LinkedIn offers several powerful options for advertising on its platform. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn provides access to a massive professional audience. LinkedIn advertising allows businesses to promote their products, services, content, and more to LinkedIn users.
Sponsored Content
One of the most popular LinkedIn ad formats is Sponsored Content. These are in-feed ads that appear in the LinkedIn feed, similar to organic posts. Sponsored Content allows you to publish posts and attach rich media just as you would with regular LinkedIn posts. However, you pay to boost the reach and visibility of your posts with Sponsored Content.
There are several benefits to Sponsored Content ads on LinkedIn:
- Get your content in front of your target audience based on location, job role, industry, interests, and more.
- Increase awareness and build your brand with the LinkedIn audience.
- Drive traffic to your website by including links to your site, offers, and more.
- Generate leads by adding CTAs that encourage visitors to download content or contact your business.
You have lots of creative options with Sponsored Content. You can publish text updates, images, infographics, videos, presentations, and more. Sponsored Content is ideal for promoting blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, case studies, and any other content you want to distribute.
Sponsored InMail
Sponsored InMail allows you to send personalized emails directly to LinkedIn members matching your ideal customer profile. You can segment your audience by location, job role, company, interests, and more. This allows you to engage your audience with targeted, one-to-one messaging at scale.
Benefits of Sponsored InMail include:
- Send customized emails to your ideal prospects on LinkedIn.
- Cut through the noise and connect directly with your audience.
- Tailor your messaging based on member profiles and activity.
- Promote offers, content downloads, events, and more.
- Track open and click-through rates to optimize your campaigns.
With Sponsored InMail, you can integrate dynamic content to customize your messages for each recipient. Personalize your emails with the member’s name, company, title, and other profile information.
Text Ads
LinkedIn Text Ads are customizable display ads that appear in the right rail on LinkedIn pages. They allow you to target prospects based on their professional profile data. You can tailor your text ads with a compelling headline, descriptive text, and call-to-action button.
Benefits of LinkedIn Text Ads include:
- Reach your target audience based on profile information like job title, company, industry, etc.
- Drive traffic to your website with clickable call-to-action buttons.
- Get reporting on impressions, clicks, and click-through rates.
- Show up on desktop and mobile for broad reach.
- Change and pause ads at any time.
Dynamic Ads
LinkedIn Dynamic Ads allow you to target highly specific segments and then change the ad creative displayed based on the viewer’s profile. For example, you could show different ads to software engineers at tech companies versus marketing managers at retail brands.
Benefits of LinkedIn Dynamic Ads include:
- Create personalized ads tailored to each viewer.
- Automatically generate different ad variations.
- Focus your budget on the audiences most likely to convert.
- Improve relevance with customized ad content.
- Reduce time spent managing multiple ad variations.
Lead Gen Forms
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms allow you to collect lead information directly within the LinkedIn ad experience. Visitors can fill out a customizable contact form to download gated content like ebooks, whitepapers, and reports.
Benefits of LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms include:
- Generate and collect leads from your target audience.
- Promote gated assets like ebooks, demos, and more.
- Customize forms with questions to qualify leads.
- Build pipeline and nurture leads for sales follow-up.
- Get notified when prospects fill out your form.
Message Ads
LinkedIn Message Ads appear in the LinkedIn messaging section and allow you to engage members through direct one-to-one messaging. You can drive awareness, promote content, and generate leads.
Benefits of LinkedIn Message Ads include:
- Initiate personalized conversations with prospects.
- Communicate your value proposition directly to your audience.
- Add CTAs to drive prospects to land on your website.
- Nurture leads with targeted follow-up messages.
- Get notified when your messages are read.
Conversation Ads
LinkedIn Conversation Ads allow you to start conversations and engage prospects from your ads. Viewers can respond directly to your ad messaging without leaving the LinkedIn platform.
Benefits of LinkedIn Conversation Ads include:
- Increase engagement by enabling two-way conversations from your ads.
- Respond to and develop relationships with prospects.
- Continue the dialogue beyond the initial ad impression.
- Seamlessly convert interested prospects into leads.
- Monitor conversations to identify hot leads in real-time.
Programmatic Display Ads
LinkedIn’s programmatic display ads allow you to reach LinkedIn audiences off of the LinkedIn platform through real-time bidding. You can target LinkedIn members with customized ads as they browse other sites and apps.
Benefits of LinkedIn programmatic display ads include:
- Extend your reach and engage LinkedIn audiences off-platform.
- Leverage LinkedIn’s data to target ads programmatically.
- Use real-time bidding to optimize campaigns.
- Retarget website visitors.
- Drive actions by placing ads on premium partner sites.
Programmatic Video Ads
You can also run programmatic video ad campaigns through LinkedIn to engage premium video audiences. LinkedIn programmatic video ads appear on premium partner sites like Microsoft, Amazon, and Reuters.
Benefits of LinkedIn programmatic video ads include:
- Target LinkedIn audiences in a premium video environment.
- Align your brand with a select group of trusted publishers.
- Engage professionals with sight, sound and motion.
- Reach audiences across devices.
- Pay only for completed views of your video.
Summary
In summary, LinkedIn provides a diverse set of advertising options to help you achieve your marketing objectives. By choosing the right ad formats, you can increase brand awareness, generate quality leads, drive website traffic, boost engagement, and more. Key benefits include targeting very specific professional audiences and promoting content directly to your ideal prospects. With precise targeting and compelling creative, LinkedIn advertising can connect your brand with those most likely to buy from or partner with your business.