How do I Create a lookalike list on LinkedIn?

Creating a lookalike audience on LinkedIn allows you to find new leads that are similar to your existing high-value customers. This can be a great way to expand your reach and find qualified prospects that are more likely to convert into customers. Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a lookalike audience on LinkedIn.

What is a Lookalike Audience?

A lookalike audience is a feature offered by LinkedIn that allows you to target potential new leads that closely resemble your existing customers or high-value prospects. The lookalike audience is created by uploading a list of email addresses or account IDs from your existing customers into LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s algorithm then analyzes this list to identify common traits and attributes among these contacts. It then finds new people on LinkedIn who share similar characteristics to the list you provided.

Some common traits LinkedIn analyzes to find lookalike audiences include:

• Job title and industry
• Company size and type
• Location
• Skills and experience
• Groups and affiliations

By targeting leads that closely match your existing high-value customers, you increase the chances that these new leads will also convert into paying customers at a similar rate. Lookalike audiences help you focus your efforts on prospects that are more likely to be interested in your products or services.

Benefits of Using Lookalike Audiences

There are several benefits to using lookalike audiences on LinkedIn:

• Find qualified leads that resemble existing customers – Lookalikes allow you to discover new prospects that are similar to current high-value customers, making them more likely to convert.
• Expand your reach – Using lookalikes allows you to extend beyond just your 1st-degree connections and reach a wider audience of potential leads.
• Improve campaign performance – Campaigns targeted towards lookalike audiences typically convert better than untargeted campaigns.
• Cost-effective prospecting – Lookalikes provide a cost-efficient way to find new qualified leads without manually researching prospects.
• Easy to set up and adjust – It’s simple to create, analyze, and optimize lookalike audiences in LinkedIn’s platform.

How to Create a Lookalike Audience on LinkedIn

Follow these steps to create your own lookalike audience to target with LinkedIn ads or other content:

Step 1: Upload Contacts

First, you need to provide LinkedIn with a list of email addresses or account IDs from your existing customers or high-value prospects. This forms the “source audience” that the lookalike audience will be modeled after. You can upload a .csv file with email addresses or LinkedIn account IDs. The more contacts you can provide, the more accurate the lookalike audience will be. Shoot for at least 100 contacts if possible.

Step 2: Configure Lookalike Audience

Next, configure the parameters for your lookalike audience:

• Name your audience.
• Select the country you want to target.
• Choose an audience size – this determines how broad or narrow you want your lookalike audience to be. A smaller audience will resemble your source contacts more closely.

Step 3: Analyze Your Lookalike Audience

Once your lookalike audience is created, LinkedIn will provide an analysis of the demographic and professional traits of the audience. Review this to make sure the audience aligns with your goals. For example, you can see the most common job titles, skills, companies, and industries represented in the lookalike audience.

Step 4: Target Your Lookalike Audience

Now you can direct ads, sponsored content, or other messaging specifically towards your lookalike audience. Here are some ways to target your lookalikes:

• Run Sponsored InMail campaigns focused only on your lookalike list.
• Display targeted ads to your lookalikes.
• Promote your LinkedIn Company Page only to your lookalike audience.
• Exclude your existing contacts and only target the new lookalike prospects.

Step 5: Measure and Optimize Performance

Evaluate the performance of your campaigns targeted towards lookalikes. Assess metrics like click-through rate, conversion rate, cost per lead, and ROI. Use these insights to refine your lookalike audience and improve results over time.

Tips for Using Lookalike Audiences Effectively

Follow these best practices when creating and targeting lookalike audiences:

• Provide a sizable source list of at least 100 contacts. The larger the source, the better.
• Use your highest-value existing customers in the source – don’t just include all contacts.
• Update your source list regularly with new high-value prospects.
• Test different audience sizes to see what works best.
• Focus your ad messaging on pain points or needs relevant to your audience.
• Continuously measure results and optimize your targeting.
• Combine lookalikes with other types of targeting like job title and company size.

