LinkedIn advertising is an effective way for businesses to reach their target audience. Here are some key reasons why you should consider LinkedIn ads for your business.
Targeted Audience
With over 722 million members, LinkedIn has one of the largest professional networks in the world. When you run LinkedIn ads, you can target your ads by:
- Job title
- Company
- Industry
- Seniority level
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Interests
- Skills
- Groups
This level of targeting allows you to effectively reach your ideal customers. You don’t have to waste ad spend on users outside of your target market.
High Intent Audiences
LinkedIn members use the platform to network professionally, stay updated on industry news, and advance their careers. This means they are primed to engage with relevant content from brands.
In fact, 98% of LinkedIn advertising audiences are in the consideration or decision making stage of the buying cycle. They are actively looking for solutions and more likely to convert after seeing your ads.
Multiple Ad Formats
LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats to help you achieve your marketing objectives:
- Sponsored Content – Organic looking posts that appear in the LinkedIn feed
- Sponsored InMail – Direct messages sent to members’ inboxes
- Text Ads – Highly targeted text ads displayed on the right rail or top of the LinkedIn feed
- Dynamic Ads – Personalized ads based on member’s activity on your website
- Conversation Ads – Chat-style ads that facilitate engagement
You can test different ad formats to determine what resonates best with your target audience.
Detailed Insights
The LinkedIn ad platform provides robust reporting and analytics. You can view key metrics like:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- Click-through rate
- Cost-per-click
- Conversions
These insights help you understand your campaign’s performance and optimize for better results.
Retargeting Capabilities
You can create retargeting campaigns on LinkedIn to stay top of mind with prospects. For example, you can target people who have:
- Viewed your LinkedIn Company Page
- Visited specific pages on your website
- Interacted with your ads
- Watched your videos
Retargeting to warm leads greatly improves conversion rates for your ads.
Brand Safety
LinkedIn strictly monitors their ad platform to ensure brand safety. All ads must pass initial content checks before being approved. LinkedIn also has robust targeting settings so you can be selective about the content your ads appear next to.
This gives peace of mind that your LinkedIn ads will always appear in a brand safe environment.
Seamless Management
Managing LinkedIn ads is straightforward and intuitive through Campaign Manager. You can:
- Easily launch and optimize campaigns
- Generate reports with actionable data
- Schedule ads in advance
- Manage budgets and billing
Campaign Manager simplifies the process so you can focus solely on strategy.
Unmatched Reach
With LinkedIn’s size and scale, your ads can reach a significant portion of your target audience. The platform provides access to key decision makers you often can’t reach through other channels.
In fact, LinkedIn membership represents:
- 75% of the workforce in the US
- 63% of the workforce in Australia
- 57% of the workforce in the UK
Tapping into the LinkedIn audience gives your brand an opportunity make an impact amongst influential professionals and leaders.
Boosted Content Distribution
In addition to ads, you can also sponsor your organic LinkedIn posts to give them wider visibility. This is a cost-efficient way to get more eyes on your thought leadership content and engage your audience.
Other benefits of sponsoring LinkedIn content include:
- Increased post views
- More reactions and comments
- Expanded reach beyond your current followers
- Improved click-through rates
Overall, sponsoring posts is a simple, yet powerful tactic to be seen by more of your target audience.
Credibility & Trust
LinkedIn members associate the platform with professionalism and trust. Merely having presence on LinkedIn can boost your brand’s credibility.
Additionally, running ads enables you to be proactive in getting your message and content in front of your audience. You don’t have to wait for them to organically find you.
This ability to actively put your brand in front of the right people fosters trust and authority.
Cost Effective
While not the absolute lowest cost per click, LinkedIn advertising is cost effective when you factor in the high relevance of its audiences. The targeting capabilities allow you to hone in on the buyers most likely to convert.
Some examples of LinkedIn’s strong cost efficiency include:
- Average CPC for Sponsored Content is $7.25
- Typical CPM for Text Ads falls between $4 – $8
- Sponsored InMail has open rates exceeding 20%
When compared to platforms with more mass reach, LinkedIn provides a happy medium of targeting executives and professionals at an affordable rate.
