Linkedin Ad Campaigns: Everything You Need to Know (and How Much They Cost!)
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: a little talked about, but a very useful tool for businesses large and small.?
Most people know that they can pay to have their website listed higher on Google, and just about every business doing social media advertising turns to Facebook and Instagram. Of course, there are other platforms, too, like TikTok and Snapchat and Pinterest, but one platform we don’t talk about enough when it comes to social media ads is Linkedin.
So today, we’re gonna fix that. Let’s get to know LinkedIn as a platform and how to use Linkedin ad campaigns!
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: What IS LinkedIn For?
Before you can use LinkedIn for ad campaigns, you need to have a LinkedIn page for your business. If you’re less familiar with Linkedin, or know it mostly as an online resume, it’s good to get a sense of the platform overall and who uses it before you start advertising in that space.
Linkedin is the leading social network for professionals. It’s more than just Facebook in a suit and tie, though. There are features on Linkedin that make it unique from other varieties of social media.
Individual users can set up their profiles to feature not only their employment history but also the social proof associated with each job: white papers, awards, portfolios, etc. They can be shared to a feed and celebrate work successes—both theirs and their peers'.
Creating a business profile requires that you have a personal profile for setup and admin purposes but is its own thing. Once the business profile is created, you can begin posting as your business.
Share news features about your organization, blogs that cover related topics, and similar types of content that you share on other platforms. You can also post jobs that will show up as possible recommendations to job seekers in that corner of the platform.
Now that we’ve done this brief (and *very* bird’s-eye) overview of Linkedin as a platform, it’s time to get into the meat of the matter: Linkedin ads campaigns.
Linkedin Ad Campaigns - The Deets
Unlike Facebook, where you can access ad campaigns within, essentially, the same platform, Linkedin ad campaigns reside off-site on the Linkedin Marketing Solutions platform (link: https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/ads). You will sign into the platform using your Linkedin credentials, though, so at least you don’t need yet another login to keep track of!
But how does the Linkedin ads campaign manager work?
Well—once you get logged into the ad campaign manager,? you will need to create an ad campaign. Linkedin ad campaigns are based on your objectives, such as brand awareness, engagement, or conversions, among others. Once you select your campaign objective, you’ll be prompted to choose an audience.
As with any other ad campaign manager, your ad will perform the best when you have a properly targeted audience. There are over 20 possible parameters for targeting. Some big ones: age, location, current position, company, and even skills and job title!
To achieve maximum ROI, combine multiple terms to create a highly specified audience that is more likely to follow through on whatever action you laid out in the objectives stage.
From here, it’s time to choose the best ad format for your Linkedin ad campaign.
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: Sponsored Content
Similarly to sponsored content on Facebook and Instagram, sponsored content ads on Linkedin appear in the feed and resemble a post. This variation of Linkedin ads could be a document, a photo, a video, or a carousel. Whatever type of content you choose to boost, it’ll be identified as sponsored content but will integrate smoothly in your audience’s feed as if you had simply posted it.
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: Message Ads
Message ads are Linkedin ads that go right to users’ inboxes. This style of Linkedin ad campaign is used often for lead generation objectives, including talent recruitment. Interestingly, according to Linkedin, message ads have an over 50% open rate. It gives the impression of personalization, too, which is a benefit.
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: Dynamic Ads
Dynamic ads are even more personalized. Linkedin algorithms mine individual users’ information and uses it to create ads that appear in the right rail. These ads can reflect back profile pictures, employers, and names, so your ad will look different to every user who sees it.
LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: Text Ads
Like dynamic ads, text ads appear in the sidebar. They’re far more basic in that they are not personalized, but when used correctly they are mighty. Text ads are always on a pay-per-click pricing schedule, so you are only paying for the action you want your audience to take!
One other cool option through the Linkedin ads campaign manager is that you have the option (depending on the type of ad you choose) to allow Linkedin to cast your ad to their third-party partners via the Linkedin Audience Network.
Finally, Linkedin operates on an auction system for determining the cost for the ads you post. This is a perfect segue into what some of you might consider the ultimate question:
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LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: How Much Do They Cost
Auction-based ad campaign billing is more common than you might think. Essentially, Linkedin (and other platforms, as well) pit advertisers who want the attention of the same audiences against each other to determine who gets the advertising space.
Don’t worry: it’s not like you have to go anywhere with a paddle and try to interpret words spoken at the speed of light to get your ad posted!
The final steps of publishing an ad campaign require you to enter a bid amount (per billable action) and a budget, and that information is used behind the scenes to determine ad placement.
There are 3 ways this auction takes place. First, you could let Linkedin choose your bid for you based on your campaign objectives: an automated bid. Secondly, you could bid on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. How much are you willing to spend per click? Finally, you could bid for a cost-per-1,000 views (aka “cost-per-mil” or COM), which charges you for every thousand impressions.
Linkedin is not a cheap platform on which to advertise. Their starting CPC bid is $2. This means even if you’re the only person bidding for that audience, you will pay at least $2 per click. If you are bidding against a lot of people for that audience, you’ll want to make a much higher bid to make it more likely that your ad will get the prime real estate.
If you’re familiar with other platforms, you may be balking right now. For example, Twitter ads can be as low as 40 cents, and on average, Facebook is about a dollar a click. Meanwhile, it’s not unheard of for Linkedin ads to cost well over $5 a click. In fact, you’ll even see Linkedin recommending bids of $10 or so. Eek!
But here’s the major selling point: Linkedin is a platform where B2B advertising thrives. It’s also where decision makers hang out.
According to Linkedin, there are 61 million senior-level influencers and 65 million decision makers on the platform. Your $2, $4, $8 is being spent on clicks made by the mouse (or fingertip) of the very people who make decisions for their companies. It’s like going straight to the top.
FAQs:
What is a Linkedin campaign?
A Linkedin ad campaign is a group of decisions, so to speak, that determines where ads get pushed to Linkedin users (type of content, type of ad, audience demographics, etc.). By organizing these decisions and differentiating between them, Linkedin advertisers can maximize their ROI and learn more about their customer base.
Are Linkedin ads worth it?
The answer to these kinds of questions is always “it depends.” Mostly, in this case, it depends on what you’re trying to sell. Linkedin ad campaigns tend to be pricier than on other platforms, but for B2B or professional B2C marketing, it’s incredibly effective. You’re more likely to be advertising directly to the decision makers—it’s almost like cold-calling the CFO.
What is the Linkedin campaign manager?
The Linkedin campaign manager is Linkedin’s platform for creating and publishing ads. It is not available within the Linkedin platform individual users use every day, but syncs with the appropriate Linkedin account(s).
How do I run a Linkedin ad campaign?
By doing all the steps outlined above! Essentially, you just need to create an ads manager account, then determine your goals, design a good ad, determine where it should go on the platform, make a decent bid, and then let the Linkedin ad campaign manager handle the rest!
Linkedin ads campaigns have incredible potential, especially for B2B marketing. Proper placement and targeting is key to maximizing ROI for a platform that often charges a higher CPC/CPM than others.
If you’re interested in getting started with advertising on Linkedin, but want a partner in that, hit us up! This stuff is our jam, so fill out an inquiry for a free consultation and let’s connect!
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First and foremost, be an IT advisor to my customers, and ALWAYS recommend the best solution for them, even if it's NOT something we sell.
1 年Lorenzo, great article. I just shared this with Chris Harper and Brad Crawford from MicroPulse.