LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the most popular social media platforms for running ads. Both networks give businesses the ability to target specific demographics and promote their products or services. However, there are some key differences between LinkedIn and Facebook when it comes to ad costs and overall ad performance.
In this article, we’ll look at the cost structure of LinkedIn ads versus Facebook ads, factors that impact ad pricing, and do a comparison of averages across ad formats and objectives. We’ll also discuss best practices for setting budgets and optimizing campaigns on each platform. Having a clear understanding of the costs and value differences can help you determine which platform makes the most sense for your business goals and target audience.
LinkedIn Ad Costs
LinkedIn offers the following main ad formats:
Sponsored Content
These are in-feed ads that appear in the LinkedIn feed on desktop and mobile. They look similar to native posts and link to destination URLs.
Sponsored InMail
These are targeted direct messages sent to specific LinkedIn members matching your audience criteria.
Text Ads
These are the standard sidebar or right rail text ads on LinkedIn that promote content like posts, Pages, websites, etc.
Dynamic Ads
These showcase specific products or services to relevant members based on their activity and interests.
Here is an overview of the average costs for LinkedIn ads:
| Ad Format | Average Cost per Click (CPC) |
| Sponsored Content | $5-$8 |
| Sponsored InMail | $50+ |
| Text ads | $3-$7 |
| Dynamic ads | $8-$12 |
As you can see, LinkedIn ads, particularly Sponsored InMail, skew higher in terms of average CPC. This is due to LinkedIn’s highly targeted professional audience and the high relevance of its ad units.
Sponsored InMail leads the pack with the highest cost per click due to their disruptive nature and intent-driven targeting. However, because they are sent directly to members’ inboxes with 100% share of voice, InMail ads also deliver some of the highest conversion rates on LinkedIn.
Sponsored Content and Text Ads offer more affordable CPCs for things like brand awareness and traffic campaigns. Dynamic ads leverage LinkedIn’s detailed member activity to serve highly relevant and engaging product/service ads to buyers already in-market.
Factors Impacting LinkedIn Ad Costs
Some of the key factors that influence LinkedIn advertising costs include:
– Audience targeting – Narrower targeting leads to higher CPCs but better relevance. Broad targeting is more affordable but gets less engagement.
– Time of year – Prices increase during busy seasons or events when more advertisers compete for bids.
– Location targeting – Campaigns limited to certain countries or regions will cost more per click. Global campaigns are cheaper but more general.
– Device targeting – Mobile ads average 50-100%+ higher CPCs than desktop ads on LinkedIn.
– Audience size – Bidding for smaller, more niche audiences leads to higher CPCs. Larger potential reach brings down costs.
– Industry vertical – Certain sectors like tech, finance, and higher education see more demand and thus higher costs.
Overall, LinkedIn ad pricing comes down to the relevance and quality of your target audience on their platform. You pay more to get in front of engaged professionals who are more likely to convert. Next, we’ll compare this to the pricing model for Facebook ads.
Facebook Ad Costs
Facebook offers a wider range of ad formats, but here are some of the most popular:
Facebook News Feed Ads
These are in-feed ads that appear in the Facebook news feed on desktop and mobile. They can include images, video, carousels, and more.
Facebook Stories Ads
These are full-screen, vertical ads that appear between stories in Facebook’s dedicated stories feed.
Facebook Instant Experience Ads
These feature interactive, full-screen experiences personalized for the viewer.
Facebook Marketplace Ads
These promote listings and brands within the Facebook Marketplace platform.
Here are the average costs for key Facebook ad formats:
| Ad Format | Average Cost per Click (CPC) |
| News feed ads | $0.97 |
| Stories ads | $0.62 |
| Instant Experience ads | $1.86 |
| Marketplace ads | $0.56 |
Overall, Facebook ad CPCs are quite low compared to other platforms. The massive reach and precise targeting makes it very cost efficient in terms of cost per result. Stories ads and Instant Experience ads cost more due to their engaging, immersive formats. Marketplace ads are cheapest for driving product promotions.
Factors Impacting Facebook Ad Costs
Some elements that influence costs for Facebook advertising include:
– Audiences – Facebook’s detailed targeting options allow both broad and narrow audiences. More niche targeting leads to higher costs.
