How to Master LinkedIn Ads for your Business

Every time I refresh LinkedIn, my feed is flooded with new content. That's not

surprising considering there are now 1.2 billion users contributing around 2 million posts, articles, and videos to the platform each day. Compare that

traffic to platforms like Google Search and Facebook. And LinkedIn clearly

and Facebook. And LinkedIn clearly doesn't reach as many eyeballs. But look

at this. The cost per click of LinkedIn ads is significantly higher. Why pay

more for less? Well, ads perform really well on LinkedIn. Marketers report

conversion rates two times higher on LinkedIn than other platforms. So even though you're spending more on each ad, you can generally expect a lower customer acquisition cost. But still, if

you are investing more, you want to be sure your ads connect, right? So the

question is, what's the secret to reaching and converting leads on LinkedIn? Well, I spent the last few

LinkedIn? Well, I spent the last few weeks looking at brands that are absolutely crushing it on LinkedIn. I've

deconstructed their profiles, their campaigns, and I think I figured out what some of their secrets are. So,

let's look at what the best brands are doing so you can figure out how to apply that to your own marketing efforts.

Before I do, HubSpot offers what I think is a pretty great playbook for LinkedIn ads. So, if it's your first time running

ads. So, if it's your first time running a campaign, or maybe you've tried and failed in the past, I highly recommend checking out the link below to download this guide. At the beginning of my

this guide. At the beginning of my research for this video, I looked at the 50 most followed brands on LinkedIn and it was clear that no one begins with ads. It's all about the company page.

ads. It's all about the company page.

Optimize this and you can increase weekly views by 30% according to LinkedIn. The best brands all do the

LinkedIn. The best brands all do the following. Number one, a fully built

following. Number one, a fully built profile. Let's take a look at one of my

profile. Let's take a look at one of my favorites, Notion, and see exactly how they built out their LinkedIn page. To

start, take a look at the cohesive and clear branding. Without reading

clear branding. Without reading anything, we already have a feel for who Notion is. And the positioning segment

Notion is. And the positioning segment here, it tells us what kind of company Notion is and how it benefits customers.

Go to the about and you'll see the basics are there. But what I love most about this profile is how they've made use of other pages, especially the product page. Seriously, there are so

product page. Seriously, there are so many built-in features that LinkedIn offers. From connecting with other

offers. From connecting with other customers to showcasing top rated features, all of the information here practically mirrors what a potential customer might find on Notion's website.

And that's very intentional. Think about

it. Your customer might never make it to your website, so why not give them the information on LinkedIn? Once your

company page is built out, focus on engaging your audience organically.

Which brings me to point number two, organic engagement. Notion has had a lot

organic engagement. Notion has had a lot of success here, too. Almost every

employee uses a notion branded illustration as their profile photo.

It's adorable. It's also a simple way to tie individual thought leadership back to the brand. And in 2024, Notion took this one step further by inviting its community to transform their LinkedIn

profile photos into their own Notion themed illustrations. The campaign

themed illustrations. The campaign generated 11,000 reactions within 24 hours of the launch without any paid media, and it was a clever way to allow people to share their love and

enthusiasm for the brand. The point is, there are lots of ways to engage customers organically, and it's important to explore your brand voice to see what resonates with your audience and what doesn't before switching to

paid media. Why pay for things when you

paid media. Why pay for things when you don't even know if they work? Which

leads to my final insight. Number three,

post content weekly. Only 1% of LinkedIn users post regularly. Yet, these active contributors generate a staggering 9 billion impressions. While it might seem

billion impressions. While it might seem like everyone is posting, the vast majority are not doing so regularly.

