LinkedIn offers a variety of targeting options to help advertisers reach their ideal audience. With over 722 million members worldwide, LinkedIn provides access to a large professional network for B2B marketers. LinkedIn’s targeting options allow advertisers to target by job title, company, industry, interests, skills, age, gender, location and more. This enables highly customized targeting to engage professionals that are most likely to be interested in your products or services.
Some key things to know about LinkedIn targeting:
- LinkedIn members create rich, detailed profiles with information about their professional experience. This provides valuable data for targeting compared to other social platforms.
- Targeting on LinkedIn is account-based, allowing you to reach multiple employees at a company.
- You can combine targeting options for greater specificity. For example, target by job title AND industry.
- Targeting is available across LinkedIn ad formats including Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, Text Ads and Dynamic Ads.
In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at the different targeting options on LinkedIn and how you can use them effectively.
Targeting by Job Title
One of the most popular ways to target on LinkedIn is by job title. Job title targeting allows you to serve ads to LinkedIn members who have specified a particular job title in their profile. This helps ensure your ads are seen by those members most likely to benefit from your product or service based on their role.
Some examples of how job title targeting can be used:
- A cybersecurity company targets “Chief Information Security Officer” and other security-related titles.
- A HR software company targets “Human Resources Manager” and “Director of Human Resources.”
- A marketing agency targets “Marketing Manager,” “VP of Marketing” and other marketing titles.
When setting up job title targeting in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, you can target an exact match job title or use broader targeting such as job “functions” or “seniorities.” For example, targeting the Function of “Marketing” will target members with any marketing job title.
Job title targeting is helpful for reaching decision-makers and purchase influencers for your product or service. Depending on what you’re advertising, job titles can help qualify leads and increase conversion rates.
Optimizing Job Title Targeting
Here are some tips for optimizing your use of job title targeting on LinkedIn:
– Research which job titles are most relevant to your offering. Look for senior-level titles for bigger budget decisions.
– Consider targeting by job “function” or “seniority” for a broader reach if targeting specific titles is too narrow.
– Review your current customer base and look for patterns in job titles to inform your targeting.
– Test different job titles against each other to see which perform best.
– Periodically review your targeted job titles for relevance as new titles emerge.
– Use job title targeting alongside other targeting options like company, location and interests.
Overall, job title targeting is a powerful LinkedIn targeting technique when used strategically. Tailoring your ads to align with your audience’s roles and responsibilities can drive quality leads and conversions.
Targeting by Company
In addition to job titles, you can target LinkedIn advertising by the company that members work for. This allows you to serve ads specifically to employees at relevant organizations.
Some examples of company targeting include:
- An enterprise SaaS company targets Fortune 500 corporations.
- A niche tool targets users at competitor companies to advertise its superior features.
- A recruiting agency targets fast-growing startups in need of talent.
You can target company names individually or use filters like industry, employee size, location and more.
Company targeting enables account-based advertising to generate leads at your key target accounts. You can even create customized audiences of your current customers to target upsell and cross-sell opportunities.
Optimizing Company Targeting
Tips for getting the most out of company targeting:
– Research target account lists and select companies with a high need or interest for your offering. Prioritize by potential deal size or likelihood to convert.
– Use filters like industry, tech stack, growth rate, etc. to find lookalike companies to your ideal customers.
– Target by seniority when targeting companies to reach decision-makers.
– Analyze the performance of ads targeted to different companies and double down on those getting strong results.
– Review company targeting regularly and update based on new strategic target accounts.
– Combine company and job title targeting for highly targeted outreach at specific organizations.
With over 30 million companies represented on LinkedIn, company targeting provides a major opportunity to connect with organizations that are strong prospects for your business. Tailoring messaging to specific companies can improve engagement and conversion rates.
Targeting by Industry
Targeting by industry is a broader way to reach audiences interested in solutions for their field. Members specify their industry in their profile, enabling advertisers to target entire sectors or niche industries.
Some examples include:
- A cybersecurity company targets the software, finance and healthcare industries.
- A cleaning product targets hospitality and food service.
- A recruitment platform targets technology and IT.
Industry targeting works well for products or services that align with certain verticals. It can also help refine broad targeting when you know your offering resonates with particular sectors.
You can target over 25,000 industry categories on LinkedIn at both macro and micro vertical levels. Industry targeting and job title targeting complement each other nicely to drive relevance.
Optimizing Industry Targeting
Tips for effective industry targeting:
– Research which verticals have the biggest need for your offering and focus targeting there.
– Look at the industries of your current customers for insights on which sectors resonate most.
– Target by seniority within industry filters to reach decision-makers.
– Use industry and job title targeting together to drive relevance, ex: “Manufacturing Engineers” or “Healthcare Administrators.”
– Test ads among different industry segments to identify best performing verticals.
– Keep your targeted industries updated as your business offering evolves over time.
While industry targeting is fairly broad, it can be helpful for certain companies to reach entire sectors at once if you have an applicable offering. Combined with other filters, it provides another powerful targeting avenue on LinkedIn.
Targeting by Location
Location is commonly used in LinkedIn ad targeting to geo-target your campaigns. You can target by country, state, metro area, city and down to the ZIP code level.
Some examples of location targeting:
- A restaurant targets people within a 10 mile radius of its location.
- A software company targets technology hubs like Silicon Valley and Austin.
- A consultancy targets New York to reach Wall Street firms.
