Getting started with B2B LinkedIn ads, with best practices

LinkedIn is the go-to place for professional networking and meeting B2B marketing goals. Read how to set up your company page, run a campaign, and learn the top strategies.

Why look anywhere else for B2B marketing when it is known that LinkedIn⁽¹⁾ is ranked #1 for it?

•    33% increase in purchase intent with ad exposure on LinkedIn
•    6x more chances of conversion when audiences are exposed to brand and acquisition messages on LinkedIn
•    82% of marketers find LinkedIn to be more successful than other platforms.

LinkedIn can do wonders for businesses, provided things are done right. Learn how to set up your company profile, create a campaign, and the best strategies for it in this blog.

Set up your profile, make a strong impression 

Your LinkedIn company page is the face of your company for someone who is hearing about you for the first time. So, how you build your page matters.

1.    Upload a profile image, which is basically your company logo. Then, add the banner image that gives LinkedIn users an idea of what your company does.

2.    Write an impactful summary line that talks briefly about your services. Of course, certain globally known companies like Amazon can deviate from this requirement and use their slogan, which currently is ‘Work hard, have fun, make history.'

3.    Write a concise but comprehensive “about” section. Here, write a little more detail about what you do, the products and services you offer, the kind of companies you work with, and awards and recognition. Include relevant keywords.

4.    Complete details such as contact information, headquarters, and specialties (making sure you cover the keywords)

5.    Add a button, which could be the website link or a custom button such as "Learn More," "Register etc.

Create and run ads using the campaign manager, meet your marketing goals 

Three essential B2B marketing goals that you can achieve with LinkedIn are creating brand awareness, increasing website traffic, and generating leads.

If you patiently and thoughtfully build a campaign around any of these goals, the results will be more satisfactory as the chances of the right message reaching the right audience are higher.

Here is a 6-step process for creating ads using Campaign Manager:

1. Set your objective -

Campaign Manager lets you perform objective-based advertising. You can choose from three options: awareness, consideration, and conversion. Accordingly, LinkedIn will track metrics relevant to the objective.

2. Select target audience –

This is one of the most important steps, as you choose who must see your ad. You can make your targeting specific by choosing from the many listed criteria, such as company size, skills, title, and seniority.

3. Select an ad format –

To meet the varied needs of marketers, LinkedIn offers several ad formats, such as sponsored content, sponsored messaging, dynamic ads, and text ads. Take a minute and read about the ad types for better utilization.

• Sponsored Content – This kind of content appears in the feed of your target group. It can be in the form of an image, document, video, or carousel. It works for building awareness, generating website traffic, and generating leads.

• Sponsored Messaging – This includes message ads and conversation ads. It is a more direct way of sending a personalized message. With the addition of relevant hyperlinks and CTAs, you can make the ads more interactive. When you run these ads along with the sponsored content campaign, you can expect a better CTR.

• Dynamic Ads – These are personalized ads and are designed to get an immediate response from the audience. It is an excellent option for getting registrations for events, demo requests, or even encouraging job applications.

• Text Ads – These are the pay-per-click ads. Crisp and simple messaging has the potential to be very effective in reaching the right audience and generating quality traffic and leads.

4. Set budget and schedule –

Fuel your campaign with a budget that will help you meet your goals. Depending on what kind of ad you are running, you will have to choose a cost per send (CPS), cost per click (CPC), or cost per impression (CPI). Define the duration for which you want to run the campaign. For example, if there is an industry event or conference you are participating in, you may want to build excitement before and during the event.

5. Design creatives –

Your creative is the face of your campaign. Crisp and effective copy, clean but powerful designs, and the right CTA can make your audiences pause and delve deeper into your content. That could mean clicking the CTA, commenting on the post, re-sharing it, etc.

6. Track and optimize –

Once your ad is live, watch how it is performing by checking the analytics in Campaign Manager. You can check various metrics (such as impressions, clicks, shares, etc.) and learn how your budget is being utilized. This gives you an idea of which ads are performing better than others and how you can optimize other ads for better performance.

Top 5 strategies for using LinkedIn for successful B2B marketing 

• Optimize your company page –

Your page can attract leads because, once you start with campaigns, there are going to be more and more viewers of your content, and they may want to check out your company page. Put the right keywords in the right places: the tag line, the about section, and the specialties. Put up a powerful image in the banner—something that speaks of your company’s key highlights.

• Find the right target audience –

An essential factor for success is showing appropriate content to the right audience. Advanced search options can help you narrow down your choices to the people who are most relevant to your business. Use filters for location, company size, title, and so on. There is a paid feature, called the Sales Navigator, for more targeted leads.

• Leverage the power of employees –

30% of a company’s engagement⁽²⁾ happens via employees. So why not get your employees to re-share campaign posts, comment on them, and share company updates and thought leadership posts?

• Create quality content –

At the end of the day, LinkedIn members want solutions to their challenges or to know about new insights and technologies. Give them that, and lead generation becomes easier.

• Post consistently, create a calendar –

A consistent flow of quality content keeps your followers engaged and helps them witness your company’s growth. Make sure you create a calendar for posting content regularly, leverage important industry events, and speak about new and exciting offerings.

The more you put out your thoughts and updates in whatever form they take—paid ads or organic posts—the stronger your professional network becomes. No doubt, the efforts take time to show results, but it is an investment you need to make to get quality leads and better engagement.

Reference and Citation-

1. https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/cx/20/08/read-me-if-you-want-to-advertise-better-on-linkedin 

2. https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/