LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social networking platform, with over 740 million members. It is also the most effective platform for B2B marketing. With LinkedIn Ads, businesses can target a specific audience and generate leads. In this guide, we will explore how to build your funnel on LinkedIn, understand LinkedIn Ads targeting, identify your target audience, leverage LinkedIn’s professional network, refine your ad campaigns, create custom audiences, maximise ad relevance score, analyse ad performance, optimise your landing page, scale your LinkedIn Ads, and track ROI and attribution on LinkedIn.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn Ads targeting is crucial for B2B marketing success.
- Building your funnel on LinkedIn requires understanding your target audience.
Understanding LinkedIn Ads Targeting
When it comes to successful LinkedIn Ads targeting, it’s crucial to understand the different options and techniques available. With over 500 million professionals on the platform, it’s no surprise that LinkedIn is one of the most effective advertising tools for B2B marketing.
LinkedIn Ads targeting allows you to reach a specific audience based on various factors such as job title, industry, company size, location, interests, and more. This precision targeting makes your campaigns more relevant, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
LinkedIn Ads targeting can be done in two ways: matched audiences and targeting attributes. Matched audiences allow you to target people who have already interacted with your brand, including website visitors, email contacts, and account target lists. Targeting attributes, on the other hand, let you select specific criteria to reach your desired audience.
Through targeting attributes, you can create an audience that matches your ideal customer profile, which is defined by factors such as job title, company size, location, and industry. This audience can then be further refined by excluding certain demographics or adding specific interests.
Understanding LinkedIn’s Ad Formats
Before creating your ad campaign, it’s essential to familiarise yourself with the different ad formats available on LinkedIn. These include Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, and Text Ads.
Sponsored Content appears on users’ LinkedIn feeds and is the most popular ad format. You can include multiple visuals and a call-to-action button in this ad format, making it highly engaging for users. Sponsored InMail, on the other hand, is a direct message sent to users’ LinkedIn inboxes. It’s a useful tool for personalised messaging and targeting specific individuals or accounts.
Text Ads, as the name suggests, are text-only ads that appear on the right-hand side of users’ feeds. While less visually engaging, they are a cost-effective option for increasing brand awareness and generating leads.
Understanding the different ad formats available on LinkedIn will allow you to choose the most appropriate type for your campaign and maximise its effectiveness.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Now that we’ve gained an understanding of LinkedIn Ads targeting, it’s time to delve deeper into audience building. Identifying your target audience is crucial for creating successful ad campaigns, as it ensures that your ads are seen by the right people.
Firstly, think about who your ideal customer is. Consider their job title, industry, seniority level, and any other relevant demographic information. You can then use LinkedIn’s targeting options to select these criteria when setting up your ad campaign.
| Targeting Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Job Title | Target users based on their job title or function (e.g. Marketing Manager). |
| Industry | Target users based on their industry (e.g. Healthcare). |
| Company Size | Target users based on the size of their company (e.g. Small Business). |
| Location | Target users in specific geographical locations (e.g. London). |
| Seniority | Target users based on their seniority level within their organisation (e.g. Director). |
You can also create saved audiences and lookalike audiences to further refine your targeting. Saved audiences allow you to save specific targeting options for future use, while lookalike audiences use your existing customer data to find similar users on LinkedIn.
By identifying and targeting your ideal audience, you can ensure that your ads are seen by the right people, increasing the likelihood of conversions and maximising your return on investment.
Leveraging LinkedIn’s Professional Network
LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, so it makes sense that the network is designed to facilitate business connections and opportunities. As such, LinkedIn Ads targeting allows us to leverage the platform’s professional network to reach our target audience more effectively.
One of the key factors that sets LinkedIn apart from other social media platforms is the level of detail in user profiles. This allows us to target specific industries, job titles, company sizes and more. By honing in on these details, we can ensure that we’re reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right message.
| Tip: | Use LinkedIn Insights to get a better understanding of your target audience and what drives them. Insights allow you to analyse your audience’s industries, job titles, company sizes, and more to inform your targeting strategy. |
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Leveraging LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups are another powerful way to leverage the platform’s professional network. Groups provide a space for individuals with similar interests or professions to connect, discuss industry trends and share insights.