This means there's ample room for you to stand out and share your expertise. A

content calendar that commits both company and leadership to posting at least two times a week is how you earn visibility in LinkedIn. It won't happen overnight, but regular content pays off

in the long run. It's also the best way to try out different content, see what ideas hit and what formats don't. By

consistently putting out content, you'll start to get a real feel for what resonates, and sometimes the results will totally surprise you. Those

insights are gold and worth the occasional flop. Once your company

occasional flop. Once your company profile is optimized, your network is engaged, and you have a solid understanding of the kind of content that connects with your audience, you're

ready to run ad campaigns. I know it's a lot, but trust me, it's so worth it in getting that foundation in place.

LinkedIn offers different types of campaigns based on your goals. And so,

you'll need to decide what do you want your audience to do. If you only want your audience to see your ad, choose awareness. This measures success by

awareness. This measures success by impressions. And for what it's worth,

impressions. And for what it's worth, it's not the best use of LinkedIn given the lower traffic and fact that LinkedIn is known for converting leads, which is the perfect transition for the next goal, consideration. This is all about

goal, consideration. This is all about getting your audience to take an action so they then learn more about what you do, typically clicking the ad, which brings them to your website. This is a great way to get on customers radars.

The last option is conversion, which is all about getting a customer to take a desired action on your website. This

could be purchasing an item or subscribing to your newsletter. Whatever

it is, you gain a new lead or customer through their action. Once you have your goal set, you need to determine who are you targeting. One brand that's nailing

you targeting. One brand that's nailing this on LinkedIn is Adobe. Just think

about their different customers. There's

creatives like designers and editors using Adobe tools for artistic projects.

There's marketers who use tools like Adobe Analytics to measure campaign performance. And then there's even it

performance. And then there's even it who rely on Adobe for unifying customer data. When Adobe runs ads, they're

data. When Adobe runs ads, they're carefully considering which products and content are most relevant to which audiences. Filmmakers aren't getting

audiences. Filmmakers aren't getting white papers for 2024 personalization trends. That's for marketers.

trends. That's for marketers.

Think about who your product is for, their title, age, interest, but don't get too specific. Otherwise, your target pool will be too small. It's best to aim for a target audience over 50,000. When

you have your goal and know who the ads are for, it's time to create the ads.

LinkedIn has quite a few different formats to choose from. There's

sponsored content. These largely appear in user feeds and blend in with organic posts. There's dynamic ads, which appear

posts. There's dynamic ads, which appear prominently in the right hand sidebar.

And last, there's message conversation ads. The name says it all. These ads pop

ads. The name says it all. These ads pop up in your LinkedIn messages to appear as if someone is trying to talk directly to you. We're going to focus on two

to you. We're going to focus on two formats. Single image sponsored content

formats. Single image sponsored content because these have the highest click-through rate of all the different formats on LinkedIn, even video, and message ads because they can have an

open rate of up to 55%, which is way better than the average email campaign.

Let's take a look at an example from Adobe for a closer look. Now, their

exact style might not be for everyone, but their core approach is worth studying. Just look at the message. It

studying. Just look at the message. It

hits on a big pain point that's incredibly relevant to their audience.

And then they cleverly leverage a stock image to prove their value proposition.

One quick glance tells you everything you need to know about what they're offering and how they add value. Now,

let's talk about message ads. There's

two critical pieces of copy to consider.

Number one, subject line, and number two, the body. Let's start with subject line. Ensuring the value of what you're

line. Ensuring the value of what you're offering, be both specific and concise.

What do I mean by that? Okay, here's a few examples within my own LinkedIn messages. The first one here, I never

messages. The first one here, I never open it. Okay, it it's it's just a

open it. Okay, it it's it's just a rhetorical question that tells me nothing about the offer. Do they have a role for me or is it kind of some software to help in the job search? I I

don't know. And like most folks on LinkedIn, I just I don't have time to care. The second one seems specific, but

care. The second one seems specific, but I don't know the brand, so I have no idea what this is. And before they get to the value, it's hit with an ellipses.

This isn't a cliffhanger. It's just too long. The best of the three is this one.

long. The best of the three is this one.

They cleverly leverage brand recognition and the parenthetical makes it feel like this offer isn't made all too often.

