In the world of B2B marketing, it’s no secret that connecting with decision-makers and key stakeholders is crucial to your business’s success. But, in a crowded marketplace, it’s difficult to stand out. That’s where LinkedIn paid ads come in. With over 875 million active members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, making it an essential tool for B2B marketers to reach their target audience.
Last month with the help of our in-house media buyer, Anna Jackson, we uncovered the good, the bad and the ugly side of Facebook media buying. Here, we’re moving on to explore the three biggest advantages of LinkedIn paid ads, and how media spending on the platform is a must for B2B marketers.
Number one: tailor-made audiences that are better for ROI
Let’s start with the biggest advantage of LinkedIn paid ads: the ability to target specific job titles, industries and even companies. LinkedIn is the only platform that allows you to create audiences with these criteria, which is why it’s the go-to for B2B campaigns. Because more than anything, you want to make sure your ads are seen by the right people. and this level of targeting can lead to higher conversion rates and better ROI.
Anna says: “LinkedIn offers a range of targeting options, which can vary from job titles, job functions, industries and even company size and location”. The tailored combination of these options creates a unique audience for your business, meaning the likelihood of them engaging massively increases.”
Another benefit that Anna loves about the platform is its lookalike audience feature. Essentially this gives you the ability to find profiles that match the criteria for your ideal customer by targeting new professional audiences similar to your existing customers and website visitors. This expands your reach, and also allows your business to connect with new leads with traits that you might not have considered, but are similar to the people who engage with you already. For example, you might not be aware that 25% of your audience who are into art belong to a photography group but LinkedIn can work that out for you, and find other people just like them. Even better, this lookalike audience feature can be set up in just a few clicks, but of course, if you want an expert who can do it with their eyes shut then Anna is always on hand to help.
Number two: showcasing thought leadership content
With millions of businesses using LinkedIn, naturally, this leaves a lot of people wondering how you stand out. In Anna’s experience, generating thought leadership content is the most powerful tool in your kit to establish a strong reputation.
Whatever your industry, if you know your stuff, you should have some expertise to share that relevant audiences will find interesting, too. Or, you’ll have a well-informed opinion on something others in your industry might like to hear. Insights and perspectives can go a long way in positioning yourself as a thought leader on LinkedIn and building a following helps to improve your brand’s authority – which LinkedIn likes.
And with its professional audience, large user base and engagement opportunities, it’s the perfect place to share what you have to say. But how do you get your message across in a way people will want to engage with? Here’s three tips from Anna for creating compelling thought leadership content:
- Keep it relevant – what interests your target audience? Make sure your content is relevant
- Be concise – you don’t have long to grab your audience’s attention so make it count by positioning your message clearly
- Offer value – whether it’s insights, tips or advice, your thought leadership content should add value to your audience, not repeat information that could easily be found elsewhere
Number three: measuring success
So you’ve taken full advantage of LinkedIn’s targeting, and large professional audience and now you’ve finally launched your campaign. So what’s next? Measuring success. Because as marketers will know, there is very little point in launching a campaign if you don’t know how to monitor it and gauge results.
First and foremost “make sure that the tracking pixels on your website link to the platform, as this will measure the impact of your social media advertising,” says Anna. The tracking pixel helps collect data on user behaviour and engagement, allowing you to better understand how your ads are performing, which will determine your decision on how to optimise your media spending. LinkedIn’s analytics feature offers a range of great analytics tools that can help you track your campaign’s performance, the important thing is to make sure you’ve got the set-up right from the get-go so that you can take advantage of them.
If you want your ads to work, LinkedIn’s campaign manager will be your best friend. Not only can it help you and your business make data-driven decisions in order to get the most out of your ad but it can also help with providing insights into your conversions, and audience behaviour. Plus, for those who are particularly excited by data (you know who you are) you can even set up custom reporting to track the metrics that matter the most to you.
Conclusion
So there you have it. If you’re not utilising LinkedIn paid ads for your B2B marketing, then you’re missing out on the digital equivalent of a gold mine. If you’re looking to reach your target audience, increase your brand awareness, position your business as a thought leader in your industry and drive real business results, get on LinkedIn and start media spending like a boss.
However, for those still unsure of where to begin, get in touch with us today for more information on how we can help kickstart your LinkedIn paid ad journey.