As an advertiser, LinkedIn Groups provide an opportunity to connect with individuals who are already engaged with your industry or niche. By joining relevant groups and sharing content that resonates with the members, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and create meaningful connections.
| Tip: | When sharing content in LinkedIn groups, make sure it’s relevant, valuable and engaging. This can help increase your credibility and authority within the group, which can lead to more meaningful connections and opportunities down the line. |
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By leveraging LinkedIn’s professional network, we can create targeted campaigns that reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message. Whether it’s through targeting specific industries, job titles or leveraging LinkedIn groups, the platform provides a wealth of opportunities for advertisers.
Refining Your LinkedIn Ads Campaign
Once your LinkedIn Ads campaign is up and running, it’s essential to continuously refine it to ensure maximum effectiveness and ROI. Here are some tips to refine your campaign:
1. Monitor and tweak your targeting
Regularly check your targeting options to ensure they accurately reflect your target audience. Analyse your ad performance to see which audiences are responding best, and adjust your targeting accordingly. Consider creating multiple campaigns with different target audiences to maximise your reach.
2. Use A/B testing
A/B testing involves creating two versions of an ad and testing them against each other to see which performs better. Test different messaging, images, and calls to action to determine what resonates best with your audience. That way, you can refine your campaign to show the best-performing ads more frequently.
3. Optimise your bidding strategy
LinkedIn offers several bidding options, including cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM). Test different options to determine which works best for your campaign. Also, consider adjusting your bid amount to improve your ad’s visibility and performance.
4. Focus on the ad format
Consider using different ad formats, such as sponsored content or sponsored InMail, to see which performs better. Sponsored content is a great way to drive brand awareness and engagement, while sponsored InMail allows you to send personalised messages to prospects, increasing conversion rates and ROI.
5. Analyse and adjust your budget
Monitor your campaign’s performance closely and adjust your budget as necessary. Analyse which ads are performing the best and allocate more budget to those. Also, monitor your spending throughout the month and adjust your budget to ensure you don’t overspend.
By refining your LinkedIn Ads campaign, you can improve its effectiveness and achieve maximum ROI. Keep experimenting and refining until you find the best strategy for your business.
Creating Custom Audiences
LinkedIn Ads targeting allows us to create custom audiences based on existing data, such as website visitors, email lists, and more. This is an excellent way to reach people who have already shown an interest in our business or services.
We can start by creating a list of contacts from our email database, and LinkedIn will match them to user accounts. We can also use website retargeting to show ads to people who have visited our website. Another option is to create a lookalike audience, which will show ads to users that have similar characteristics to our existing customers.
| Tip: | Make sure to exclude any existing customers from your target audience to avoid wasting ad spend on people who have already purchased from you. |
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To create a custom audience, we can navigate to the “Audiences” tab in Campaign Manager and select “Create an audience.” From there, we can select the type of audience we want to create and upload our data.
It’s important to keep in mind that custom audiences may be smaller than broader targeting options, so we may need to adjust our bidding strategy accordingly to ensure our ads are shown to as many relevant users as possible.
Maximising Ad Relevance Score
When it comes to LinkedIn Ads targeting, ad relevance score plays a critical role in determining the success of your campaigns. This score is based on the overall quality and relevance of your ad to your target audience.
In order to maximise your ad relevance score, there are a few key factors to consider:
| Factor | Description |
|---|---|
| Targeting | Ensure that your targeting is specific and relevant to your audience. This includes demographic and industry targeting, as well as specific job titles and functions. |
| Ad Copy | Write clear and concise ad copy that highlights the benefits of your product or service. Use language that resonates with your target audience and includes relevant keywords. |
| Ad Creative | Use eye-catching and professional visuals that are relevant to your ad copy. This could include images, videos, or carousel ads. |
By focusing on these factors and consistently improving your ad performance, you can achieve a higher ad relevance score and increase the effectiveness of your LinkedIn Ads targeting campaigns.
Analysing Ad Performance
Once your LinkedIn ads have been running for some time, it’s important to analyse their performance in order to optimise future campaigns and ensure you’re getting the most out of your budget. This process involves examining a range of metrics, such as impressions, clicks, and conversions.
