LinkedIn sponsored ads, also known as LinkedIn sponsored content, are paid advertisements that appear on LinkedIn. They allow businesses to promote their products, services, content, and job openings to LinkedIn’s audience of over 722 million professionals.
How do LinkedIn sponsored ads work?
LinkedIn sponsored ads appear in the LinkedIn feed and allow advertisers to target a specific audience based on location, job title, industry, interests, and more. There are three main types of LinkedIn sponsored ads:
- Sponsored content – Native ads that match the look and feel of organic LinkedIn posts
- Text ads – Simple text-based ads with a headline, description, and call-to-action button
- Dynamic ads – Automated ads that showcase specific products or job openings
When setting up a LinkedIn ad campaign, businesses choose their objective (awareness, consideration, conversions), target audience, and budget. LinkedIn’s algorithm then determines the optimal placement and bid price to get the ads in front of the right people. Advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ad.
What are the benefits of LinkedIn sponsored ads?
LinkedIn sponsored ads offer several benefits for businesses looking to reach a professional audience:
- Highly targeted – Advertisers can target LinkedIn members by job title, industry, skills, interests, location, and more
- Reach your audience when they’re engaged – Users are on LinkedIn specifically to connect, learn, and grow professionally
- Multiple objectives – Ads can drive brand awareness, generate leads, increase traffic, promote content, and boost conversions
- Pay only for results – Advertisers pay only when someone clicks their ad, not for impressions
- Trust and quality – LinkedIn has high ad relevance and low ad frequency due to the professional nature of its audience
What types of businesses use LinkedIn sponsored ads?
All types of businesses use LinkedIn ads, but they are especially popular for B2B companies targeting decision makers, thought leaders, and a professional audience. Common advertisers include:
- HR/recruiting – Promote job openings to passive and active job seekers
- Technology – Reach IT decision makers and tech professionals
- Higher education – Connect with prospective students
- Finance – Target financial advisors, investors, accountants
- Business services – IT services, management consulting, accounting firms
- Corporate training – Promote executive education, leadership programs
Any business looking to reach a large professional audience can find value in LinkedIn sponsored ads.
What are the LinkedIn ad formats?
LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats to match different campaign objectives:
Sponsored Content
- Appear in the LinkedIn feed just like organic posts
- Include image/video, headline, description, call-to-action button
- Ideal for brand awareness and thought leadership
Text Ads
- Text-based ads with a headline, description, image, and call-to-action button
- Appear on the sidelines of LinkedIn pages
- Best for promoting offers, content, and driving clicks to your site
Dynamic Ads
- Automated ads that showcase specific products, content, or job openings from your website or LinkedIn Page
- Continuously update based on your inventory or jobs
- Help drive conversions by advertising your most relevant, timely offerings
Message Ads
- Sponsored InMail ads that appear as messages in LinkedIn’s inbox experience
- Directly engage your target audience and drive conversions with personalized messages
What are LinkedIn ad targeting options?
LinkedIn offers robust targeting capabilities to reach your ideal audience:
Demographics
- Job title
- Job function
- Industry
- Company name
- Company size
- Location
- Age
- Gender
Interests/Traits
- Groups and universities
- Skills and endorsements
- Interest categories (e.g. frequent business travelers)
Account traits
- Job seeking status
- Years of experience
- Engagement with LinkedIn content
You can target audience traits individually or in combination to reach your precise audience. LinkedIn’s detailed targeting allows your ads to resonate with the right people.
How much do LinkedIn ads cost?
LinkedIn ads are sold through an auction, so costs vary based on factors like targeting, competition, and ad format. On average, LinkedIn ad costs range from:
- CPC (cost per click): $3 – $8+
- CPM (cost per 1000 impressions): $10 – $25+
- CPE (cost per engagement): $50 – $100+
Sponsored content tends to have the highest CPMs since it drives increased engagement. Message ads have higher CPE costs due to their highly targeted, one-to-one nature.
Many factors affect ad pricing, including your target audience, geography, time of year, and competition. LinkedIn provides auction insights to see estimated costs for your targeting options.
What is the LinkedIn advertising platform?