Benefits Both B2B & B2C Brands
While LinkedIn may skew towards B2B marketing, B2C brands can also find great value in LinkedIn ads due to the professional nature of its users. For example, LinkedIn is a popular platform among:
- Medical professionals
- Real estate agents
- Personal financial planners
- Higher income consumer segments
For B2C marketers, LinkedIn provides unique access to influential consumers who can aid word of mouth promotion.
Summary
Here is a quick recap of the key reasons to leverage LinkedIn advertising:
- Precision targeting options
- Professional, high intent audience
- Multiple ad formats to choose from
- Robust analytics and reporting
- Retargeting capabilities
- Brand safe environment
- Easy to use campaign manager
- Massive reach
- Boosted content distribution
- Credibility and trust
- Cost effective
- Value for both B2B & B2C
In today’s digital landscape, it’s vital to diversify your marketing efforts to reach audiences across channels. LinkedIn advertising presents a tremendous opportunity to connect with influential professionals that are often hard to reach elsewhere.
For businesses looking to drive more qualified traffic, leads, and sales, LinkedIn ads are worth exploring. The combination of targeting, niche professional audience, and brand trust makes LinkedIn a standout platform.
Hopefully this overview has provided a look at the compelling benefits of LinkedIn advertising and why it should be considered as part of your marketing mix.
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Targeted Audience | Reach your ideal customers based on professional details like job title, company, skills, etc. |
| High Intent Users | Audience open and engaged with relevant content to aid decision making. |
| Ad Format Options | Variety of ad types (Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, Text Ads, etc.) to achieve goals. |
| Campaign Insights | Robust analytics to optimize performance and understand ROI. |
| Retargeting | Remarket to previous site visitors or LinkedIn visitors to boost conversions. |
| Brand Safety | All ads thoroughly vetted; control over adjacencies. |
| Easy Campaign Management | Intuitive, self-serve campaign manager to launch and monitor ads. |
| Massive Reach | 722+ million members to expand brand visibility. |
| Sponsored Content | Promote organic posts to wider audience. |
| Credibility | Presence on trusted platform boosts brand image. |
| Cost Effective | Reasonable CPC and CPM rates relative to targeting capabilities. |
| B2B & B2C Value | Useful for both business and consumer facing brands. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main LinkedIn ad formats?
The core LinkedIn ad formats are:
- Sponsored Content – Appear in the LinkedIn feed like organic posts
- Sponsored InMail – Direct messages to member inboxes
- Text Ads – Targeted text ads on the right rail or top of the feed
- Dynamic Ads – Personalized ads leveraging LinkedIn pixel data
- Conversation Ads – Facilitate engagement through chat-style units
What targeting options are available?
LinkedIn offers robust targeting including:
- Job title
- Job function
- Company
- Industry
- Seniority level
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Interests
- Skills
- Groups
How can I measure LinkedIn ad performance?
Key LinkedIn ad metrics to watch include:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- Click-through rate
- Cost-per-click
- Conversions
- Engagement rate
These provide insight on reach, budget efficiency, and conversion progress.
What’s the average CPC or CPM on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn advertising costs:
- Average CPC for Sponsored Content: $7.25
- Average CPM for Text Ads: $4 – $8
- Average InMail open rates: 20%+
Rates depend on targeting, optimization, and creative.
How quickly can I get LinkedIn ads running?
You can launch LinkedIn ads very quickly, often in under an hour. The key steps are:
- Setup Campaign Manager account
- Select objective and build audience
- Design ad creative
- Input billing details
- Submit for approval
- Ads go live upon approval
LinkedIn aims to approve ads within 1 business day to accelerate campaign starts.
Conclusion
LinkedIn advertising represents an immense opportunity for brands looking to connect with professional audiences. The platform offers unparalleled targeting, a high intent user base, and a trusted environment.
Whether your goals include generating leads, boosting brand awareness, or driving website conversions, LinkedIn ads can be hugely beneficial.
For businesses struggling to engage decision makers through conventional channels, leveraging LinkedIn ads can provide a breakthrough. The platform enables you to cut through the noise and deliver your message directly to the LinkedIn members that matter most.
Consider testing a pilot LinkedIn advertising initiative to see the results firsthand. The combination of precision targeting, professional mindset, and display/message options makes LinkedIn a versatile platform to include in your marketing mix.