– Objectives – Traffic and conversion campaigns demand higher spends than reach and engagement goals.
– Competition – Industries and keywords with more advertisers bidding up costs will show higher CPCs.
– Ad quality – Well-designed, relevant ads will achieve better CTR and lower CPCs over time.
– Device targeting – Just like LinkedIn, mobile ad CPCs are significantly higher on Facebook.
– Time of year – Prices surge around Q4 holidays when retailers heavily advertise gifts.
Overall, Facebook ad costs come down to the level of targeting, quality, and competition among advertisers. However, the vast audience reach keeps CPCs affordable in most cases.
LinkedIn vs. Facebook Ad Costs by Objective
Now let’s compare how LinkedIn and Facebook ad costs stack up when looking at specific campaign objectives:
Lead Generation
LinkedIn’s accurate professional targeting makes it ideal for generating high-quality B2B leads. The average cost per lead runs $100-$200.
On Facebook lead gen campaigns cost $40-$80 per lead on average. The lower cost per lead is usually offset by higher lead to customer conversion rates on LinkedIn.
Brand Awareness
CPMs (cost per 1000 impressions) for brand awareness campaigns average $10-$15 on LinkedIn depending on targeting.
Facebook CPMs are $5-$10 for broad brand awareness goals. Again, the wider reach offsets the lower cost.
Website Visits
CPCs for website visits and traffic average $3-$8 on LinkedIn based on targeting specifics.
On Facebook, the average CPC for website conversions is around $1. This makes Facebook highly efficient for high-volume traffic goals.
Video Views
Average CPV (cost per view) on LinkedIn ranges from $0.10-$0.30 for shorter videos. The high relevance of the professional audience delivers great completion rates.
Facebook CPVs can be as low as $0.03 per video view depending on targeting. Cheaper video views make it better for awareness versus conversion.
As you can see, Facebook does enable lower CPAs and CPCs across most objectives. But LinkedIn delivers higher-converting audiences that may offset the lower costs per action on Facebook.
Setting Budgets for LinkedIn & Facebook Ads
To maximize results on either platform, you need to allocate an adequate budget to achieve your KPIs. Here are some tips on budgeting best practices:
Set Realistic Goals
First, define goals that are reasonable for your business in terms of revenue potential. This allows you to estimate required conversions to hit targets and budget accordingly.
Test Small Budgets
When launching new campaigns, always start with smaller daily/monthly budgets around $50-$250 and scale up as you optimize for better results.
Analyze Metrics
Look at CPC, CTR, CPAs, and other metrics to project budgets needed to maintain or improve performance as you scale campaigns.
Use Accelerated Delivery
Both Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to spend your daily budget faster to gain more data and optimize faster. This allows higher budgets while still controlling daily spends.
Schedule Fluctuations
You can increase budgets around promotions, events, holidays, etc. to align with higher goals for specific periods.
Review Frequently
Check campaign analytics at least weekly and adjust budgets up or down based on performance. Pausing poor performers helps reallocate budget to what’s working.
Budgeting is an ongoing process as you test new strategies and audience approaches. Start conservatively and ramp up budgets to hit the right cost per conversion for your vertical.
Key Takeaways
To wrap up, here are some of the biggest takeaways around LinkedIn vs Facebook ad costs:
– LinkedIn ads have higher average CPCs due to highly relevant professional targeting but deliver results for B2B marketers.
– Facebook provides enormous reach at very affordable CPCs and CPAs but may sacrifice some relevance.
– Consider your audience, industry, objectives and more when deciding between the two platforms. Often a combined approach is best.
– Test conservatively and scale up budgets gradually based on data to avoid overspending.
– Both platforms offer detailed targeting options to refine your audience and results over time. Invest in creative testing as well.
– Monitor performance frequently and optimize bids, audiences, placements, budgets and other elements to reduce costs and improve results.
So while Facebook offers cheaper clicks and actions overall, LinkedIn may deliver higher-quality leads and conversions. The best approach depends on your specific goals, ideal customers, and content strategy. Test both platforms to see which works best for your objectives.