After Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn is seen as the most important social media platform1 for marketers—especially for those in B2B. LinkedIn’s niche is specialised: it is ideal for companies aiming to engage professionals, executives and decision makers.
One of the biggest advantages of its ads is precision targeting. This means your ads are seen by the right people, which leads to an improved return on investment (ROI). In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of setting up LinkedIn Ads.
Why Use LinkedIn Ads?
LinkedIn Ads is one of the most effective ways of advertising your business for those aiming to target a professional audience. With Facebook Ads vs LinkedIn Ads, there are significant differences. With Facebook, you’re aiming at a wider group of individuals. Whereas LinkedIn by nature, is for professionals and business owners. This makes a great ad platform for B2B marketing.
One of LinkedIn’s standout features for advertising is that you can target your ads more precisely. LinkedIn Ads allows you to target users based on their job titles, industry, company size, seniority level and skills. You can even target individual companies.
This feature sets it apart from more generic advertising like that offered by Facebook and Instagram, which focuses more on broad target, interests, behaviours and demographics.
As an example, someone promoting a software solution could target IT managers, CTOs and business owners within specific industries. This means that the ads would only be shown to the people who matter most.
Ultimately, LinkedIn provides a more niche, business-focused audience. The audience segmentation is much more specific and professional, which makes the tool really powerful for anyone in B2B.
Step-by-step Guide to Setting Up LinkedIn Ads
If you’ve never set up LinkedIn ads, we’re here to help you create a highly targeted and effective campaign. This step-by-step guide will walk you through everything:
Step 1: Create a LinkedIn Campaign Manager Account
Before you can run ads, you’ll need to set up a LinkedIn Campaign Manager account. This is where you’ll manage everything from. To do this:
- Sign into LinkedIn with your business account credentials.
- Go to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager2. If you don’t have a campaign manager account, click “create account” and complete the company details.
- Link your campaign manager account to your business page. This is a crucial step for being able to run ads. Make sure the company page is up to date.
Step 2: Set Your Campaign Objective
There are several possible objects based on your goals. The objective you choose will guide LinkedIn in how it optimises your ad delivery. The objectives are listed:
- Awareness – to build brand awareness
- Consideration – to drive traffic, engagement and video views
- Conversions – to generate leads or sign-ups
Choose the one that most aligns with your overall aim.
Step 3: Choose Your Target Audience
Remember, this is where LinkedIn shines for its ads and you can reach professionals based on specific criteria.
- Define the demographics: Choose your audience criteria such as location, job title, industry, seniority, skills and company size.
- Advanced targeting: Consider using LinkedIn’s advanced features like Company Connections or Lookalike Audiences to expand your reach. Company Connections targets employees of a specific company while Lookalike Audiences targets users that closely resemble your existing customers, leads and website visitors.
- Refine the audience: The more specific you are with your targeting, the better your results will be.
Step 4: Choose an Ad Format
There are several types of ad available at LinkedIn. The type of ad you choose will depend on your objectives and the message you want to convey. Here are the types available:
- Sponsored Content: This appears in users’ LinkedIn feeds. It is the most popular ad format. These can be single images, carousel ads or videos.
- Text ads: These are simple ad that appear on the LinkedIn sidebar. They feature a short headline, a description and a small image.
- Message ads: These are sent directly to a user’s LinkedIn inbox. These feel more personal and are great for promoting offers or inviting people to events.
- Dynamic ads: These are personalised. They pull in profile information like the user’s name or company to make it more engaging.
Step 5: Set Your Schedule and Budget
Decide on your daily budget, i.e., how much you’re willing to spend each day, or a total budget (how much you’re willing to spend for the entire duration of the campaign). Next, you’ll need to choose your bid strategy. There are three options:
- Cost per Click (CPC): You will pay when users click on the ad.
- Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM): You pay based on how many times your ad is shown.
- Cost per Send (CPS): You pay for each message sent (for message ads).
After selecting your budget and strategy, you simply need to set a start and end date for the campaign. Alternatively, you can choose to run it continuously.
Step 6: Create Engaging Content
Arguably, the most important part of how to set up LinkedIn ads is your ad content. Your ad copy and visuals are vital for making your LinkedIn ads stand out. Here are some tips on creating content that works:
- Have a strong headline that grabs attention but that also conveys the value in what you’re offering.
- Make your copy clear and concise. Focus on the benefits for your audience while keeping it short and to the point.
- Include a strong call to action (CTA) to encourage them to take the next step (visiting your website, signing up for a demo, downloading an eBook, etc.)
- Use high-quality visuals to show your professionalism.
Step 7: Launch and Monitor Your Campaign
After you’ve reviewed everything, it’s time for launch! If it all looks good, click “Launch Campaign.” Then, once live, monitor metrics to see how it is performing. Key performance indicators (KPIs) include:
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Cost per click (CPC)
- Impressions
- Conversions
Based on the performance data, make adjustments to your targeting, bidding strategy and content to improve results.
Common Issues When Setting Up LinkedIn Ads (And How to Solve Them)
Although LinkedIn ads are powerful, there are some common challenges. Below, we’ll cover three common issues and provide practical solutions:
Low Click-Through Rates (CTR)
One of the most common challenges is a low CTR. This means your audience see the ad but they’re not engaging with it as much as you’d like. If you’re experiencing this, there are several solutions:
- Refine your targeting: Make sure you’re targeting a specific audience and reaching the right people. If your audience is too broad, those who see it may not be interested. Narrow down your target audience by job title, industry and company size to increase its relevancy.
- Improve the ad content: High-quality copy and visuals are essential. The headline needs to grab attention, and the CTA needs to be clear and persuasive. Experience with different visuals like images, videos and carousels to see what your audience prefers.
- A/B testing: Consider running multiple versions of the ad to test different headlines, copy and visuals. This will help you to identify what works best.
Low Conversion Rates
Even if your CTR is good, you might find users still don’t convert to leads or sales. This usually highlights a mismatch between what they’re seeing in the ad compared to the landing page. In this case, make sure your landing page aligns with the ad’s message. It should be relevant to the offer, must load quickly, be mobile-friendly and have a clear CTA.
If the goal is lead generation, make sure that the form is easy to fill in and short. The fewer fields the higher the chance they’ll be completed.
High Cost Per Click (CPC)
LinkedIn ads do tend to have a higher CPC compared to other platforms like Facebook. This can be a strain on your budget. If you find your CPC is higher than you expect, try adjusting your bid strategy. LinkedIn Ads use an auction-based system, so you need to strike a balance between bidding competitively and your budget. Alternatively, use sponsored content as this tends to have a lower CPC.
Improve Your B2B Marketing with LinkedIn Ads Today
There’s no doubt, LinkedIn ads are powerful for those seeking to connect with a professional, B2B audience. There are plenty of targeting options, advanced analytics and a range of ad forms. Here are some key takeaways:
- Targeting is key: Take full advantage of the advanced targeting capabilities offered so your ads reach the right people.
- Visuals matter: Use high-quality photos and videos and update them regularly.
- Experiment and optimise: Test different ad formats, copy and bidding strategies and monitor how they fare.
- Budget wisely: Allocate a budget strategically and scale up successful campaigns.
Remember, it will take time, effort and optimisation to maximise your LinkedIn Ad success. If you need expert help, contact us for professional guidance and watch your business grow.
