There are so many positive things about LinkedIn for business development and networking that the paid advertising opportunities often get over looked. Just like Facebook and Google, LinkedIn has a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform. But to create and run a successful PPC campaign on LinkedIn, you need to understand how it is different from other advertising platforms.
Here’s how.
Know your target market. This is the starting place. Write a very detailed target demographic of your best prospect: male or female, college grad or phd, local or national, age, industry etc.
Login to LinkedIn and click create an ad. https://www.LinkedIn.com/ads/
Create a campaign name. The campaign name has zero impact on your ad.
Add a link to your website on the ad. It’s best to create a custom landing page for your ad. That way, when someone clicks on the ad you’re able to track the number of visits from that specific ad.
Write your ad copy. You have 25 characters for your ad headline and 75 characters for your ad message. Since you can create up to 15 variations of your ad, you are free to test different versions of ad copy. You do not need to add your website to the ad copy.
The image on the ad is key. Advertising on LinkedIn is referred to as “stop marketing.” This means the image you use on your ad needs to have the largest impact on the amount of people that will look at your ad to get their attention. Try several photos and remember the images are super small on LinkedIn’s website.
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You need a click through rate (CTR) of 2.5 percent or more. This means that for every thousand times your ad is displayed on a page, 25 people or more need to click the ad. If your ad CTR falls below 2.5 percent LinkedIn will not display your ad as prominently.
Target who sees your ad. The next step in the process is a list of demographic options that you can use to select exactly the type of person that sees your ad. From specific groups, genders, to the college people attended, LinkedIn gives you the most options for targeting your audience. Get as specific as you can and make sure your ad speaks directly to that demographic.
Test and re-test. You should be constantly be testing your ads. Changing images, changing copy, and trying different landing pages.
So how much money should you budget for your campaign? This really depends on your market niche and is not something you know until you get started. LinkedIn will provide a suggested cost per click; pay 3 percent more than the suggested amount. This will help your ad get better placement. Once you start the campaign just keep an eye on how much money you are spending each day and adjust your campaign as needed to match your desired results.
Jabez LeBret is the author of the Amazon No. 1 bestselling law office marketing book How to Turn Clicks Into Clients. As a partner at Get Noticed Get Found, a legal marketing agency, over the last nine years he has delivered over 800 keynote addresses in six countries. His main area of expertise is managing Gen Y in the workplace, advanced Facebook strategies, LinkedIn strategies, Google+, SEO, local directory optimization, and online marketing.
