How use LinkedIn ads to generate leads?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 690 million users worldwide. With access to such a vast audience of professionals and decision makers, LinkedIn ads present a major opportunity for businesses looking to generate leads and new customers.

LinkedIn’s targeting options allow you to zero in on your ideal customers based on job title, company, industry, interests, and more. By running well-targeted ads, you can put your product or service in front of just the right people at the right companies to generate qualified leads.

Here are some tips on how to use LinkedIn ads effectively to generate more leads for your business:

Define your target audience

The key to any successful advertising campaign is knowing who you want to reach. Before creating your LinkedIn ads, take some time to define your ideal customer profile. What job titles, companies, locations, and interests should your prospects have?

LinkedIn allows you to target ads based on:

• Job title and seniority
• Company name and industry
• Groups and interests
• Skills and education
• Location

The more narrowly you can define your target audience, the better your ad results will be. For example, “HR managers in the healthcare industry” is better than just “HR managers.”

Choose the right objective

LinkedIn ads allow you to choose from several objectives to match your goals. The main objectives for lead generation are:

• Lead generation – users submit their contact information through a lead form
• Website visits – drive traffic to your website from LinkedIn
• Conversions – get users to take a specific action on your site, like downloading content or registering for a webinar

“Lead generation” ads will directly collect leads through LinkedIn. The other objectives can also generate leads indirectly by driving targeted traffic to your site.

Create compelling ad creative

Your visuals and copy have a big impact on ad performance. Follow these tips for effective LinkedIn ad creative:

• Highlight benefits specific to your target audience rather than general claims.
• Use attractive images or video that grab attention.
• Focus your headline and text on what the user will get – like a free guide or consultation.
• Use clear call-to-action buttons – “Request a Demo”, “Get Your Free Guide”

A/B test different versions of your ads to see what imagery, headlines and text resonate best with your audience.

Drive leads to a targeted landing page

To convert ad clicks into leads, you need landing pages that are consistent with your ad messaging. Create a targeted landing page that matches your ad objective and audience. For example, if your ad offers a free guide for HR managers, the landing page should have a form to download that exact guide.

Optimize your landing pages to maximize conversions:

• Include a strong headline and visuals that echo your ad creative.
• Use bullet points to quickly communicate benefits.
• Make your call-to-action button prominent.
• Keep forms short with just essential fields.
• Set up lead nurturing sequences to continue engaging new leads.

Use A/B testing to improve your landing pages over time.

Track conversion metrics

Measuring the right metrics is key to determining the success of your LinkedIn ad campaigns. Beyond general metrics like clicks and impressions, focus on these conversion metrics:

• Lead rate – the percentage of ad clicks that result in a lead being generated
• Cost per lead – how much you are paying on average for each lead acquired
• Conversion rate – the % of landing page visitors who complete your desired action

Monitor these metrics on an ongoing basis to optimize your targeting, ads and landing pages. See what campaign variations generate leads at the lowest cost.

Optimization and iteration

Like any marketing effort, you need to continually optimize your LinkedIn ads over time. Here are some key ways to improve your results:

• A/B test ad creative and messaging.
• Test landing pages and CTAs.
• Try tighter audience targeting.
• Bid higher for audiences generating more conversions.
• Pause low performing ads.
• Create new ads and copy.

Also look at your sales funnel as a whole. If your landing pages have a high bounce rate, it’s time to optimize your pages. If many leads aren’t converting to sales, focus on improving nurturing and follow up.

Continual iteration and testing allows you to scale up the aspects that work and refine those that aren’t delivering results.

Retargeting website visitors

Retargeting lets you show ads specifically to people who have already visited your website. Displaying ads to this pre-qualified audience gives you a second chance to turn them into leads.

You can set up remarketing campaigns in LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager. This lets you tag website visitors with cookies and then target ads to them across LinkedIn.

Tactically, you’d create an audience that includes “Visited website page X in last 30 days.” Then target ads to this audience for your most relevant content – like an offer they didn’t complete on your site.

Integrate with marketing automation

To get the most out of your LinkedIn ads, integrate them with your marketing automation platform like HubSpot, Marketo or Eloqua. This alignment allows you to:

• Import LinkedIn campaign analytics into your MAP for unified reporting.
• Feed lead data from LinkedIn into your sales CRM and marketing databases to track them.
• Trigger automated lead follow ups from your MAP based on LinkedIn form submissions.
• Send new leads through automated nurturing tracks in your MAP.

Integrated management makes it much easier to track ROI and capitalize on the leads generated by your LinkedIn ads.

Conclusion

With over 690 million professionals, LinkedIn is too big for B2B companies to ignore. LinkedIn ads enable you to get your message in front of your ideal prospects at the right companies. By narrowly targeting your audience, crafting relevant messaging, driving leads to optimized landing pages, and tracking conversion metrics, you can generate a steady flow of qualified leads.

Remember to continually A/B test your ads and landing pages. Work to integrate your LinkedIn campaigns with marketing automation and CRM systems. Follow these best practices, and your investment in LinkedIn ads will pay dividends through new customers and sales.

Key LinkedIn Targeting Options

Lead Gen Form Best Practices