With more than 100 million users (and counting!) on LinkedIn, using LinkedIn sponsored updates opens a huge opportunity for lead generation for B2B Technology companies.
These updates (ads) appear in the homepage newsfeed of LinkedIn members who fit the targeting criteria you have set up. They reach beyond the current followers of your company page and therefore excel your marketing messages even further into your prospect pool.
More and more of us are using LinkedIn on a daily (if not hourly!) basis so where better than to place your paid advertising? Marketers are therefore moving away from traditional paid ad options provided by Google and other websites and focusing their paid marketing budget into their social media marketing strategy instead.
And social media is becoming one of the major ad platforms of the future with the stickiness of social apps, and fiercer competition meaning the days of being able to do social media exclusively free are sadly behind us. Now I know the feeling that if you have been using something for free and then, to have the same impact, you need to pay, it hurts! But the depth of segmentation and personalisation that you can get to with LinkedIn advertising is very powerful.
We’ve put together a quick list of tips to bare in mind when using LinkedIn Sponsored updates in order to maximise this powerful marketing channel:
1. Keep it powerful, punchy and visually engaging – Like any great campaign, paid or non-paid, it’s all in the messaging. In nature, social media is a platform of short, snappy updates that need to stand the test of time and stand out in such a fast-paced real-time environment. So keep it short. For LinkedIn Sponsored updates you have just a 210 character limit before you add the short URL so every character counts!
2. Make sure you have a great company page to back up your great ad – With increasing LinkedIn followers being a common goal for many social marketer, not only does your ad showcase your campaign messaging, but also allows your target audience to ‘follow’ your company page. So you need to make sure your company page is up to scratch and looking the part before you do any advertising!
3. Use a strong call to action – Whether you are sending your ad readers to your blog, your website or simply your LinkedIn company page, make sure the ad copy includes a strong call to action so readers now exactly what to expect when they click on your ad. “Download”, “Sign up”, “Request a demo” are good clear and direct instructions for your audience. Remember: Be useful. Convey a sense of urgency. Show that the benefit of your offer is unique. Do it all in an ultra-specific way. (Your audience should know explicitly what action you want them to take based on your ad copy.)
4. A picture is worth a thousand clicks – Choose an image to accompany your messaging that matches your offering
5. Be as targeted as possible when it comes to the ad audience – Narrow down your audience to the most relevant prospects. A few common targeting options include industry, job function and groups – you can even target by company. The more specific your offer and targeting are, the better your LinkedIn ads perform.
6. Remember to try different variations of your campaign – LinkedIn recommends at least three ads per campaign. Vary the call to action, the image, the messaging, the link to help you identify what works. You can even have up to 15 different ads per campaign if you want.
7. Be strategic when setting your budgets and biddings – You can either set a daily budget or total budget for your campaign and your ad performance will fluctuate day by day, morning, noon and night. It all depends when your audience are the most active, as well as the competition for bidding on that audience. Review your ad on a daily basis and set your bid at the maximum suggested by LinkedIn in order to maximise the visibility.
8. Measurement is key – Before embarking on any LinkedIn Advertising campaign you need to establish your objectives and how you will measure the campaign’s effectiveness. If it’s about awareness, then measuring the click through rate is a good indicator. According to LinkedIn, good ads have a CTR greated than 0.025%.
As before, monitor this CTR frequently (LinkedIn provides this real-time information in the advertising portal) so it’s easy to track. If you notice a drop, refresh the ads with new copy or images. Narrowing your target audience so your ad is more relevant (and there is less competition) could also be helpful for driving a higher CTR.
If the overall aim is to capture some leads, then it’s equally important to review the landing page you are sending them to. How will you capture the data? Are you using a form? Is the CTA clear enough on the landing page? The LinkedIn Ad can only drive people to the page – it can’t make them stay!
Here at Channel Tools, we help our clients with Social Media advertising whether it’s helping with the set up, providing content and artwork, managing the entire campaign or simply providing the right reporting.
Get in touch with us today and take the plunge into the world of Social Media advertising!