LinkedIn Campaign Manager is the advertising platform used to create, manage, and optimize LinkedIn ad campaigns. Key features include:
- Targeting – Demographic, interest, job role, and account targeting options
- Creative templates – Professionally designed templates to build eye-catching ads
- Audience insights – Recommendations for additional targeting and placement based on your content and offers
- Performance tracking – Metrics for impressions, clicks, conversions, engagement, and more
- Optimization – Automatic bid adjustments and targeting expansion to improve campaign performance
Campaign Manager allows you to set up and monitor LinkedIn ads in one streamlined platform. Detailed analytics help optimize your campaigns and improve ROI over time.
What are LinkedIn lead gen forms?
LinkedIn lead gen forms allow advertisers to collect lead information directly within LinkedIn ads. When a user clicks on an ad, a lead form pops up where they can submit their contact details without leaving LinkedIn.
Lead gen ads are a powerful tool to generate and collect leads from LinkedIn quickly and easily. The lead contact information gets saved directly to your Campaign Manager account for immediate follow up.
Benefits of LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
- Gather lead info directly within LinkedIn – no need for landing page forms
- Higher conversion rates by reducing friction
- Target high-intent audiences open to contacting you
- Lead details are saved in Campaign Manager for instant access and follow up
- Customizable form fields to capture relevant lead data
Lead gen ads combine the targeting power of LinkedIn with an easy lead capture mechanism. They are ideal for generating direct, actionable leads from your target audience.
What are LinkedIn conversation ads?
LinkedIn conversation ads enable advertisers to start personalized conversations with LinkedIn members using real-time messaging capabilities. There are two types:
Conversation Ads InMail
- Appear as messages directly in the LinkedIn inbox
- Reach members only via 1:1 messaging
- Higher attention and engagement than regular InMail
Conversation Ads Messaging
- Enable 1:1 conversations from a LinkedIn Company Page
- Two-way conversations with prospects at top of funnel
- Build relationships and qualify leads
Conversation ads provide a direct line of communication to qualified prospects. Personalized messages help move prospects through the sales funnel by building connections and trust.
What are some LinkedIn advertising best practices?
Here are some top tips for success with LinkedIn ads:
- Target audiences precisely using LinkedIn’s detailed demographic, job role, interest, and company targeting
- Test different targeting options, creative, and offers to see what resonates most
- Use LinkedIn’s audience suggestions to expand targeting and improve performance
- A/B test ad variations to optimize copy, design, offers, and calls-to-action
- Retarget website visitors to move prospects through the funnel
- Monitor campaign analytics and optimize towards key metrics and KPIs
The most successful advertisers continually test, optimize, and refine their LinkedIn campaigns based on performance data. Detailed targeting, compelling creative, and robust analytics are key.
What makes LinkedIn advertising unique?
There are a few key characteristics that make LinkedIn ads unique compared to other social networks and digital platforms:
- Professional mindset – Users are on LinkedIn in a professional, career-focused mindset looking to connect, learn, and grow
- Targeting – Unmatched professional targeting by industry, seniority, job function, skills, and more
- Audience quality – LinkedIn’s audience has high disposable income and buying power
- Ad relevance – Strict policies ensure ads are high quality and relevant
- Lead gen forms – Easy built-in lead capture unlike other networks
For B2B companies targeting professionals, LinkedIn advertising is an essential component of the marketing mix. The combination of accurate targeting and engaged users creates highly effective ads.
Conclusion
LinkedIn sponsored ads provide a powerful way for brands to connect with LinkedIn’s audience of over 722 million professionals. The precise ad targeting capabilities based on member data like job title, industry, and interests allow businesses to reach their ideal B2B audience.
With a variety of ad formats like sponsored content, dynamic ads, and conversation ads, LinkedIn enables advertisers to drive brand awareness, generate leads, and build relationships. Lead gen forms make lead capture easy.
Any business looking to build connections, increase engagement, drive website traffic, generate leads, and ultimately grow revenue can benefit from LinkedIn advertising. The platform provides unmatched professional targeting and audience quality.
By following LinkedIn ad best practices, measuring performance, and continuously optimizing campaigns, marketers can achieve great success connecting with their target audience. LinkedIn’s unique professional audience and detailed targeting capabilities make it a must for B2B marketers.