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Impressions | The number of times your ad was displayed on LinkedIn |
| Clicks | The number of times people clicked on your ad |
| Conversions | The number of times people took a desired action after clicking on your ad (such as filling out a form or making a purchase) |
By analysing these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and identify areas for improvement. For example, if you notice that your ads are receiving a high number of impressions but a low number of clicks, you may need to refine your targeting or adjust your ad copy to better capture the attention of your audience.
LinkedIn provides a range of tools to help you analyse ad performance, such as the Campaign Manager dashboard and the LinkedIn Insight Tag. By using these tools to track your metrics over time and experiment with different strategies, you can fine-tune your LinkedIn ad campaigns and achieve the best possible results.
Optimising Your Landing Page
Now that our LinkedIn ads have successfully attracted potential clients to our landing page, it’s important to ensure that the landing page is optimised to maximise conversions. This means considering various elements, such as the layout, content, and user experience, to provide the best possible chance of converting a visitor into a customer.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Headline | The headline should be clear and attention-grabbing. It should clearly state what the landing page is offering and how it benefits the visitor |
| Call-to-Action (CTA) button | The CTA button should be prominent and easily readable, and should clearly communicate what the visitor will receive by clicking on it |
| Forms | If a form is included, only ask for necessary information. Too many fields can be overwhelming and may deter visitors from completing the form |
| Images and Videos | Visuals can help break up text and make the landing page more engaging. However, it’s important to ensure that images and videos are relevant to the product or service being offered |
| Page Speed | A slow-loading landing page can lead to frustration and increased bounce rates. Optimising images and reducing scripts can help improve page speed |
By focusing on these elements, we can increase the chances of the landing page converting visitors into customers. It’s important to test different variations of the landing page to determine what works best for our target audience.
Scaling Your LinkedIn Ads
Once you have identified your target audience and created effective ad campaigns, it’s time to scale up your efforts on LinkedIn. Here are a few tips to help you do this:
1. Increase your budget: One of the easiest ways to scale your LinkedIn ads is to increase your budget. LinkedIn allows you to adjust your budget at any time, so if you find that your campaigns are performing well, consider upping your investment to reach even more potential customers.
2. Expand your targeting: To reach a wider audience, consider expanding your targeting criteria. You can reach more people by targeting different job titles, industries, or even geographical regions. By expanding your targeting, you can increase your reach without necessarily increasing your budget.
3. Test new ad formats and creative: LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats, including sponsored content, sponsored InMail, and display ads. Testing different ad formats and creative can help you identify what works best for your audience and achieve better results.
4. Use Lookalike Audiences: Lookalike Audiences are custom audiences that LinkedIn creates based on the characteristics of your existing customers or leads. By targeting these audiences, you can reach people who are more likely to be interested in your products or services.
5. Monitor performance: As you scale your LinkedIn ads, it’s important to monitor their performance closely. Keep an eye on your click-through rates, conversion rates, and other metrics to ensure that your ads are still delivering the results you want.
By taking these steps, you can scale up your LinkedIn ads and reach even more potential customers. Remember to keep testing and refining your campaigns to get the best results possible.
Tracking ROI and Attribution on LinkedIn
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your LinkedIn Ads targeting campaigns, tracking return on investment (ROI) is crucial. LinkedIn provides several metrics to help you gauge the success of your campaigns, including click-through rates (CTR), cost per click (CPC), and cost per impression (CPM).
But to accurately determine ROI, you’ll need to use attribution models. Attribution models help you understand which touchpoints in your funnel drive the most conversions. LinkedIn offers several attribution models, including first-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch. Each model assigns credit to different touchpoints in the conversion journey.
To track ROI, you’ll need to define your conversion goals and set up conversion tracking in LinkedIn Campaign Manager. Once you’ve set up conversion tracking, you can use LinkedIn’s reporting tools to analyse the performance of your campaigns and determine which touchpoints are driving the highest ROI. You can also use third-party tools like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics to track LinkedIn ad performance and ROI.
