Best practices for Linkedin ads?

[albusse]

Hi! I'm a Marketing Specialist that has just been tasked with our Linkedin ads. We are a B2B company and I know there are a few different options on how to advertise on Linkedin. What has been your personal experience with Linkedin ads, what kinds of things should I avoid? How should I test best produced results? Thank you!

[shearn · Accepted solution]

In my experience using LinkedIn ads, from a B2B perspective, I've found them to be the least effective and most expensive when marketing a product/service/promotion.

In saying that, I've had more success with Sponsored Content than anything else. I find InMail to be intrusive and in the same bracket as a cold sales email, which is now frowned upon in most markets. If I get one I tend to unsubscribe from that person. Text ads have brought very little value. 

Of course, every business will be different, so your results may differ. It all comes down to the purpose of your campaign, the audience you're going after and your budget. 

For me, it's all about giving things a try. Whenever I go to test a new platform for advertising I tend to allocate 3-4 months for testing and a set budget.  

[albusse]

That makes sense, thank you so much for your input!!

[mlennon1]

I agree with Shearn. LinkedIn sponsored posts are much better than their display ads or text ads. And the cost per lead is higher than Facebook or AdWords. 

But the reason we recommend it for some clients is that it's possible to be extremely targeted with the campaigns. You can upload a list of target accounts, or a list of target contacts and know that you sponsored post will only be visible to those targets. 

Compare this to paid search, where you routinely get clicks from people wanting a job, or a partnership, or want to sell you something. Paid search is great, but there is a lot of noise. LinkedIn can be very targeted.

[MFrankJohnson · Accepted solution]

Q: Best practices for Linkedin ads?

Short A: No short answer here. haha

Longer A:

@albusse, we've had similar experiences as those described by @shearn (with two notable exceptions).

INMAIL
While many people think InMail = 'LinkedIn email' there are HUGE differences (some good / some bad).

- InMail is COMMUNITY 'email' which means LinkedIn can control its delivery with extreme precision.

Unlike traditional email which arrives willy-nilly whether or not the recipient is active InMail is held in a magical LinkedIn queue and only delivered when the LinkedIn member is currently online. This gives the illusion of 'perfect timing' -- something seasoned users of HubSpot Sales Pro tool have come to expect.

- InMail cost $10 each (once you consume your monthly alottment).

While not a big deal to CMOs with huge budgets, $10/message can be quite cost prohibitive for SMBs and certainly disqualifies InMail as a mass-campaign tool.

- InMail <> email and therefore requires a dramatically different approach.

Since the traditional spray-n-pray approach (like many use email) rarely works well on LinkedIn we recommend using EXTREME PERSONALIZATION in InMail campaigns. We've had great success with this approach ... even wrote an ebook with examples.
- see LinkedIn InMail Secrets
 

THINGS TO AVOID
- We won't go so far as to say, "totally avoid LinkedIn groups", but close.

Once LinkedIn introduced dramatic limitations to LinkedIn groups in mid-2015 they became quite useless as a primary marketing tool -- that is, unless you define 'useful' as building a micro-community of followers on a platform over which you have zero control. (head shaking)

btw - LinkedIn also quietly removed public-facing LinkedIn group stats during that same timeframe in 2015. Basically, this means we can no longer determine how many new conversations versus new comments occur in a group -- an essential ranking factor for any serious data-driven LinkedIn group marketer.

- We won't go so far as to say, "totally avoid LIONs - (Li)nkedIn (O)pen (N)etworkers", but close.

While some LIONs are authentic marketers who take time to craft audience-centric LinkedIn campaigns with real value, most are spray-n-prayers (or worse) whose strategies have not evolved with changes LinkedIn has implemented on their platform -- e.g., the new 2017 LinkedIn InBox, the 2016 algorithm change limiting reach of organic posts in activity feeds for even 1st-degree connections, and the not-so-new group changes mentioned above.

- We won't go so far as to say, "don't trust LinkedIn ad stats", but close.
While there may be rare cases when LinkedIn's historically flawed stats reporting is accurate, we aren't aware of any.
Furthermore, we've never met a client who's paid as little as $0.32 per click in nearly a decade of working LinkedIn. Just sayin' -- (see image straight from the 'How to Analyze Your Campaign Performance | Ad Tips' page in the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help Center). We used to routinely screenshot these pages since they historically have a way of mysteriously disappearing (or quietly changing without notice).
 

Bottom line?

The days of the LinkedIn 'mass connection collection strategy' are over. Have been since 2016. (at least)

AND, thanks to GDPR, also gone are the days of scraping LinkedIn email addresses after old-school LinkedIn mass connection collection then blasting them from a list. The rewards no longer outweigh the risks. Haven't since 2017. (at least)

AND, thanks to Facebook and LinkedIn, also gone are the days of blindly trusting ad networks. Doubt seriously if Google, Microsoft, or anyone else can restore consumer confidence in these mediums.
 

LINKEDIN PROFILES
We've found that B2B LinkedIn profiles (not Company Pages) have the greatest impact on both leads and conversion rates. Last year, LinkedIn made their 3rd attempt to redesign company pages with more $ex-appeal. They still fail miserably.

We think LinkedIn company pages continue to fail because, contrary to what many so-called LInkedIn marketers try to convince us, in the mind of the general public LinkedIn is still really only a 'SOCIAL platform' for recruiters and (to a much lesser extent) job seekers.

The above withstanding, the LinkedIn profile remains the single most searchable and impactful piece of content on the platform. In fact, its searchability extends so deep into Google SERP territory that the LinkedIn profile consistently ranks in the top 3 positions for most name searches across all verticals in all industries world-wide.

Point? Get those profiles cleaned-up BEFORE beginning ad campaigns.

This is particularly important for SMBs who can't rely on an already well established brand reputation.

LINKEDIN VIDEO
Will LinkedIn be able to use video to shed its 'job search platform persona'?

Only time will tell, but sponsored video looks very promising as new (Microsoft-owned) LinkedIn ad platform strategies emerge for marketers.

Here's just one great example of a single person producing their own video content well enough to rival the majors -- (warning ... this girl is a pro and she ROCKS LinkedIn) -- Hire Me Video (YouTube) -- earned nearly a million views on LinkedIn.

[kimvanpeet]

Very useful information! Thanks!