By Arina Smith
It would be nice to have a quick, neat answer for you. But the truth is LinkedIn Ads are worth it for some businesses and not others.
It all depends on your goals.
What are you trying to achieve with your ads and can LinkedIn get you there?
There are 722 million users on LinkedIn. Although that’s a pretty impressive number, it’s not worth much if it doesn’t include your target audience.
Budget plays a role too.
LinkedIn Ads tend to be more expensive than Google Ads and Facebook Ads but they are also hugely profitable for some businesses.
Sounds like a lot to get your head around?
Don’t sweat. We’ve put together a list of the crucial factors you can use to determine if LinkedIn Ads are right for you.
And if you’re still not sure, have a chat with a LinkedIn Advertising Agency who can point you in the right direction.
LinkedIn is interruptive advertising
Let’s say the laughter and chit chat of your co-workers is distracting you at work.
You Google “noise-canceling headphones” and a range of ads and organic listings come up on the results page. These ads are intent ads. They show up because you were actively searching for the product.
Now say you’re scrolling through a social media platform of your choice. You’re not thinking about noise-canceling headphones but there they are – in your feed where you can’t miss them.
Suddenly you’re imagining how useful they would be in the office. That’s interruptive advertising. Putting your product or service in front of people who aren’t necessarily searching for it.
If you’re considering advertising on LinkedIn, you’ve got to make sure interruptive ads suit your product or service. Are you prepared to foster the customer relationship from start to finish?
Companies with higher price margins do better
It’s no secret that LinkedIn Ads tend to be more expensive than options like Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
That’s why LinkedIn tends to work better for businesses that have higher price margins.
If you’re going to sink more money into your ads, you want to know that you’ll get a good return for your investment.
For example, tech and software companies tend to do better with LinkedIn advertising because they sell high margin products and often have a high customer lifetime value.
That means, even though it costs these companies more to get a conversion, it’s usually worth it.
Is your audience on LinkedIn?
There’s no point advertising on LinkedIn if your target audience doesn’t use it. Obviously.
So who’s on LinkedIn? Generally, it’s people who are interested in advancing their career or developing their professional skills.
We’re talking business-minded people who are focused on self-improvement. Plus people who are looking for jobs, including graduates.
The good news is, users, enter a lot of specific data about their professional lives. This can be mined to create targeted ads that show up for the right people.
How to target the right people
LinkedIn lets you target your ads based on a huge list of demographic categories from location and language to job title, skills, and company industry.
Need to get even more specific? You can target specific accounts and your contact list. Plus you can retarget people who have visited your website before.
By downloading the LinkedIn Insights Tag, you can keep an eye on people who have visited your website and also have a LinkedIn account. This can significantly boost your click-through rate (CTR).
Exclusionary targeting features let you filter out people you don’t want the ads to show up for. E.g. if you’re a caterer showing ads to businesses in the wedding industry but don’t want your ads to show up for other caterers.
Competition affects the cost of LinkedIn Ads
Much like Google Ads, LinkedIn campaigns work by placing bids that compete with other advertisers who want to target the same audience as you.
So if you’ve got lots of competition, you can expect to pay more. Bidding too low will mean you miss out on ad opportunities that your competition has snatched up.
Keep in mind that you only actually pay every time a “billable event” occurs. If you choose the Website Visit Objective at the start of your campaign, you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your website link.
You won’t always end up paying your bid price either. If your competition is willing to pay $2 but you bid $2.50, LinkedIn will only charge you $2.01 for each billable action.
Choose from a range of ad formats
LinkedIn offers a range of ad formats, each with its unique advantages and potential for results. It’s important to know what’s on offer so you can take a strategic approach.
Sponsored content
these are native, nonintrusive ads that appear in the LinkedIn feed next to content created by LinkedIn users. Great for raising awareness, generating leads, and increasing follows.
Sponsored InMail
with these ads, you can send a personalized message to specific accounts. Great for highly targeted messaging and generating B2B leads.
Text ads
these are short, text-only ads that show up on the sidebar of LinkedIn. Good for attracting job candidates and driving more traffic to your website.
What’s the verdict?
So, are LinkedIn ads worth the cost for your business?
LinkedIn can be a powerful platform for attracting job candidates, generating B2B leads, and selling high-cost margin products. It can also be an effective tactic for building the authority of your brand.
But it’s not right for everyone. And it pays to do your research before diving in.
Before you commit to LinkedIn advertising, ask yourself:
- Is my audience on LinkedIn?
- What are my goals and business objectives?
- How much am I willing to spend?
Whether you advertise on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google – being well prepared for your marketing platform will set you up for better returns.
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