Most businesses don’t attribute too much importance to LinkedIn Ads for lead generation. We get it. At first glance, LinkedIn doesn’t appear to be as big as some of the other popular social media platforms. But the fact is that LinkedIn offers a robust PPC platform for lead generation. In fact, it’s second to none.
For those who are new to this, LinkedIn Ads are a paid promotional tool offered by LinkedIn, that allows businesses to generate leads, promote content or drive traffic. The platform has constantly been working to streamline their interface. Some of the newer changes allow a business to narrow down on their target audience with razor-sharp precision.
Did you know that LinkedIn has 30.9 million members in the UK who are actively looking to interact with business and services in their domain? The growth rate is staggering.
In a nutshell, LinkedIn is a market teeming with opportunity for both B2B and B2C businesses and service providers.
Linkedin Ads For Lead Generation – Top 7 Reasons To Consider!
Having said that, if you’re still sceptical to cleave-off a chunk of your marketing budget towards LinkedIn Ads for lead generation, then here are 7 reasons that might force you to reconsider your decision.
#1 – LinkedIn is a diverse, global platform with unmatched potential
We still speak to businesses who feel that LinkedIn doesn’t fit into their marketing plans. There’s a misconception that it’s more of a recruitment platform. That’s outdated information. LinkedIn did start off as a recruitment tool. But that’s no longer the case.
LinkedIn is an enormous marketplace of professionals who are looking to connect with and learn about other businesses. It is available in 24-languages and reaches 200-countries. In fact, 76% of LinkedIn users are from outside of the United States.
Content creation on LinkedIn has increased by 60% last year. That’s not all. Hubspot reveals that Linkedin is 277% more effective at lead generation than Facebook & Twitter.
Another misconception is that LinkedIn is purely B2B. The fact is that some of the top B2C brands have been running targeted campaigns on LinkedIn with great success rates. It is one of the fastest-growing social networks on the world with a massive pool of millennials. Any B2C marketer can generate high quality leads with LinkedIn Ads.
#2 – The barrier for entry is low
Most businesses with a digital marketing budget might have dabbled in Facebook advertising. They might have tried Google Adwords too. These platforms are phenomenal in their own right. But let’s face it. Setting up an advertising campaign on either one of these is just cumbersome. You’ll have to tinker and tweak a lot of settings before getting it on point.
LinkedIn Ads for lead generation are easier to set up. There’s still a learning curve involved, mind you. But it’s definitely easier than say, Google Ads (at least in our experience, anyway!).
That’s where you need someone skilled with Linkedin Ads to step in. At Rockstar Marketing, we help fine-tune Linkedin ad campaigns for our clients. We work on the copy, creatives, campaign types, monitoring and retargeting, and more, so you can sit back and get the best results for your budget.
#3 – LinkedIn Ads for lead generation can get you media exposure
Any digital marketer worth their salt will tell you that targeted media exposure is the key to brand expansion. But media exposure on the overcrowded internet is tough and pricey. You’ll have to hire a reputed PR agency who will charge you by the hour, or by every PR piece they distribute. Even then, it’s akin to throwing a bunch of things on a wall and seeing what sticks.
The results may be mediocre, in a worst-case scenario, just poor. According to a survey, 94.2% of journalists and editors have a LinkedIn account. That’s not all. 62% of these consider LinkedIn their primary networking tool.
Businesses may well be scraping the surface of the branding potential that LinkedIn offers. With targeted LinkedIn ads for lead generation, you can build contacts with media publications. The process is definitely easier and cheaper than spending pig in the poke on PR.
#4 – Ample options to fine tune your Ads
LinkedIn has been constantly upgrading their advertising platform. One of the updates allows businesses to use video, content, or images. This opens up a world of opportunity for businesses to promote their services.
For instance, here’s a Salesforce Ad that talks about using analytics in the healthcare industry. They use a very simple image for the Ad. But they do a lot of things right. They call out the target audience by the industry, they use a clear CTA button & there’s the allure of getting a free e-book with relevant data.