Geographic targeting allows you to focus spending on regions that are strategic priorities based on office locations, areas of growth opportunity and more. Location works well layered with job role and industry targeting.
Optimizing Location Targeting
Tips for location targeting:
– Prioritize metro areas and regions that represent your best customer opportunities and growth potential.
– Consider targeting by city if you have a local business focus. Hyper-local ZIP code targeting also available.
– Test a few key regions first before expanding your geographic targeting more broadly.
– Use location filters combined with job title and industry for targeted regional campaigns.
– Analyze performance data by location to double down on high converting areas.
– Keep location targeting up-to-date based on where your business is actively prospecting.
Location data in LinkedIn profiles provides a valuable signal for geographic targeting. Tailoring ads by place helps drive greater local relevance and cut through the noise.
Targeting by Interests and Skills
Beyond purely professional targeting, you can also target LinkedIn members based on their personal interests and skills listed in their profile.
Interest targeting can help you refine targeting for audiences passionate about topics related to your business.
Some examples:
- A golf company targets golf enthusiasts.
- A marketing event targets people interested in “digital marketing.”
- An HR tech company targets members with skills in “talent acquisition.”
Interest and skills targeting work well for non-work related products like consumer goods and services. They can also highlight professionals knowledgeable about certain subjects.
You can target over 18,000 interests and 50,000 skills identified on member profiles. Defining specific interests and skills that map to your offering can drive increased engagement.
Optimizing Interest and Skills Targeting
Tips for effectively targeting interests and skills:
– Research which interests are most relevant to your products, services and content.
– Look for interest patterns among your current audience and customers to guide your targeting.
– Targeting multiple interests together can further refine your targeting.
– Similarly, targeting by combinations of skills can help reach professionals with ideal expertise.
– Test interest and skills targeting against other targeting approaches to determine what resonates most.
– Monitor performance by interest and skill to double down on areas with traction.
While targeting by job role and company remains most popular on LinkedIn, interest and skill targeting provides another layer of personalization to your campaigns. The rich profile data on LinkedIn enables detailed interest and skill targeting for laser-focused audience refinement.
Targeting by Gender and Age
LinkedIn also provides demographic targeting capabilities by gender and age range:
Examples include:
- A skincare brand targets women ages 30-45.
- A 401k provider targets men over 50.
- An enterprise SaaS company targets ages 25-40.
This type of targeting can be helpful for consumer brands and B2C services with strong resonance among certain demographic groups.
However, demographic targeting should generally be approached carefully, especially when used on its own without other targeting filters. You want to avoid stereotyping audiences or promoting diversity issues in the workplace. Demographic targeting is also prohibited for certain categories like housing, employment, and credit.
Optimizing Gender and Age Targeting
Tips for appropriate demographic targeting:
– Use age and gender qualitatively for general guidance but avoid overly biased assumptions.
– Apply demographic targeting thoughtfully alongside job, company and interest filters to avoid controversy.
– Analyze performance data to determine if certain age ranges or gender actually correlate strongly to your offering.
– Regularly review demographic targeting for continued appropriateness and sensitivity as societal norms evolve.
– Consider using InMail ads for highly targeted gender and age criteria to avoid publicly excluding groups.
While the ability to target by gender and age exists, it should be approached carefully. Targeting by profession and interests typically provides higher accuracy and relevancy for LinkedIn campaigns.
Targeting Combinations
The true power of LinkedIn targeting comes from combining different targeting criteria for highly specific audience segments.
You can mix and match targeting options like:
- Job Title + Company
- Job Title + Location
- Job Title + Industry
- Company + Location
- Interest + Industry
- Skills + Seniority
Layering targeting provides exponentially greater specificity. You can use LinkedIn’s audience templates or create custom combinations tailored to your goals.
Here are some examples of combined targeting:
- CMOs in San Francisco
- Directors of Engineering at Cybersecurity Companies
- VPs of Sales interested in Leadership
Strict targeting combinations do limit audience size, so you may need to broaden your approach over time. Start specific while testing new campaigns, then expand targeting once proven.
Audience Analytics and Insights
To make the most of LinkedIn targeting options, it’s essential to monitor audience analytics and optimize based on performance insights.
Key targeting metrics to analyze regularly:
- Targeting match rate – % of audience targeted that matches your criteria.
- Audience size – # of members matching your targeting.
- Average CTR – Click-through-rate by targeting type.
- Conversion rates – Form fills, purchases, etc. by audience segment.
- Engagement – Comments, shares, reactions by audience.
These signals will show which targeting approaches resonate best with your goals. You can then refine your focus to optimize spend.
Conduct periodic audience research to identify new targeting opportunities. Surveys, social listening and website analytics can uncover emerging customer segments to target.
Ongoing audience insights ensure your targeting stays up-to-date and aligned with campaign objectives. Adapt targeting over time as you learn more about your ideal customers.
Conclusion
Targeting options on LinkedIn allow B2B marketers to engage professional audiences with precision. Tailoring messaging to job titles, companies, industries and interests can drive meaningful engagement from your best-fit prospects.
Start with a clear goal and specific audience in mind. Combine targeting factors to reach narrow segments that convert. Monitor performance closely to double down on what’s most effective.
With continued optimization, LinkedIn targeting can deliver measurable impact on brand awareness, leads and revenue. Activate the world’s largest professional network to engage decision-makers that will drive the growth of your business.