It's specific with a little personality to boot. Okay, now let's talk about

to boot. Okay, now let's talk about message body. Here's a cool example from

message body. Here's a cool example from data bricks. They wanted people to sign

data bricks. They wanted people to sign up for an event and tested three different LinkedIn messages. Two

versions start with open-ended questions, but the third one was super direct. It put the event details and

direct. It put the event details and registration link right in the first sentence. that direct approach, it

sentence. that direct approach, it nearly doubled their click-through rate and conversions. So, there are two big

and conversions. So, there are two big takeaways here. First, always AB test

takeaways here. First, always AB test your messages. Let the data show you

your messages. Let the data show you what's really working. Second, and just as important, don't bury the leak. Get

straight to the point with your offer.

Put the most important info right up front so your audience can't miss it.

Then, add any extra context below. Once

you're confident in the content, you're ready to roll out your campaign. And

that means spending ad dollars. And when

you look at your budget, there's one thing you should be asking yourself. How

much leeway will you give LinkedIn to optimize your spend automatically? You

see, LinkedIn is smart. It knows when activity on the platform is higher than normal and paces how your budget is spent over the course of the campaign to maximize your ROI. So, if you have a

campaign running continuously with a daily budget of $50, you might see certain days when LinkedIn hits the daily max spend and other days when it's

lower. Now imagine if you increase the

lower. Now imagine if you increase the daily budget. You'll likely see the days

daily budget. You'll likely see the days where the max was hitting his limit go even higher while other days are unchanged. These variations can be as

unchanged. These variations can be as high as 50%. If your marketing budget is a bit tight, you can always add a lifetime max spend. For a continuous campaign, this will typically reduce

that high variation day-to-day. Another

option is to run your campaign on a fixed schedule. You choose the start and

fixed schedule. You choose the start and end date and then either the budget to be spent over that period or daily max within that period. Either way, the campaign will practice the lifetime

pacing to ensure your ads appear on the platform over that entire week. Once

your campaign is launched and running, you can celebrate, but just for a minute. Because now you need to monitor your campaign, specifically your KPIs. If the campaign isn't performing, you should check out

two things. Number one, your audience

two things. Number one, your audience segmentation to see if there's disconnect. And number two, your content

disconnect. And number two, your content to try new creative messaging and imagery. Imagine if Adobe saw their

imagery. Imagine if Adobe saw their creativity for all campaign underperforming amongst senior creatives. What do they do in this

creatives. What do they do in this hypothetical? They'd look at other

hypothetical? They'd look at other segments like young upand cominging creatives where maybe the campaign is having more success and if that's true, reallocate budget to that segment. But

maybe the campaign isn't performing well for any segment. So now it's time to look under the hood of your creative. No

need to go back to the drawing board.

Try small tweaks first and AB test it.

You might find that a particular image wasn't connecting or maybe the messaging or call to action needed some context or just an little extra push. No matter

what you discover, it's important to consistently evaluate your campaign. So

recap, although LinkedIn ads might have a higher upfront cost, they often lead to more conversions and a lower customer acquisition cost. The secret to making

acquisition cost. The secret to making them work isn't just about spending money. It's about being strategic.

money. It's about being strategic.

First, lock in your foundation by optimizing your company page and building an organic content strategy to understand what resonates with your audience. Once that's solid, you can

audience. Once that's solid, you can start running ads. Choose a clear goal, target your audience precisely, and learn from the brands that are killing it. Seriously, study the content that

it. Seriously, study the content that they make and take what works for them into your content. Finally, manage your budget smartly and most importantly, continuously monitor your campaign's performance to prove your investment is

paying off. And remember to check out

paying off. And remember to check out HubSpot's playbook or LinkedIn ads because it's packed full of even more information that we didn't have time to cover. I'd love to hear in the comments

cover. I'd love to hear in the comments what your biggest takeaways were. And

thanks for watching.

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