Frequently Asked Questions

How large should my lookalike audience be?

There is no one ideal lookalike audience size. You’ll need to test different sizes. Usually, an audience between 100,000 to 300,000 is a good starting point. The larger the audience, the more reach you’ll have but the looser the targeting. Try audiences of different scales to see what converts best.

Can I target my lookalike audience outside of LinkedIn ads?

Yes, once you create a lookalike audience you can use it for targeting beyond just LinkedIn ads. For example, you can target your lookalikes with Sponsored InMail messages or promote content to just your lookalike audience.

Is my lookalike audience static or does it update dynamically?

Lookalike audiences are static and do not update dynamically as you add more source contacts. To update your audience, you would need to create a new lookalike audience using your updated source list.

How accurate are the lookalike audiences?

The accuracy of lookalikes depends on the quality and size of the source audience. With a large source list rich with relevant attributes, lookalikes can be 70-90% as accurate as targeting your source contacts directly. Test and refine your lookalike audience over time for best results.

Can I create multiple lookalike audiences?

Yes, you can create different lookalike audiences using different source lists. For example, you may want one audience based on customers from LinkedIn ads and another based on leads from tradeshow signups. You can create multiple lookalikes to target.

Conclusion

Creating lookalike audiences is a simple yet powerful way to discover new prospective customers on LinkedIn that closely resemble your current high-value contacts. By following the steps to upload your source list, configure the audience, and then target your lookalikes with relevant messaging, you can improve campaign performance and lower your customer acquisition costs.

Remember to start with a sizable list of your ideal existing customers, continually analyze and optimize your lookalike targeting, and combine it with other forms of targeting for the best results. Used strategically, LinkedIn’s lookalike audiences can become a valuable prospecting and pipeline acceleration tool.

Lookalike audiences eliminate much of the manual effort needed to identify qualified prospects at scale. If you aren’t yet using lookalikes as part of your LinkedIn marketing strategy, try creating your first audience today and see the boost it can provide to your lead generation and pipeline growth.

Here is a summary of the key benefits of using lookalike audiences:

• Find qualified leads similar to current high-value customers
• Expand your reach beyond just 1st-degree connections
• Improve campaign performance and conversion rates
• Reduce cost per lead or customer acquisition
• Easy to set up and optimize over time

And some best practices for using lookalikes effectively:

• Provide a large source list (100+ contacts)
• Only use highest-value existing customers in source
• Update source list regularly
• Test different audience sizes
• Focus messaging on audience pain points
• Continuously optimize targeting
• Combine lookalikes with other targeting methods

Lookalike audiences take much of the guesswork out of lead generation by letting LinkedIn’s algorithms identify the most relevant prospects based on actual customer data. If leveraged correctly as part of your overall marketing program, lookalikes can become a pipeline acceleration machine.

So if you haven’t already, try creating your first LinkedIn lookalike audience today and see the high-quality leads and improved conversion results they can deliver.

With the ability to precisely target prospects similar to your best customers, lookalike audiences represent one of the most powerful tools available for generating qualified leads. The value comes from focusing your efforts only on prospects highly likely to convert rather than spraying your messages broadly to the entire LinkedIn audience.

However, like any advanced marketing tactic, success requires more than just setting up a lookalike audience and hoping for the best. You need to constantly analyze performance, adjust your targeting, update your source lists, and optimize every element of your campaigns.

Used strategically as part of your overall customer acquisition playbook, lookalike audiences can become an efficient customer prospecting system. But achieving real results takes diligence, commitment to continuous improvement, and integrating lookalikes into your broader marketing and sales processes.

Lookalike Audiences In Summary

• Upload source list of at least 100 existing high-value contacts
• Configure audience size, country, and naming
• Target lookalikes via ads, InMail, content promotion
• Combine with other forms of targeting
• Continuously analyze and optimize performance

With the right approach, lookalike audiences can help you efficiently uncover qualified prospects, improve marketing ROI, and accelerate growth.