Should You Be Advertising on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn advertising is [in my opinion] one of the most undervalued forms of paid online advertising out there. Although nearly all companies have their own page, few utilize the targeted advertising portal despite the fact that millions of people consume content on the network daily.

Users already trust LinkedIn to provide valuable, relevant content related to their industry or position - so why isn't your company utilizing this platform? LinkedIn allows you to connect and gain trust from a prospect before they even consider your services or know you exist.

"LinkedIn is now responsible for a staggering 64 percent of all visits from social media channels to corporate websites. In contrast, Facebook accounts for 17 percent of such visits, while Twitter is just 14 percent." - CMO.com

Is it right for your business model?

The LinkedIn Targeted Advertising platform is primarily built for B2B companies. Unlike other social platforms, there isn't the clutter of product advertising, social chatter and personal photos. This allows users to focus on the marketing driven content you provide and be more intentional with what they consume. Like much of marketing, it is worth giving a try and testing the waters before making a big commitment.

So LinkedIn might drive visitors to my website but what about conversions?

"Traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost 3 times higher (277%) than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%)." - HubSpot

Since we have started using 'sponsored updates' (explained later in the post) on LinkedIn, we have generated 30+ leads by visitors filling out various landing form ebook offers. Compared to our other social media and PPC efforts, these leads are also often more qualified and engaged.

Okay, I'm convinced. Where do I start?

You can enter the portal by clicking 'Advertise' under the business services tab in the right hand corner. Once you fill in the appropriate information you will be given the option of two primary types of ads.

Sponsored updates - which appear as regular 'updates' within your feed. The only difference is the sponsored link in the right hand corner.

Regular Ads - Text with small images that usually appear on the sidebar

Both of these ads can link directly to the landing page of your choice. Sponsored updates are definitely the more expensive option but seem to be more effective and natural for users to click on.

What type of content should I offer?

The sky is the limit when deciding what type of content to link to. Be sure to stay focused on what your target audiences would find compelling. It could be an ebook, white paper, video, infographic, blog post, etc. You could also consider building upon your most popular blog posts.

How do I measure the success of my ads?

LinkedIn advertising has a central dashboard to track impressions, clicks, spend and overall engagement with your sponsored updates or ads. You can also see a snapshot of how much much more effective sponsoring an update vs. naturally posting one can be. Check out the extreme increase in impressions and clicks by sponsoring our 10-Step Checklist eBook.

Now that you have a general understanding of LinkedIn Advertising, check out step by step instructions on how to create an ad. If you need help designing landing pages, writing content or managing your advertising account, please contact us today!