the lack of information about their professional interests and history, LinkedIn is worth the spend if your brand or mission is intended for a B2B audience.
Pro Tip #4 – Your ad format can make or break your user experience.
The debate around what type of format is ideal for your ad is one that is highly dependent on your available creative assets. Although video views are on the rise, if your message and resources don’t lend themselves to a high-quality video, then it’s not worth forcing a static peg into a moving hole. The carousel format is preferred for campaigns that need multiple visuals yet don’t warrant a video, but the best practice for static ad format is a single image with a strong visual hook that grabs the audience’s attention.
LinkedIn has come a long way from its job-board reputation. Brands are finding their voice in professional communities that give them the opportunity to engage with members of their industry. Thanks to paid advertising, brands can uniquely reach the right audiences.
Visit our Deep Ad Thoughts blog to learn more about current advertising, marketing and public relations tips and trends. Plus, check out our Push n’ Pull blog for all things in the world of digital and social media.
