LinkedIn Ads The Game Changer in B2B

LinkedIn ads are like finding a needle in a haystack, but with a GPS tracker. They're crucial for B2B because you can stalk your target audience—those fancy decision-makers and influencers—better than a celebrity paparazzo. With LinkedIn's massive professional database, you can target people based on their job title, industry, and company size. It's like shooting fish in a barrel, except the fish are CEOs and CFOs. Plus, being on LinkedIn gives your business that fancy, professional vibe, like wearing a suit to a job interview. So, if you're in B2B, get on LinkedIn ads pronto and watch those leads roll in like the red carpet at an awards show.

LinkedIn Ad will be the most effective. LinkedIn offers several different types of ad formats which

includes:

? Sponsored Content - these ads appear in the LinkedIn news feed

? Sponsored Messaging - these ads appear in LinkedIn messaging

? Lead Gen Forms - these are pre-filled forms for your ads

? Text and Dynamic Ads - these ads run in the LinkedIn right rail

Content Single Image Ad

BEST PRACTICES FOR SPONSORED CONTENT:

? Provide a new angle or analysis on industry news, rather than just sharing popular headlines.

? Share helpful, relevant content.

? Use rich media in your posts and incorporate formats like YouTube videos, Slide Shares, or Vimeo videos that engage your followers.

? Include 2-4 ads in each campaign; campaigns with more ads reach more folks in your target audience.

? Try lead gen forms to help generate more qualified leads for your sales team. These forms automatically populate a member’s data from their profile, making it easy for them to fill out while giving you helpful data.

Sponsored Content Carousel Ad

Carousel Ads, a type of Sponsored Content, hold up to 10 images to show a story, showcase a product, or drive registrations for events.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CAROUSEL ADS:

• 2-5 cards is optimal
• Share stories of customer success.
• Post about thought leadership or share your executives’ opinions.
• Show several products or services.
• Do a deep-dive into a particular product or service.
• Share a series of job opportunities, upcoming events, or speakers for a single event.
• Create captivating images and visual stories.
• Use an overarching theme or style, or share a large piece of content broken down into individual cards.
• Optimize the order of the cards based on performance. Try A/B testing the order.
• Use clear messaging and CTAs.
• Save your main CTA for the end to optimize for engagement through the end.

Sponsored Content Video Ad

Video ads can drive leads, build brand awareness, or promote a new product and offer video

metrics and data on the types of professionals interacting with your ad.

BEST PRACTICES FOR VIDEO ADS:

• Showcase executives as thought leaders.
• Preview events or webinars.
• Give a better, more detailed view of products or software.
• Show the most important message within the first ten seconds. Use visual storytelling, graphics, and text to increase engagement.
• Consider using subtitles; 85% of social media videos are played without sound.
• For brand awareness goals, keep videos under 30 seconds.

Document Ads

Inspire audiences with thought leadership or collect leads at scale by allowing them to read and

download documents directly in their newsfeed.

BEST PRACTICES:

• For best quality document, we recommend using a PDF file
• Avoid using multiple columns of text and small font sizes - multicolumn text is harder to read and scan when printed out.
• Embed fonts into the PDF itself and use at least 8pt font
• For optimal performance, use 3-4 preview pages for lead gen campaigns
• Use images, bullets, and graphics
• Create an attention-grabbing cover and preview page.

Event Ads

As virtual and hybrid events become a bigger and more important part of the marketing stack,

we want to ensure that you’re well-equipped to run a successful live event on LinkedIn. Promote it early and often!

BEST PRACTICES:

• Set up your event 2-4 weeks in advance so you have enough time to promote
• Feature a clear CTA to register to improve registration
• Keep descriptive copy under 70 characters

Message Ads

Message Ads (formerly Sponsored InMail) are a direct line to your network and with a more than

50% open rate, are more effective than email. Try Message Ads for recruiting, event registration,

and lead generation.

BEST PRACTICES FOR MESSAGE ADS:

• Craft your message based on your objective
• Include a clear CTA using one to three words. The best-performing CTAs are “Try,” “Free,” “Today,” “Click,” and “Apply,” and feature low-pressure terminology.
• Be concise, personal, and relevant. Use bullets rather than dense copy. Body text under 500 characters drive a 46% higher click-through rate (CTR) on average.
• Add hyperlinks. Make your Message Ads more interactive by adding hyperlinks, proven to lift CTR by 21%.
• Run Message Ads for an entire week. The highest open rates are on Tuesdays, but the most clicks happen on weekends.
• Use the LinkedIn Insight Tag to track conversions from these campaigns.
• Try combining Sponsored Content with Message Ads and running both campaigns at once.
• Marketers see 37% better CTRs when targeting via both Sponsored Content and Message Ads.

Conversation Ads

Conversation Ads allow you to deliver multiple offers and types of content in a single message for a highly engaging experience. You can drive prospects to multiple landing pages or Lead Gen Forms, and see how many people click on your content and each offer, and how engaged they are in the conversation.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CONVERSATION ADS:

• Leverage one of our templates. To get started, take advantage of Conversation Ad templates in Campaign Manager. Available templates by objective include: drive trials and demos, offer professional services, and promote your podcast. You can edit any of the templates to make them your own.
• Use multiple messages and buttons. Like a conversation -- and to provide a more engaging experience -- give your prospects the information they need in bits, not in bulk. Set up two to three messages with at least two CTAs that members can interact with.
• Keep it conversational. Keep your tone warm and helpful - the way you would speak on the phone.
• Don’t include “not interested” CTAs. Uninterested recipients will simply close the ad. Instead, focus on CTAs that help achieve your business objectives.
• Use rich media. If you are seeing low engagement, consider adding rich media like photos.

Lead Gen Forms

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are designed to provide maximum convenience for both users and marketers. When forms are presented to a LinkedIn member, the fields are pre-populated with their profile data, drastically cutting the effort needed to fill them out, resulting in higher conversion rates. In fact, lead gen forms have shown to drive 5x higher conversion than landing pages.

BEST PRACTICES:

• Keep the number of questions to a minimum - forms see the highest completion rates when they use 5 or fewer questions
• Make your customer question easy to answer
• Keep your lead gen forms fresh! Try updating them every two months to avoid the content going stale
• Pari lead gen campaigns with brand campaigns for higher conversion rates

Text Ads

Text Ads are simple ads served on the right-hand side or top of the LinkedIn desktop feed. Create PPC (pay per click) or CPM (cost per impression) bids to control spend your way. Use these tips to maximize results with this versatile ad format.

BEST PRACTICES:

• Create multiple variations for each campaign
• Create focused targeting criteria
• Set an aggressive maximum bid
• Always include an image
• Address your audience directly

Dynamic Ads

Dynamic Ads on LinkedIn allow you to engage prospects with right-rail ads automatically personalized for each individual based on their profile

There are several ad formats under the

Dynamic Ads family:

? Follower ads: expand your audience and acquire more followers for your LinkedIn Company or Showcase Page

? Spotlight ads: share thought leadership, best practices, insights, and valuable content with your target audience.

? Job ads: get more applicants for your job postings.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING DYNAMIC ADS:

• Capture your audience’s attention with visual personalization
• Include one clear message and call-to-action on each Dynamic Ad.
• For follower ads, exclude existing followers from seeing your ad to ensure you’r gaining net new prospects. You can do this on the targeting page.
• For spotlight ads, try uploading a custom background image to add more visuals to your ad.
• Refer to LinkedIn Dynamic Ad specs while planning to make sure that your ad is formatted properly.

Reference:https://www.hubspot.com/