LinkedIn conversation ads allow advertisers to start conversations with their target audience directly within the LinkedIn messaging interface. This enables brands to establish more personal connections with prospects and move them down the marketing funnel. But are these ads actually effective at driving results for businesses? Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of LinkedIn conversation ads and whether they are worth the investment.
What are LinkedIn conversation ads?
LinkedIn conversation ads, also known as sponsored InMail ads, allow advertisers to send personalized messages directly to LinkedIn members matching their target audience criteria. These ads appear in the LinkedIn messaging section and look just like regular InMail messages.
Some key features of LinkedIn conversation ads include:
– Highly targeted based on LinkedIn member data such as job title, industry, skills, etc.
– Messages can include personalized merge fields to reference the recipient’s name, company, role, etc.
– Advertisers can customize the subject line and preview text prospects see before opening the message.
– Open and click-through rates are reported so advertisers can optimize targeting and messaging.
– Cost is on a pay-per-send model rather than pay-per-click.
Overall, the goal of LinkedIn conversation ads is to enable advertisers to establish more direct, one-on-one conversations with LinkedIn members to build relationships and drive conversions.
The pros of using LinkedIn conversation ads
There are several potential benefits for advertisers utilizing LinkedIn conversation ads:
– **Highly targeted reach:** With over 722 million members, LinkedIn has a wealth of member data that allows advertisers to target prospects based on job title, company, industry, skills, and interests. This level of targeting improves the relevance of the messages.
– **Personalization:** Messages can easily be personalized with merge fields to reference the recipient’s name, company, job title, and more. This personalization helps increase open rates.
– **High inbox placement:** LinkedIn conversation ads are delivered directly into the LinkedIn messaging section rather than the notification tab. This prominent placement helps drive higher open rates.
– **Engages passive candidates:** Many LinkedIn members are passive candidates open to, but not actively searching for, new job opportunities. Conversation ads allow recruiters to engage this audience.
– **Drives conversions:** With supporting calls-to-action, conversation ads can drive prospects to signup forms, product demos, content offers, and more to progress leads down the funnel.
– **Reporting:** LinkedIn provides delivery and performance reporting on sends, opens, clicks, replies, and conversions. This data can be used to optimize targeting and messaging.
Overall, the ability to have targeted, personalized conversations with LinkedIn members at scale is a major advantage of this ad format for many B2B marketers and recruiters.
The cons of LinkedIn conversation ads
However, there are also some potential downsides to keep in mind with LinkedIn conversation ads:
– **Cost:** LinkedIn conversation ads are one of the more expensive ad formats on LinkedIn, with typical costs ranging from $50-$200+ per send. For some advertisers, this CPM may not fit their budget or cost-per-lead goals.
– **Message fatigue:** Since anyone can pay to message LinkedIn members, some prospects may ignore these ads due to message fatigue. Cut-through often requires highly relevant, personalized messaging.
– **Restricted targeting:** Certain target segments like job seekers are not available for conversation ads. Advertisers are also limited to a single recipient per send.
– **Compliance rules:** LinkedIn has compliance rules and message requirements that advertisers must adhere to, such as not mentioning competitors. This can restrict messaging creativity.
– **Limited analytics:** Performance reporting includes sends, opens, clicks, but no more advanced attribution or multi-touch modeling. This makes full-funnel optimization challenging.
– **Nurturing limitations:** Unlike email, there is no way to create structured nurture streams with a series of automated conversation ads. Messaging is on a per-send basis.
For some advertisers, these limitations may restrict the value they can drive from LinkedIn conversation ads or make other LinkedIn ad formats more efficient. Testing is important to assess performance.
Use cases where LinkedIn conversation ads excel
While not a fit for every business, there are several specific use cases where LinkedIn conversation ads have proven particularly effective:
– **B2B lead generation** – Starting personalized conversations with high-intent prospects when they are researching solutions.
– **Event promotions** – Driving relevant decision makers to register for upcoming webinars, seminars, conferences.
– **Account-based marketing** – Engaging multiple targeted decision makers at a strategic target account.
– **Recruiting** – Tapping into LinkedIn’s extensive database of passive candidates to source qualified applicants.
– **Customer re-engagement** – Bringing inactive contacts back into the marketing funnel with personalized outreach.
– **Content promotion** – Promoting gated assets like whitepapers, ebooks, and reports to professionals based on their interests.
