LinkedIn Marketing: Beyond Job Postings

Did you know that LinkedIn is more than 20 years old?

What started as a professional networking platform — allowing users to connect with colleagues, find job opportunities, and share industry insights — has become so much more.

LinkedIn’s evolution into a popular advertising platform has been a gradual process spanning two decades, but today it offers unique opportunities to elevate your marketing strategy thanks to a professional audience, precise targeting, and innovative ad formats.

So if you’re still only using it for job postings, it’s time to expand your horizons.

What Makes LinkedIn a Unique Ad Platform?

LinkedIn has everything you’d expect from an ad platform: Objective-based campaigns, multiple ad formats, minimum budget requirements, and performance tracking and analytics.

It also has a few things that set it apart from your run-of-the-mill ad platform:

1. A Professional Audience: LinkedIn's primary differentiator is its audience of 990+ million professionals, making it an ideal platform for B2B marketing.
2. B2B-Focused Ad Formats: It has ad types specifically designed for B2B marketing, such as Conversation Ads (formerly Sponsored InMail).
3. Advanced Targeting Capabilities: LinkedIn offers highly granular targeting options based on professional attributes (e.g. job title, company, industry, skills, education, etc.)
4. Higher Intent Audience: While LinkedIn can have higher cost-per-click (CPC) rates compared to other platforms, it often delivers higher conversion rates (CVR). The average CVR on LinkedIn is 5-15%, compared to 3% on Google Ads.
5. Integration of Online and Offline Data: LinkedIn's Conversions API (CAPI) allows advertisers to connect both online and offline data, providing a more comprehensive view of campaign performance across various touchpoints.

LinkedIn Ad Capabilities You Won’t Find Anywhere Else

Looking beyond the fundamental differences that distinguish LinkedIn from other ad platforms, there are also specific ad capabilities that are unique to the platform.

Here are three you should be aware of, especially if you are in the B2B space:

Conversation Ads

Conversation Ads — which up until recently were called InMail Ads — allow you to send personalized messages directly to LinkedIn users' inboxes. As their name would suggest, these ads are interactive and allow the recipient to choose their own conversion path. They are only delivered when a user is active on LinkedIn, increasing the likelihood of engagement.

Predictive Audiences

LinkedIn's Predictive Audiences feature uses AI and machine learning to help you reach the most relevant professionals for their campaigns. Leveraging the platform’s own professional data and user behavior insight, you can target decision-makers most likely to take desired actions. The AI-powered optimizations also allow for more efficient use of your budget.

CTV Ads

LinkedIn recently introduced Connected TV (CTV) Ads. These ads combine LinkedIn’s professional targeting capabilities with the impact of TV advertising, expanding its advertising reach beyond the platform itself. It represents a new channel for brand awareness and consideration campaigns, and offers cross-device measurement and attribution.

Integrating LinkedIn Into Your Full-Funnel Social Media Marketing Strategy

As a B2B advertising platform, LinkedIn is designed to support various objectives throughout the marketing funnel, allowing you to leverage its unique tools and capabilities whether you are looking to build brand awareness or drive leads and conversions.

Here is a breakdown of its capabilities across different stages:

Awareness

The focus here is on introducing your brand to potential customers. LinkedIn offers several ad formats to help generate impressions, increase views, and spark engagement with your brand:

• Single Image Ads: Ads that appear in a user’s feed and can help drive brand recognition and engagement.
• Carousel Ads: Multiple images or videos incorporated into a single ad, encouraging users to swipe through the content.
• Follower Ads: Ads designed to increase your company page follower count and boost brand visibility.
• Event Ads: Promote upcoming events to drive awareness and attendance.

Consideration

Here, the goal shifts to nurturing leads and encouraging interactions. LinkedIn has tools optimized for driving website visits, increasing engagement, and generating video views:

• Video Ads: Share your brand story or product features to engage users visually.
• Text Ads: Simple but effective for driving clicks and engagement.
• Conversation Ads: Ads that offer a more interactive experience, allowing users to choose their path and engage with your content.
• Document Ads: Share documents directly in the feed, allowing users to view and engage with content without leaving the platform.

Conversion

Finally, we turn our attention to generating leads and driving sales. LinkedIn's ad formats for this stage are tailored to inspire actions that lead to conversions, such as signing up for newsletters or completing purchases:

• Lead Gen Forms: Capture leads directly on LinkedIn with pre-filled forms, making it easier for users to submit their information.
• Website Conversion Ads: Drive actions on your website, such as downloads or purchases.
• Job Ads: Promote job openings to attract potential candidates.
• Dynamic Ads: Personalize ads based on user profiles to enhance engagement.

No Ad Platform is Complete Without Tracking & Analytics

Whether you are looking to track reach, engagement, or conversion actions, LinkedIn offers robust capabilities in measuring campaign success, tracking performance, setting KPI benchmarks, and analyzing audience characteristics to optimize your campaigns.

Advanced Tracking Tools

• Conversions API (CAPI): Connect both your online and offline data to LinkedIn, providing a more comprehensive view of campaign performance without relying on cookie-based tracking. This tool helps improve full-funnel measurement and is privacy-compliant.
• Website Actions: Simplifies the tracking of user interactions on your website, such as button clicks or page visits, and helps in retargeting based on these actions.
• Insight Tag: A JavaScript tag placed on your website to track conversions, retarget website visitors, and gain insights about your audience.

Audience Analysis

LinkedIn's targeting capabilities are particularly strong due to the professional context of its user base. Advertisers can analyze audience characteristics such as:

• Job Title: Target specific roles within organizations.
• Company: Focus on employees of particular companies.
• Industry: Reach professionals within specific industries.
• Seniority: Target based on job seniority levels, such as entry-level, manager, or executive.
• Skills & Interests: Tailor ads to users with specific skills or professional interests.

LinkedIn is a Marketing Tool

Most importantly, it’s a marketing tool we know how to use effectively and efficiently.

With our strategy and expertise, harnessing the power of LinkedIn’s ad platform could significantly enhance your marketing efforts. The platform’s ability to precisely target professionals, promote valuable content, engage directly with decision-makers, and simplify lead generation makes it an indispensable tool in your digital marketing arsenal.

If you’re ready to leverage LinkedIn’s capabilities to their fullest, let’s chat.