LinkedIn Ads Overview & Resources
Linkedin ads are best used as a source of traffic for your lead magnet, if you are targeting B2B prospects.
The advantage of using Linkedin ads, is that it’s the largest network of professionals in the world. What has been found with Linkedin advertising, is that because the people you target are professionals, they tend to have a budget for higher priced products.
In fact, if you’re selling low priced (less than $97) products in your funnel, Linkedin ads may not be for you. Linkedin ad costs start at $2.50 per click and often average $5+ per click. This can cause your overall cost per lead to be as low as $50 and as high as a few hundred dollars. It’s good to consider if Linkedin will give you the ROI you need to make it worth your time and money.
Linkedin ads have shown to be especially great if you’re selling an enterprise level solution for several thousands of dollars. This is because the professionals on the network tend to have corporate budgets and/or influence to get your product/service implemented within their organization.
Using the Ad Campaign With the Best Response
There are a few different ad options within the Linkedin platform.
There are Premium Display ads, which run for thousands of dollars and are managed by Linkedin on behalf of your business. Most people aren’t in the market to afford this type of ad. Plus, if you are in the market for a Premium Display ad, Linkedin manages it for you so it can succeed, so there is no need for you to learn the mechanics of managing your campaign.
Linkedin offers Self-Service display ads as well. However, these don’t work very well on Linkedin. That’s because Linkedin users go on to network with other people, and consume valuable professional content.
Which brings us to the ad type that gets the best response for most businesses: the Sponsored Updates ad campaign. Sponsored Updates are much like Facebook Dark Posts–they appear as an update in a targeted Linkedin user’s feed.
Which is exactly why it’s best for you to send them from the sponsored update to either your lead magnet.
Linkedin Targeting and Catering to Your Audience
Before you begin making your Sponsored Update, you will want to research your target audience. This is so you can create content and offers that they respond to best.
Poke around in the back of Linkedin’s ad platform to see your targeting options. You’ll find you can target people by age, company name, company size, industry, job function, job title, or even Linkedin Groups.
When you create your ad, you’ll find that Linkedin actually recommends that you start broad with your targeting, and then narrow your targeting according to results. This is so your ads receive maximum reach initially. Shortly after, Linkedin’s automated algorithm will begin to optimize your ad distribution–taking a lot of heavy lifting off your hands.
Then Linkedin will offer you Audience Expansion. Audience Expansion uses Linkedin’s algorithm to find similar people within particular criteria that you select. Not only can this go to the Linkedin network, but they also have an audience partner network, which is much like how Google Display Network works.
Once you have an idea of who you want to target, the next step is to scope out others in your industry that are successfully creating Sponsored Updates that target your audience.
What type of updates are they writing? How did they craft their headline? What are they offering? How are people responding?
Creating a Well Targeted Offer
It’s important to target your offer based on your audience’s state of awareness. Here are a few tips on crafting the right offer in your Sponsored Update, based on your target audience’s awareness of you, your expertise, and your product/service.
Low Level of Awareness: This is an update and offer aimed at people who aren’t aware of you, your expertise, or your product. Essentially they’re in the first stages of researching your product (or just your competitor’s product). You’re goal with this offer is to introduce who you are, demonstrate that you’re credible, and show how your product/service solves a problem your audience has. Some suggestions on freebies to use as your lead magnet:
- Infographics
- “Behind the Scenes†lessons (stick to one topic)
- A single how-to checklist or whitepaper (keep it 1-3 pages long, maximum)
Medium Level of Awareness: This is an update and offer aimed at people who are aware of you and your product/service. At this stage your audience is evaluating and comparing your product against other options. Essentially you need to show them why they should choose you. How do you best meet their needs? Some suggestions on freebies to use as your lead magnet:
- Case Studies
- Analyst Reports
- Webinars (doing this live especially converts well, since you build a personal connection)
High Level of Awareness: This is an update and offer aimed at people who know about you and your product, and have the authority to make an immediate purchase decision. Often, these are people who have already looked at all the options and they just want to be told what to do next. Also, this audience type are executives that quickly want to see that you can give them the best ROI or results–they don’t have time to compare every single option. The point here is to make a powerful impression. For this target audience, you want to have one of the following as your lead magnet:
- Product demo or trial
- Detailed white papers
- Research abstracts
- Recorded product demo with case study
- Detailed case study
- Valuable “insider†newsletters