– **Sponsored mail list acquisition** – Paying to acquire new opted-in contacts interested in your content areas.
The common thread is using LinkedIn’s accurate member targeting to deliver a personalized, value-driven message that kicks off a conversation with relevant prospects. Conversation ads excel when marketers leverage targeting data to craft relevant, one-to-one messaging.
Best practices for creating effective LinkedIn conversation ads
Here are some recommended best practices for developing compelling LinkedIn conversation ads:
– **Research your target audience** – Study their challenges, interests, and motivations. Tailor messaging to align with what matters most to them.
– **Highlight relevant expertise** – Weave in showcases of expertise that will resonate with prospects based on their role and industry.
– **Focus on value, not sales** – Avoid overt product pitches. Lead with value tailored to the recipient first.
– **Personalize thoughtfully** – Use merge fields to reference prospects’ name, company, and role – but avoid sounding robotic.
– **Emphasize exclusivity** – Make prospects feel special by sending them unique, personalized messages you wouldn’t share publicly.
– **Craft compelling subject lines** – Include merge fields, urgency, or value propositions to catch the prospect’s eye.
– **Send from a real person** – Don’t use a generic brand handle as the sender. Choose a real employee contact.
– **Include a clear CTA** – Drive prospects to book meetings, access content, start trials, or visit key pages.
– **Follow up persistently** – Set rules to follow up with non-responders after a few days to a week.
– **Test and optimize** – Try different target segments, messages, CTAs and measure results. Refine based on learnings.
– **Integrate with marketing automation** – Pass conversation leads into systems like Marketo or Eloqua to continue nurturing.
Conversation ads work best when prospects feel you understand their needs and are offering exclusive value not found elsewhere. Personalized, authentic messaging and persistence are key.
What types of results can you expect from LinkedIn conversation ads?
So what types of results can advertisers expect to achieve with LinkedIn conversation ads when executed effectively? Here are some typical benchmark ranges:
Metric | Typical Ranges |
---|---|
Open rates | 10-30% |
Click-through rates | 2-10% |
Response rates | 2-15% |
Cost per send | $50-$200+ |
Cost per acquisition | $100-$500+ |
Of course, results will vary significantly based on your audience, offer, targeting, message, and more. But for most advertisers these ranges represent what is achievable.
The key is testing different segments and messages to find what works based on your goals, whether that’s leads, content downloads, registrations, applications, or something else. With continual optimization, LinkedIn conversation ads can become an effective channel.
Tips for improving LinkedIn conversation ad performance
Here are some additional tips for improving the performance of your LinkedIn conversation ad campaigns:
– **Target by company size** – Larger companies often have more complex needs and bigger budgets.
– **Target by seniority** – Decision makers tend to deliver higher conversion rates.
– **Target by interests/skills** – Align with the solutions you provide.
– **Limit targeting criteria** – Being too niche hurts reach. Test broader segments.
– **Provide gated content** – Offer exclusive assets in exchange for lead contact info.
– **Create urgency** – Limited-time offers can increase response rates.
– **Test send times** – Morning/early afternoon tend to see higher engagement.
– **Send follow-ups** – Continued nurturing of non-responders improves conversions long-term.
– **Track competitor ads** – See what language and offers resonate in your industry.
– **A/B test messages** – Try different value propositions and personalization strategies.
– **Integrate with marketing automation** – Continue nurturing new leads via email or other channels.
– **Watch compliance rules** – Any guideline violations can lead to account suspension.
By continually testing and optimizing your targeting, messaging, offers, and integrations, you can improve your LinkedIn conversation ad performance over time. The most successful advertisers put effort into learning what makes their audience tick.
Case studies demonstrating LinkedIn conversation ad success
LinkedIn conversation ads have driven strong results across a variety of industries. Here are a few real-world examples:
Case Study #1: Lead generation for IT security company
– **Company:** SecurityCo (name changed), a cybersecurity solutions firm
– **Goal:** Generate qualified sales leads among senior IT security decision makers
– **Targeting:** Job titles like Chief Information Security Officer, VP of IT Security, Director of Cyber Security
– **Messaging:** Focused on trending threats, tailored by company size and industry
– **Results:**
– 30% open rate
– 8% click-through rate
– $215 cost per send
– 12% response rate
– $385 cost per sales qualified lead
By targeting senior security decision makers with relevant messaging, SecurityCo was able to drive a strong response rate and cost-effective lead generation via LinkedIn conversation ads.
