LinkedIn ads can be a great way to reach your target audience, but running an effective campaign requires optimizing both the creative and targeting. Here are some tips on improving your LinkedIn ad performance.
Test different ad formats
LinkedIn offers single image ads, multiple image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more. Test different formats to see which resonate best with your audience. Video and carousel ads tend to have higher engagement rates.
Use strong calls-to-action
Your ad’s CTA should clearly tell viewers what action you want them to take. “Learn More”, “Sign Up”, “Contact Us” are common CTAs. Test different CTAs to determine which drives the most clicks.
Target your ads precisely
LinkedIn’s depth of member data allows you to target your ads very precisely. Options include job title, company, industry, seniority, location, interests, skills, and more. The more precise your targeting, the higher quality your leads may be.
Optimize ad placement
You can choose to show your ads in the LinkedIn feed, messaging sections, or right column. Test placement to determine ideal reach. Feed placement tends to get high visibility.
Test multiple ad variations
Create multiple versions of your ad with different creative elements. Test them simultaneously as A/B test campaigns. This can help you identify the highest performing ad creative.
Focus on your ideal customer profile
Determining your ideal customer profile allows you to create messaging that truly resonates with your target audience. Outline demographics, common challenges, and motivators of your ideal customers.
Highlight value proposition
Your ads should highlight the key value proposition of your product or service. Focus on the top 1-2 benefits that you know prospects care about most.
Use emotional triggers
Incorporating emotional triggers can make your ads more compelling. Consider using words like “results”, “savings”, “growth”, “security”. Test different emotional triggers.
Leverage retargeting
Retargeting shows your ads to people who have already engaged with your brand in some way. This targets warmer prospects for higher conversion rates.
Split test ad variations
Use A/B testing to compare the performance of different versions of your ads. This can reveal important insights on messaging, calls-to-action, imagery, targeting, etc.
Optimize for conversions
While clicks are important, conversions are the real goal. Optimize campaigns for conversions rather than just reach or clicks for the best ROI.
Analyze performance data
Closely monitor your campaign analytics like CTR, CPC, conversions, etc. These metrics can reveal opportunities to improve targeting, bids, creative, and more.
Adjust your bids
Actively manage your bids to find the optimal CPC. Increase bids for well-performing ads, and lower bids for underperformers. Bid simulations can estimate the impact of bid changes.
Improve ad copy
Test different ad copy to identify messaging that gets attention and draws clicks. Focus on concise copy with strong calls-to-action.
Use negative keywords
Adding negative keywords prevents your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. This avoids wasted spend and improves campaign relevancy.
Re-engage inactive contacts
Look for contacts that previously engaged with your ads or content but have gone “cold.” Retargeting them can reignite their interest in your brand.
Expand to similar audiences
LinkedIn Audience Expansion lets you target new audiences with similar demographics and interests to your existing audience. This efficiently expands campaign reach.
Monitor campaign reports
Regularly review campaign reports to spot trends, identify top-performing ads and targets, catch issues, and derive optimization insights.
Align ads with buyer’s journey
Target different messages and offers to prospects at different stages of the buyer’s journey for better relevance.
Promote fresh content
New blog posts, guides, and other content assets make greatpromo material within your ads. This engages audiences with your latest offerings.
Test ad variations simultaneously
Running A/B test campaigns allows you to try multiple ad versions at the same time to quickly see what works best.
Analyze competitor campaigns
Study what is and isn’t working in competitor’s LinkedIn ads. Their successes and mistakes can lead to new ideas.
Enhance ad relevance
Hyper-targeting your ads and matching ad content to member interests boosts ad relevance and response rates.
Review remarketing lists
Analyze the makeup of your remarketing lists to identify warmer segments worth targeting more aggressively.
Prioritize high-converting keywords
If using search network ads, allocate more budget toward keywords proven to drive conversions for maximum ROI.
Test ad extensions
Ad extensions like contact information, links, and calls-to-action can enhance your LinkedIn ads. Try them and see if they improve performance.
Automate campaign management
Automated rules allow you to make bid, budget, targeting, and creative optimizations without constant manual oversight.
Optimize landing pages
Ensure your LinkedIn ad traffic lands on conversion-optimized pages. This transforms clicks into leads and customers.
Add lead gen forms
Using LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms allows prospects to submit contact info right from your ad. This generates more qualified leads.
Integrate with CRM
Linking your LinkedIn campaigns with your CRM enables seamless lead management and complete tracking of campaign ROI.
Define clear KPIs
Establish specific campaign KPIs like cost per lead, conversion rate, etc. so you can accurately measure performance against targets.
Use conversion tracking
Installing the LinkedIn Insight Tag enables conversion tracking across devices so you see your true conversion rates.
Review creative templates
Browse LinkedIn’s many ad creative templates for inspiration. Their professionally designed layouts can spark ideas.
Tap into LinkedIn’s data
Leverage LinkedIn’s powerful audience data to identify who your ideal prospects are and how to effectively target them.
Conclusion
Optimizing a LinkedIn ad campaign is an ongoing process of testing and refinement across targeting, creative, placements and more. By continually analyzing performance data and iterating on what works, you can achieve progressively better results over time. With LinkedIn’s detailed targeting options and powerful analytics, the potential to reach and engage your audience is immense.