Here’s another ad by the same company.
In this one, they use statistics to grab attention. Don’t miss the emphasis on 2020 that shows the audience that it’s an updated report. Once again, the CTA is clear. Also, notice the identical branding in both these images.
Carousel ad
Take a look at this Ad by Wework, a company that offers remote workplaces. They use the carousel card Ad to show beautiful pictures of one of their offices. This is a terrific option to showcase your products to your audience. It gives them a clear idea of what they get if they subscribe to your service or engage with your business.
Content Ad
Here’s Aha leveraging the value of informative content to drive traffic. It’s not the most customised creative to be honest. But it does show that smart marketing is not always about direct lead generation. Sometimes, even valuable content helps forge lasting relationships.
Video Ad
Lastly, here’s one from Qualcom that uses a 1:1 video. That’s an incredibly smart way to use LinkedIn Ads for lead generation. Guess why? Because 1:1 videos look much bigger on the feed, on mobile. The Ad is very well designed too. It speaks about the tangible benefits of using their tech, with words like speed, accuracy and safety. Here’s an interesting statistic to go with this. LinkedIn users are 20x likely to share a post that has a video.
With LinkedIn, you can promote everything, from content downloads to corporate videos.
#5 – LinkedIn Ads for lead generation have no text limit on creatives
For a long time, Facebook enforced a text limit on creatives. This has smothered many of our Ad campaigns, or rendered them ineffective. According to the most recent update, that has been removed. LinkedIn has never had this limit from the start.
You can add as much text as you want to. Although we do recommend keeping it short and concise, sometimes this lets you stretch the envelope a tad.
#6 – Audience targeting options aplenty
One of our favourite features of LinkedIn Ads is the exhaustive targeting options. This helps you prevent ad-hoc spending. With a great LinkedIn marketing team, you can run campaigns that will narrow down your audience to the tiniest of detail.
You can start with a geolocation mentioned in a LinkedIn user’s profile, or use a temporary location that they may be located in currently. The next step is to select the language. Then comes the fun part.
- Target by company – We use this for our clients with well-defined sales verticals. It really helps cut through the clutter. One of the advantages is that being largely considered as a professional networking platform, members make it a point to keep their employment details updated. You can further fine-tune this by targeting first-degree connections of a specific company (ahem, your competitor?). You can also target a company’s followers or reach out to companies with a certain number of employees. Other options include experience, education, skillsets and demographics.
- Target by Interest – Interest-based targeting is the most recent addition to LinkedIn Ads for lead generation. It allows you to reach out to members who have joined specific groups that align with your business. A very broad example, is for an SEO Company based in London to target members interested in Digital Marketing, who also live in London. You can customise this with demographics, job titles etc.
#7 – Engagement levels on LinkedIn are booming
Microsoft (who own LinkedIn) in their Q-20 report mention that engagement rates on LinkedIn have increased by 22% in a year. It was 34% the previous year. That’s a record high for any platform. If you take the surge in member numbers into account, there’s ample reason why you should consider including it in your marketing plans.
Bonus Tip – You can forge strategic partnerships with LinkedIn Ads for lead generation
It is estimated that there are 90-million senior-level influencers on LinkedIn. There’s so much focus on Instagram’s potential as a marketing tool to connect with influencers that most brands ignore this statistic.
The fact is that you might be able to forge a strategic business partnership with an influencer on LinkedIn, for much lesser. How do you do that? Well, how about a content-ad that delivers exceptional value? Or a video maybe? Good content is always a terrific way to engage with influencers. We can help you set up just that.
How Rockstar Marketing can help
We have been helping our clients leverage LinkedIn advertising to drive traffic, increase brand awareness, generate leads and boost conversions. If you are considering investing in LinkedIn Ads for lead generation, book a call with us now.
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