LinkedIn pay per click (PPC) costs can vary significantly based on factors like your target audience, bid strategy, and campaign optimization. However, most advertisers end up paying between $5-$10 per click on average. Here’s a more in-depth look at LinkedIn PPC costs and how you can optimize your campaigns to get the best value.
Average Cost Per Click on LinkedIn
According to LinkedIn, the average cost per click (CPC) across all industries on their platform is $8. However, this can vary a lot depending on your specific targeting, bid strategy, and campaign creativity. Some key factors that influence LinkedIn PPC costs include:
- Targeting: Narrow targeting like job title or company typically has higher CPCs while broader targeting has lower CPCs.
- Competition: Highly competitive keywords and audiences lead to higher CPCs.
- Quality Score: LinkedIn grades each ad on relevance, creativity and landing page experience which impacts costs.
- Bid strategy: Manual bidding gives you more control but takes more optimization, automated bidding is easier but can drive up costs if not monitored.
Here are some examples of average LinkedIn PPC costs for different targeting approaches:
| Targeting | Average CPC |
|---|---|
| Broad targeting like industry or job seniority | $3 – $5 |
| More specific targeting like job titles | $6 – $8 |
| Very narrow targeting like company name | $10+ |
As you can see, targeting company names and specific titles will be significantly more expensive per click than broader targeting. However, this narrower targeting also tends to convert better once you drive those highly qualified visitors to your site or landing pages.
How to Reduce LinkedIn PPC Costs
Here are some tips to help drive down your LinkedIn CPC and improve campaign performance:
1. Optimize for Quality Score
LinkedIn grades each ad using a quality score that looks at relevance, creativity and landing page experience. Ads with higher quality scores get preferential treatment in the auction which lowers your CPC. Some ways to boost quality score include:
- Craft highly relevant ad copy that uses keywords naturally.
- Create ads that catch attention with unique selling propositions.
- Ensure your landing page loads quickly and matches the messaging of your ads.
- A/B test multiple ads to find which ones resonate best.
2. Use Precise Targeting
While precise targeting has higher CPCs, it also converts better once you attract those visitors. You’re better off paying more for the right people than wasting budget on broad targeting that brings low quality traffic. Leverage LinkedIn’s detailed targeting options like:
- Job titles
- Companies
- Groups and interests
- Skills
- Location
3. Set Specific Bids
While automated bidding is simpler, you have more control over costs with manual CPC bidding. Set specific bids based on the value of each click and monitor performance. Increase bids for well converting keywords and lower bids on poorer performing targeting.
4. Schedule Ads Strategically
Pay close attention to when your audience is most active on LinkedIn. You likely don’t need 24/7 ad coverage. Turn off underperforming days and times and focus budget on peak activity periods to save on costs.
5. Test Conversion Optimized Campaigns
Most advertisers focus on CPC bidding to drive clicks. However, conversion optimized campaigns let you target buyers who are more likely to convert based on LinkedIn’s algorithm. This approach can drive higher quality traffic and reduce overall cost per conversion.
What Impacts LinkedIn PPC Costs?
Now that we’ve looked at average PPC costs and how to reduce them, let’s examine some of the key factors that influence prices on LinkedIn.
Targeting
As we touched on earlier, targeting has a major influence on costs. Narrow targeting leads to higher competition and thus higher CPCs. But precise targeting also leads to higher relevancy for your ads. Some options are:
- Job titles like Marketing Manager
- Companies like Microsoft
- Skills like HubSpot or Analytics
- Schools such as Harvard University
- Location targeting by city, region or country
- Interest or Group targeting like Digital Marketing group
Auction Dynamics
LinkedIn advertising works on a second price auction system, similar to Google. Advertisers bid on ad placement and the winner pays just slightly above the second highest bidder. This creates a dynamic marketplace where prices fluctuate based on competition.
Quality Score
As mentioned above, LinkedIn grades every ad on relevance, creativity and landing page experience. Ads with higher quality scores get better placement at lower CPCs. Quality score is dynamic so you need to continually test and optimize based on performance data.
Time of Day & Day of Week
When you advertise makes a difference. Peak usage times on LinkedIn are on weekdays during working hours. You’ll pay higher CPCs to reach users during the limited high demand hours. Prices drop in the early mornings, nights and weekends when there is less competition.
Audience Interests & Behavior
Certain audience segments are highly coveted and thus more expensive to target. For example, targeting C-level titles will cost you more than targeting entry-level positions. Understanding user intent and behavior can help you direct budget where it counts.
Landing Page Experience
A slow or non-relevant landing page hurts the visitor experience which LinkedIn factors into Quality Score. Make sure your landing pages are fast loading and align with your ad messaging to help lower costs over time as your quality score improves.
Bid Strategy
How you set your bids also determines costs. Manual bidding allows precision but takes more work. Automated bidding is easier to manage but can overspend unless monitored carefully. Work on finding the right bid strategy for your goals.
How Do LinkedIn Ads Work?
Before diving into more specific CPC strategies, let’s look briefly at how LinkedIn advertising works overall:
- Targeting – You choose the audience to target based on job role, company, interests, location, etc.
- Ad Auction – Your ads participate in a real-time auction against other advertisers based on bids and quality score.
- Ad Rank – The combination of your bid and quality score determines your ad’s rank for placement.
- CPC Bid – You set a maximum cost per click bid for how much you’re willing to pay.
- Pricing – The cost you pay per click depends on where your ad ranks and the next highest bidder.
- Budgets – You can set a daily budget to automatically pause ads once reached.
Mastering these key components allows you to gain an edge in the LinkedIn advertising auction and pay less per click.
Lowering LinkedIn CPC with Negative Keywords
One advanced tactic to help lower costs is leveraging negative keywords. These are keywords you add to your campaign that you DO NOT want to trigger your ads.
This helps avoid your ad being shown for broad, irrelevant searches from people outside your target audience. Some examples of negative keywords for a B2B tech advertiser could include:
- Cheap
- Free
- Entry-level
- Sports
- Games
Adding a list of tightly themed negative keywords prevents your ads from showing for searches that would drive unqualified traffic. This helps boost relevancy which improves your Quality Score and lowers average CPC over time.
Conversion Tracking for PPC Optimization
To really maximize the impact of your LinkedIn advertising, it’s essential to implement conversion tracking. This means adding tracking tags to your website/landing pages so you can see which keyword clicks are driving conversions such as:
- Contact form submissions
- Email signups
- Downloads
- Purchases
With this data, you can see your true return on ad spend and optimize campaigns around profitability metrics rather than just clicks. Some ways to leverage conversion data include:
- Pausing low performing keywords
- Increasing bids on keywords driving conversions
- A/B testing landing pages to improve conversions
- Adding negative keywords as needed
Taking the time to add conversion tracking will give you the insights needed to refine your LinkedIn ads and get more value from your budget.
Conclusion
The average LinkedIn CPC ranges from $3-$10 depending on factors like targeting, quality score, and bid strategy. While precise targeting costs more per click, it also converts better for advertisers. Focus on optimizing ads for your ideal audience, creating relevant landing pages, and monitoring performance frequently.
Set specific bids, leverage negative keywords, and use conversion tracking to maximize ROI. With the right optimization and management, LinkedIn PPC can become an efficient channel to reach B2B decision makers and generate leads.