Advertising on LinkedIn is a critical opportunity to engage professionals, especially for B2B companies.
As a social media platform targeted to one’s professional identity, LinkedIn has 850 million members in 200 countries worldwide. The potential for global reach is significant.
To understand LinkedIn ads, it’s important to understand the types of ads available and how to best leverage the platform’s tools.
Types of LinkedIn Ads
Here are the kinds of LinkedIn ads you can launch on the platform:
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Text Ads – These ads operate like pay-per-click (PPC) ads on other platforms. They sit at the top or right of the LinkedIn desktop feed and are an effective tool to use for lead generation. You can choose to pay on a PPC or cost-per-impression basis.
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Dynamic Ads – Running on the right rail of a LinkedIn feed, dynamic ads are personalized and speak directly to audience segments. These ads project elements of a member’s own profile – name, photo, employer’s name or title – as part of the advertisement. Follower ads and sponsored ads (see next section below) are types of dynamic ads.
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Sponsored Content Ads – Sponsored content, or native ads, appear in a user’s feed both on mobile and desktop. LinkedIn tags these ads as “promoted” and will appear seamlessly with other feed content.
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Sponsored Messaging – Previously known as Sponsored InMail, these ads appear in a user’s LinkedIn mailbox and look like other email messages.
LinkedIn Ad Formats
After determining the type of ad you want, you can decide on the format. Among the available formats are:
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Single-Image Ads – The most common ad type includes one image and some text, often used in sponsored content ads.
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Carousel Ads – These ads for sponsored content can include multiple images and can showcase multiple products.
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Video Ads – These ads add a new level of personalization and can deliver lots of content in a short period of time.
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Job Ads – Are you looking to boost your candidate pool for an open position? Use job ads to find better candidates via sponsored content or sponsored messaging.
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Follower Ads – These ads are used to gain more followers for your business or personal LinkedIn page. It’s a great way to grow your following and can be used on sponsored content or sponsored messaging ads.
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Spotlight Ads – If you’re looking to showcase a specific product or service, a spotlight ad is an ideal way to direct a viewer to a page on your website.
The Power of Targeting
LinkedIn offers powerful tools that allow digital marketers to target groups of users. Factors that can be used to determine segments include:
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Location: This is the only mandatory field for ad targeting, and options include city or metro area, state or country, and can use either a user’s profile location or IP address.
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Demographics: Choose for age and/or gender.
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Company: Choices include company name, industry, connections, followers or size.
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Job Experience: Options include title, function, seniority, years of experience or member skills.
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Education: Opt from member schools, fields of study or degrees.
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Interests: Options include groups a user belongs to and/or interests.
The flexibility and targeting that LinkedIn provides are a powerful combination, allowing you to use the platform to find potential followers and customers. To get the most out of your investment in LinkedIn ads, look to Dream Local Digital as your strategic partner. We can help you reach your target audience with results that make an impact. Contact us today to learn more.
