LinkedIn advertising has become an increasingly popular option for B2B companies looking to generate leads and increase brand awareness. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn provides access to a massive professional audience. But does investing in LinkedIn ads actually deliver results for B2B brands? Let’s take a closer look.
The Reach of LinkedIn for B2B
One of the main reasons LinkedIn ads work for B2B is the sheer size and quality of LinkedIn’s audience. As of 2023, LinkedIn has over 740 million members globally. And these are not just random internet users – LinkedIn members are professionals from all major industries and job functions.
Importantly for B2B brands, decision makers are very well represented on LinkedIn’s network. LinkedIn reports that 40 million members are senior-level influencers. These include CXO’s, Senior Vice Presidents, Directors and other senior managers with purchasing authority.
In addition, there are over 30 million decision makers across various management levels and functions using LinkedIn every day to stay up to date with industry news, connect with peers, research vendors and make B2B buying decisions.
With such a large concentration of relevant B2B buyers accessible in one place, LinkedIn represents an unparalleled opportunity for lead generation compared to more fragmented or saturated channels. The sheer size and quality of LinkedIn’s professional audience gives it outstanding reach for B2B organizations targeting business decision makers.
Targeting Capabilities on LinkedIn
In addition to audience size, LinkedIn also enables precise targeting capabilities. Advertisers can target ads by geography, company size, industry, job function and seniority. This allows B2B brands to cut through the noise and get their message in front of exactly the right decision makers for their offering.
Some of the key targeting dimensions available on LinkedIn include:
- Job Title – Target by individual job title such as CEO, CMO, CTO, Director of Sales etc.
- Job Function – Target by management level or department such as Finance, IT, Marketing, Human Resources etc.
- Company – Target employees from specific companies you want to reach.
- Industry – Target by industry vertical such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing etc.
- Geography – Target by country, region, state or city.
- Company Size – Target companies by number of employees.
- Interests & Skills – Target members based on listed interests and skills relevant to your products.
The capability to combine this granular targeting across multiple parameters enables B2B brands to be extremely precise with who they want to reach. Campaigns can be customized to target specialized segments like “IT Managers at retail companies in Southern California” or “C-level executives at healthcare startups”.
This level of precision increases the efficiency and ROI of LinkedIn ads by focusing spend on the audiences most likely to convert rather than spraying across a broad generalized audience. The advanced targeting makes LinkedIn a perfect channel for B2B lead gen compared to more scattered options like TV, radio or billboards.
Nurturing Leads with Content Ads
One format of LinkedIn ads that works especially well for B2B brands is their content ads. Content ads allow you to promote existing content assets like whitepapers, ebooks, case studies and blog posts to LinkedIn users.
For example, an IT security company could promote downloadable guides like “The 2023 Guide to Ransomware Protection” or “10 Ways to Automate Threat Detection”. Software companies can run content ads linking to detailed product demo videos and virtual events.
Content ads are effective on LinkedIn for several reasons:
- They attract high-intent prospects already interested in a topic and “raise their hand” by opting into your content.
- Long-form content builds trust and establishes thought leadership early in the buyer’s journey.
- Content downloads provide lead contact info and intent signals to fuel account-based sales and marketing.
- Promoted content keeps your brand top of mind and nurtures prospects over time through the buying process.
In fact, research by LinkedIn shows that members who view or share sponsored content from B2B advertisers have conversion rates 2-3x higher compared to other types of ads.
Overall, the content ad format makes LinkedIn a powerful channel for moving prospects down the funnel and generating sales-ready leads over time through relevant education.
Retargeting Existing Prospects
Many B2B companies also leverage LinkedIn ads for retargeting – targeting existing prospects who have already visited their website or interacted with their brand in some way. Retargeting works extremely well for B2B since the average sales cycle often takes many touches to convert qualified prospects.
Some examples of how B2B brands use LinkedIn ads for retargeting include:
- Remarketing website visitors – sending specific offers to prospects who recently visited key product pages.
- Retargeting email subscribers – reaching customers who have opted in but not yet converted.
- Retargeting content downloaders – following up with more content to contacts who previously engaged.
- Event attendee retargeting – keeping your brand top of mind with prospects who attended virtual or live events.
With retargeting, brands only pay when prospects who already know the company engage further – making it very cost-effective compared to acquiring fully new prospects from scratch.
According to marketing technology company AdRoll, retargeted prospects have 70% higher conversion rates with repeated exposure. Since LinkedIn offers sophisticated retargeting options, it provides the perfect channel to re-engage and nurture existing prospects towards a final purchase decision.
Amplifying Thought Leadership
Building awareness of your brand’s thought leadership and credibility is crucial for B2B lead generation. Here again, LinkedIn advertising provides effective options.
Sponsored content is one way to organically establish thought leadership as discussed earlier. However, LinkedIn also offers dedicated LinkedIn Showcase Pages to prominently promote your best content.
For example, an HR consulting firm could create a LinkedIn Showcase Page highlighting their latest research reports, expert interviews, case studies and advice columns. This elevates their best content into a standalone hub where members can learn from the firm’s insights.
Promoted with LinkedIn ads, Showcase Pages help B2B brands quickly ramp up their credibility and thought leadership. Research from LinkedIn indicates that brands who consistently post content build 50% more trust. This nurtures prospects so they view you as an authority and preferred vendor when the time comes to make purchasing decisions.
