Do LinkedIn Ads Work? And Other Answers To LinkedIn Ads Questions

In this video, Jess from the WebFX Marketing team will go over the basics of LinkedIn ads. You won’t want to miss this!

Transcript: How would you like to generate qualified leads through social media? Sounds like a dream, right? Wake up!

Because LinkedIn can help you bring valuable new customers to your business.  About 80% of the B2B leads that come from social media come from LinkedIn, so it is certainly a platform to be reckoned with.  If you’ve ever had the question, “Do LinkedIn ads work?”, now you know the answer is yes.  LinkedIn’s ads convert leads three times better than some other major ad platforms, and LinkedIn members have double the buying power of a typical user on the web.  The lesson? Don’t write off LinkedIn for your advertising strategy.

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Types of LinkedIn ads

When considering which type of ad you want to use on LinkedIn, you have a few different options. The ad you choose depends on your goals, so you want to make sure you know what you want to achieve with your ad before you drop any money on it. 

First, there’s Sponsored Content. 

Most social media platforms offer something like LinkedIn’s Sponsored Content.  These ads mainly appear in the LinkedIn homepage feed, which is similar to how sponsored posts appear in the Facebook newsfeed.  With Sponsored Content, you can choose between using a single image, a video, or a carousel of images that users can swipe through.  You can also add a lead form to your ads, making it very clear that LinkedIn is a lead driver for businesses, especially B2B.  You pay for Sponsored Content ads on a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis. 

Next are Text ads.

As you may have guessed, Text ads use text to get their message across. Text ads are exclusive to desktop, and you may see them above or to the right of your LinkedIn feed. These ads run on a CPC or CPM basis.

Now, we’ll move on to Sponsored Messaging ads.

LinkedIn allows advertisers to take advantage of its messaging feature with Sponsored Messaging ads.  As you’d expect, these ads show up in people’s inboxes as a message with some text and one or multiple calls-to-action. They look like a regular massage, and may even come from a person, but you might notice a sponsored tag at the top of the ad.  They run on a cost-per-send basis (CPS), so you pay for however many messages you send. 

Finally, let’s discuss Dynamic ads.

Dynamic ads are another desktop-only ad format, and they vary from user to user.  You may see them on the right side of your LinkedIn page.

These ads feature the LinkedIn user’s photo, a logo for the company running the ad, and some text encouraging the user to check out your page, product, service, or job. 

LinkedIn ads cost

If you’re now wondering “How much does LinkedIn advertising cost?“, that answer can vary based on many factors. Like any form of digital advertising, the cost of LinkedIn ads really depends on what you want to spend.  But on average, people tend to spend between $5 and $7 for every 1000 impressions or every click.  You do have to meet some basic spend requirements, however.  You’re required to start with a minimum of $10 for your daily campaign budget.  There’s also a minimum $10 total budget for every campaign, excluding Sponsored Content ads.  When you pay on a CPC or CPM basis, you must bid at least $2.  I can’t guarantee that you’ll see the same prices for your ads. Just keep in mind you need to meet LinkedIn’s minimum ad requirements. 

LinkedIn targeting options

The best thing about running ads on any social media platform is the audience targeting.  When people sign up for a platform and use their account, they provide lots of valuable information that sites like LinkedIn can use to help you show your ads to the right people.  The most generic way you can target people on LinkedIn is by their locations.  You can also target people based on different attributes they’ve shared on the platform, like their industries, companies, demographics, education, and experience in their field.  There are more detailed targeting options based on these attributes, and I would encourage you to head over to LinkedIn’s help page to learn more about them. The most specific way to target people with your LinkedIn ads is by using LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences feature.  If you have a list of companies or contacts you want to target, you can upload it to LinkedIn and let the system process your information.  Just a quick note: LinkedIn requires a minimum audience size of at least 300 people for all campaigns, and this applies to Matched Audiences, as well.  So if you upload a list of 500 contacts, and LinkedIn can only find 200 on the platform, you won’t be able to take advantage of this feature. In addition, you can aim your ads at people who have previously interacted with your business on LinkedIn or on your website.  To connect your website activity to your LinkedIn account, you need to add the LinkedIn Insight Tag, which is just this little piece of code that gets added on the backend of your website.  Again, you can learn more about Matched Audiences on LinkedIn’s help pages. 

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How to set up a LinkedIn Ads campaign

I won’t get too in-depth with a tutorial, but here’s a quick rundown of how you can get started setting up your LinkedIn ads.  The most important tool for your LinkedIn ads is LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

If you’ve used Facebook’s Business Manager, it’s similar to that.  Once you’re in Campaign Manager, you’ll select the option to create a campaign. You’ll be prompted to choose a campaign objective. You can choose options like brand awareness, engagement, video views, lead generation, and job applicants.   Once you’ve determined an objective, you’ll choose how you’ll target your audience. Rewind this video a bit if you need a refresher on audience targeting methods. Once you’ve chosen your audience, you’ll pick an ad format.

Again, jump back a bit in this video for a refresher. Then, you’ll tell LinkedIn how much you want to spend and how long your campaign will last.  Finally, you’ll launch your campaign and keep an eye on how it’s performing.  Now you’re ready to start a LinkedIn ads campaign of your own!  If you need help, we offer LinkedIn advertising services at WebFX, so we’d be happy to help you see a positive return on investment from your campaigns.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more information.  Before you start your next video, subscribe to our YouTube channel and Revenue Weekly, our digital marketing newsletter, to stay up to date on the latest in digital marketing.  Thanks for watching!