Case Study #2: Account-based recruiting for staffing firm
– **Company:** Recruiters LLC (name changed), a technology staffing firm
– **Goal:** Recruit software developers from a shortlist of accounts
– **Targeting:** Software engineers and architects from 50 priority company accounts
– **Messaging:** Focused on work culture, career growth, prestige of current employer
– **Results:**
– 15% application rate from conversation leads
– $750 average placement fee per candidate
– $112 cost per application
– 5X+ return on ad spend
With highly targeted messaging to passive candidates at key accounts, Recruiters LLC drove strong applicant rates and ROI on their LinkedIn conversation ad campaigns.
Case Study #3: Event promotion for research firm
– **Company:** InsightsCorp (name changed), a market research and advisory firm
– **Goal:** Promote registration for an upcoming industry seminar
– **Targeting:** Executives and decision makers in the retail banking industry
– **Messaging:** Focused on exclusivity of event and value of content sessions
– **Results:**
– 28% open rate
– 15% click-through rate
– $180 cost per send
– 357% increase in registrations vs. previous campaign
With targeted promotion of their exclusive industry event, InsightsCorp was able to capture the attention of their target audience and drive increased registrations via LinkedIn conversation ads.
Key takeaways on the effectiveness of LinkedIn conversation ads
In summary, here are the key conclusions on the effectiveness of LinkedIn conversation ads as a B2B marketing channel:
– LinkedIn conversation ads enable highly targeted, personalized messaging to prospects at scale. This differentiates them from many other advertising channels.
– For businesses selling complex, high-consideration offerings, conversation ads can be an effective lead gen driver and allow for meaningful nurturing.
– Strong results depend on compelling, value-focused messaging tailored to the audience’s needs and interests. Generic pitches often fail.
– Prospect fatigue and high CPMs mean conversation ads are best reserved for qualified segments rather than blasting the entire database. Relevance is key.
– With continual testing and optimization, advertisers can achieve open rates of 10-30% and response rates over 10% in some cases. But results vary.
– To maximize value, leads captured via conversation ads should be integrated with marketing automation systems and sales processes.
Overall, LinkedIn conversation ads can deliver significant value for B2B companies focused on select, high-value segments where personalized conversations can build relationships and drive conversions. But strategic targeting and messaging are required to cut through the noise.
Frequently asked questions
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn conversation ads:
What types of businesses see the most success with LinkedIn conversation ads?
LinkedIn conversation ads work best for B2B companies selling complex or high-consideration products and services that require a consultative sales process. They allow for targeted messaging to niche professional audiences. Recruiting and professional services firms also see value.
What is the minimum send volume required to run LinkedIn conversation ads?
Typically advertisers must commit to a minimum monthly send volume, usually between 1000-5000 sends depending on audience size. This ensures adequate delivery and optimization.
How quickly can you expect results from LinkedIn conversation ads?
Initial results can be tracked in the first days/weeks of a campaign launch. However, advertisers often see performance improve over time as targeting is refined and new messages are tested based on data and feedback. Ongoing optimization is key.
What compliance rules govern LinkedIn conversation ads?
LinkedIn has detailed creative policies for these ads including prohibitions on mentioning competitors, linked images, promotional language, contact info, etc. Close adherence ensures accounts remain in good standing.
Can you target competitors’ employees with LinkedIn conversation ads?
LinkedIn prohibits the use of conversation ads to target employees at named competitor companies. Advertisers are restricted to targeting their own ideal customers and prospects.
Conclusion
LinkedIn conversation ads offer a unique way for brands to have meaningful, personalized conversations with their targeted B2B audience segments at scale. For companies that take the time to craft relevant, value-driven messaging and continue optimizing over time, conversation ads can become an effective customer acquisition channel.
However, conversation ads aren’t a fit for every business. The combination of high costs and prospect fatigue means that strategic targeting and persistence are required to drive results. Advertisers also need to devote resources to integrating new leads with their sales and marketing automation workflows.
Overall, the effectiveness of LinkedIn conversation ads comes down to setting realistic expectations, testing continuously, focusing on quality messaging, and leveraging the leads captured. With the right strategy tailored to their offering, many B2B brands can achieve success.