Measuring ROI with First-Touch Attribution
The first-touch attribution model assigns 100% of the credit for a conversion to the first touchpoint in the customer journey. So, if a user clicks on your LinkedIn ad and then converts to your website, the LinkedIn ad will receive 100% of the credit for that conversion. This model is useful for measuring brand awareness and lead generation campaigns.
Measuring ROI with Last-Touch Attribution
The last-touch attribution model assigns 100% of the credit for a conversion to the last touchpoint in the customer journey. So, if a user clicks on your LinkedIn ad and then converts on a form fill, the form fill will receive 100% of the credit for that conversion. This model is useful for measuring bottom-of-funnel campaigns, such as lead nurturing and sales enablement.
Measuring ROI with Multi-Touch Attribution
The multi-touch attribution model assigns credit to all touchpoints in the customer journey. So, if a user clicks on your LinkedIn ad, watches a video, and then fills out a form, each touchpoint will receive a percentage of the credit for that conversion. This model is useful for measuring campaigns that target users at different stages of the customer journey.
Tracking ROI and attribution on LinkedIn can help you refine your targeting and optimise your campaigns for better performance. By understanding which touchpoints drive the most conversions, you can make informed decisions about where to allocate your advertising budget and maximise your ROI.
Conclusion
Overall, LinkedIn Ads targeting is an effective way to build your funnel on LinkedIn. By understanding your target audience, leveraging LinkedIn’s professional network, refining your ad campaigns, creating custom audiences, maximising ad relevance score, analysing ad performance, optimising your landing page, scaling your LinkedIn Ads, and tracking ROI and attribution on LinkedIn, you can create successful campaigns that reach your ideal customers.
Remember to keep testing and tweaking your campaigns for optimal results. LinkedIn Ads targeting can be a powerful tool for your business, but it requires consistent effort and attention to detail. With our tips and strategies, we’re confident you’ll be able to create LinkedIn ad campaigns that drive real results for your business.
FAQ
Q: Can I target specific industries with LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can target specific industries with LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn offers industry-specific targeting options, allowing you to reach professionals in the industries most relevant to your business.
Q: Can I target specific job titles with LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can target specific job titles with LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn provides job title targeting options, enabling you to connect with professionals based on their job roles and responsibilities.
Q: Can I target specific companies with LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can target specific companies with LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn offers company targeting options, allowing you to focus your ads on professionals who work for specific companies or organisations.
Q: Can I target specific locations with LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can target specific locations with LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn provides location targeting options, enabling you to reach professionals in specific geographic areas or regions.
Q: Can I target specific interests or skills with LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can target specific interests or skills with LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn offers targeting options based on members’ interests and skills, helping you connect with professionals who have relevant interests or expertise.
Q: Can I target specific age groups or genders with LinkedIn Ads?
A: No, LinkedIn Ads currently do not offer targeting options based on age groups or genders. However, you can still refine your audience based on other criteria such as job titles, industries, and locations.
Q: How do I analyse the performance of my LinkedIn Ads?
A: To analyse the performance of your LinkedIn Ads, you can use LinkedIn’s built-in reporting and analytics tools. These tools provide insights into metrics such as impressions, clicks, engagement, and conversions, allowing you to assess the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.
Q: Can I track the ROI of my LinkedIn Ads?
A: Yes, you can track the ROI of your LinkedIn Ads. By implementing conversion tracking and linking it to your ad campaigns, you can measure the actual outcomes and return on investment generated from your LinkedIn Ads.
Q: How can I optimise my landing page for better ad performance?
A: To optimise your landing page for better ad performance, ensure that it is relevant to your ad copy and provides a clear call to action. Additionally, focus on improving page load speed, mobile responsiveness, and overall user experience to enhance conversion rates.
Q: Can I scale up my LinkedIn Ads campaigns?
A: Yes, you can scale up your LinkedIn Ads campaigns. Once you have identified successful targeting strategies and ad creatives, you can increase your budget, expand your target audience, or launch additional ad variations to reach a larger audience and generate more results.
Q: How can I track attribution on LinkedIn?
A: To track attribution on LinkedIn, you can integrate LinkedIn conversion tracking with your preferred analytics or CRM platform. This allows you to attribute conversions and customer actions back to your LinkedIn Ads, providing insights into the impact and value of your advertising efforts.
