Getting Started With LinkedIn Advertising In 2022

Find out if LinkedIn ads are suitable for your business and learn how to launch your first campaign! 

The first question determining if you should run advertising on LinkedIn is simple: What is your offering, and who are you offering it to?

On average, B2B (business to business) products and services perform best on LinkedIn. B2C (business to consumer) offering ads fall short because LinkedIn does not target consumers in the granularity that Facebook or Twitter does. According to Martech.org, 78% of American consumers have discovered products on social media. So if your business is advertising to consumers, LinkedIn might not be the right platform for you compared to the alternatives. 

Something else to consider is who the platform attracts. LinkedIn users are career-driven individuals, typically aged between 25 and 34 years old. Users are job seekers, employers, recruiters, and those hoping to promote themselves professionally. If your company’s personas do not align with a professional demographic, it might not be the right advertising platform for you. 

Industries and Business Needs That Perform Best

• B2B products and services
• Recruiting efforts
• Higher education 

Another key decision criteria for running LinkedIn ads is your budget. Compared with other social platform advertising like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn advertising is expensive. The average CPC (cost per click) on LinkedIn is $5.00. Conversely, the average CPC on Facebook is $0.97. An excellent way to know if you can afford LinkedIn ads is to identify how much each lead gleaned from advertising is worth to your business. Before investing, be sure to calculate your potential return on investment (ROI) and return on ad spend (ROAS) for your LinkedIn efforts. 

Are you interested in digital paid advertising but don’t know where to start or which platform is best? Get a free PPC Audit and connect with one of our specialists today!

The Setup Is Key

1. Objective

Choosing an objective for your campaign will determine the remainder of the ad setup. 

The first step in setting up a LinkedIn campaign is setting an objective. Advertisers can choose from three objective options: awareness, consideration, and conversions. Awareness campaigns are for users who want to get their brand out before potential customers. Consideration campaigns have three conversions to track: website visits, engagements, and video views. The objective conversion option has three options: lead generation, website conversions, and job applications. 

2. Audience 

Reaching the right audience is essential to a successful LinkedIn campaign. The next step to setting up a campaign is selecting the targeting criteria of your audience. Advertisers can choose from different audience attributes like:

• Company size 
• Company name 
• Member schools 
• Member interests 
• Member groups 
• Skills 
• Job title 
• Job seniority 

Choosing the correct criteria to target your audience can lead to better engagement and higher conversion rates.

3. Ad Format

The third step in setting up your first LinkedIn campaign is selecting an ad format. The ad format is determined by which objective you choose (see step 1). But the four main structures LinkedIn offers are:

• Sponsored Content
• Message Ads
• Dynamic Ads
• Text Ads

Sponsored content lives on the user’s LinkedIn feed and includes single image ads, video ads, and carousel ads.

Message ads appear in LinkedIn Messaging. Users employ LinkedIn Messages to have professional conversations with others on the platform. Message ads send direct messaging to consumers to convince them to take action. 

Dynamic ad formats personalize the messaging unique to the prospect. According to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Dynamic ads use profile information (like profile pictures or company names) to curate ads for individual consumers. The three types of Dynamic ads are:

• Follower ads
• Spotlight ads
• Job ad

Text ads use cost per click or cost per impression formats. Text ads are simple but effective, especially if your message is clear and concise, driven to reach your specific consumer. 

5. Budget Set-Up

The final step to setting up a LinkedIn campaign is scheduling and budgeting your ads. LinkedIn campaigns allow advertisers to choose a start and end date and the option of no end time. 

Advertisers have the option to select a daily or lifetime budget. A daily budget is the maximum amount the ad spends per day, while the lifetime budget is to total pay for the entire length of the campaign. 

Three budgeting options are: 

• Cost per send 
• Cost per click
• Cost per impression 

After setting up, you are ready to publish your LinkedIn campaign! The LinkedIn dashboard allows users to monitor performance and measure success. 

Many are overwhelmed by the idea of advertising on LinkedIn. But if you are a B2B company with a budget for a higher ad spend, LinkedIn advertising might be worth the time and money for increased conversion and leads.

Are you interested in LinkedIn ads but don’t know where to start? The team at DaBrian Marketing can help you integrate LinkedIn with existing marketing efforts to reduce your workload, optimize ads for better results and generate higher ROI. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your options today!