Localized Targeting
Many B2B companies operate in specific geographic regions or have a niche target customer base clustered in certain locations. Again, LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities allow advertisers to localize campaigns and penetrate key markets.
Options like flexible location targeting, language targeting and localized ad copies help ensure your ads resonate in your priority regional markets. Key types of localized LinkedIn advertising include:
- Targeting ads by city, region or country.
- Creating localized language ads to engage foreign markets.
- Ad copies tailored to connect with cultural nuances.
- Location extensions to drive foot traffic to physical locations.
The granular localization helps B2B brands geo-target the areas and personas that matter most to their business. This leads to higher relevance, engagement and conversions.
Analyzing Campaign Performance
Sophisticated analytics and attribution are essential for optimizing ROI across B2B marketing channels. LinkedIn provides robust advertising analytics for monitoring campaign performance.
Key LinkedIn advertising metrics allow B2B brands to understand:
- Audience reach – number of unique people exposed to your ads
- Impressions – how many times your ads are served
- Clicks/engagement rate – how often people click your ads
- Spent – tracking ad spend across campaigns
- CPM – the cost per 1000 ad impressions
- CPC – the cost per click
- Conversions – sign-ups, content downloads, purchases etc.
- CPA – the cost driving each conversion
- ROI – return on ad spend
These metrics are available through LinkedIn’s self-service Ads Manager portal as well as via CSV exports and APIs. Detailed demographic reporting also shows which buyer personas and segments are most responsive.
For B2B brands focused on generating highly qualified conversions rather than vanity metrics like reach and clicks, LinkedIn provides further attribution. Options like Matched Audiences show anonymous data on downstream conversion events from ad exposures on LinkedIn. This cross-device data reveals how LinkedIn ads ultimately influence pipeline and revenue.
The transparency into performance, costs and attribution empowers data-driven decisions to optimize B2B ad results.
Combining Ads with Other LinkedIn Features
To maximize results, the most effective B2B marketers combine LinkedIn ads with other features. This creates an omnichannel approach leveraging different LinkedIn capabilities that work together.
Some examples of omnichannel tactics include:
- Ads + LinkedIn Pages – Publish helpful content on Pages to nurture prospects attracted through ads.
- Ads + LinkedIn Groups – Join or create Groups related to your niche to make branded community posts promoting content ads.
- Ads + LinkedIn Events – Promote your online events, webinars and virtual summits using companion ads to drive registrations.
- Ads + Lead Gen Forms – Add Lead Gen Forms to your ads to capture prospect contact details right within the LinkedIn platform.
- Ads + CRM Integration – Pass LinkedIn ad leads into your CRM to trigger workflows and notify sales reps.
These types of combinations create a flywheel effect where LinkedIn products work together to attract, nurture and convert buyers in a streamlined sequence. This results in higher ROI than just running isolated ads.
Bottom Line on LinkedIn Ads for B2B
Considering LinkedIn’s massive professional audience, precise B2B targeting and sophisticated analytics, there is a clear case to be made for LinkedIn advertising effectiveness for B2B lead generation.
In particular, the reach to relevant decision makers, retargeting capabilities, and options for establishing thought leadership provide unique value for B2B brands. And with proper optimization, LinkedIn ads can become a high-ROI channel compared to scattershot alternatives.
Of course, LinkedIn advertising success depends on ad creative, segmentation, bidding strategy and overall integration just like any channel. But the targeting flexibility specifically provided by the LinkedIn platform offers inherent advantages for B2B marketers over more generalized channels.
As part of an integrated B2B marketing strategy, LinkedIn ads can be an extremely powerful lever to reach, nurture and convert purchasing decision makers on the world’s largest professional network.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of LinkedIn ads work best for B2B brands?
Some of the most effective LinkedIn ad formats for B2B include sponsored content ads, targeted Follower ads, Conversation ads, and Lead Gen Forms. Video ads also perform well at driving brand awareness and engagement.
What metrics indicate LinkedIn ad success for B2B?
Key LinkedIn ad metrics to track for B2B success include cost-per-lead, pipeline influenced, deal size influenced, revenue influenced, and ROI. Traffic-based metrics like impressions and clickthrough rate are less important than real business outcomes.
How can B2B companies improve LinkedIn campaign results?
Tips to improve B2B LinkedIn ad results include hyper-focused targeting, A/B testing ad creative, retargeting, promoting content, localizing for regions, optimizing landing pages, and integrating with marketing automation. Ongoing optimization is key for improving performance.
What targeting options does LinkedIn provide for B2B ads?
LinkedIn enables B2B advertisers to target ads by seniority, job function, company, industry, location, interests, skills, group membership, and more. Advanced account-based targeting options are also available.
How much should B2B brands expect to spend on LinkedIn ads?
LinkedIn ad costs vary significantly based on targeting and competition. However, for mature accounts, expect average CPCs of $5-15+ and CPMs around $10-30. Many B2B brands will invest 5-10%+ of their digital ad budget on LinkedIn ads.
Conclusion
In closing, while no advertising channel provides guaranteed success, LinkedIn Ads offer a uniquely powerful opportunity for B2B brands due to the platform’s professional audience, precise targeting, and advanced capabilities. With the right creative, targeting, and integration strategy, LinkedIn Advertising can deliver impressive results in attracting, engaging, and converting B2B decision makers. Brands investing seriously in B2B marketing would be remiss not to test and optimize campaigns on the world’s largest professional network.