LinkedIn advertising can be an effective way for businesses to reach their target audience. However, many businesses wonder how much it actually costs to advertise on LinkedIn. The amount you pay depends on several factors, including your campaign objective, target audience, bid type, and budget.
Campaign Objective
Your campaign objective – whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, or something else – plays a big role in determining your costs. Objectives focused on driving conversions like lead gen tend to be more expensive than brand awareness campaigns. This is because you’re paying for that direct response from users.
Some typical campaign objectives and average costs on LinkedIn include:
Objective | Average Cost Per Click |
Brand Awareness | $2 – $7 |
Lead Generation | $8 – $15 |
Website Conversions | $10 – $25 |
Job Applications | $5 – $15 |
As you can see, the more direct the action, the higher the average cost. Lead gen and website conversions carry the highest prices on LinkedIn.
Target Audience
Your target audience also impacts costs. Advertising to more senior-level, executive audiences tends to cost more than targeting entry-level roles. Some typical LinkedIn audience costs include:
Audience | Average CPC |
C-Level | $15 – $35 |
Director/VP | $10 – $25 |
Manager | $8 – $18 |
Entry-level professional | $5 – $12 |
The more influential and harder to reach the audience, the more you can expect to pay to advertise to them on LinkedIn.
Bid Type
The bid type you choose also impacts costs. LinkedIn offers the following bid types for advertising:
– Cost Per Click (CPC) – You pay each time someone clicks your ad
– Cost Per Impression (CPM) – You pay each time your ad is shown
– Cost Per Lead (CPL) – You pay each time someone becomes a lead by filling out a form
CPC and CPM bids give you more control over budget, while CPL aims to get conversions and optimize for your target cost per lead. CPL campaigns generally result in higher overall spend, but also more leads and conversions.
Campaign Budget
Your overall budget also determines your LinkedIn advertising costs. Budgets can range from as low as $10 per day up to $10,000 or more per day depending on your business goals. As you increase your budget, LinkedIn can display your ads more frequently to your target audience.
Some typical daily budget ranges on LinkedIn include:
Budget | Results |
$10 – $50 | Brand awareness for small businesses |
$50 – $250 | Lead gen for small to medium businesses |
$250 – $500 | Brand and demand gen for medium businesses |
$500+ | Focused lead gen for enterprises |
Of course, you aren’t required to spend big. More modest budgets can still be effective for specific objectives and audiences on LinkedIn.
Campaign Optimization
Don’t forget to optimize your campaign over time. Use LinkedIn’s analytics and A/B testing capabilities to understand what messaging, offers, and creative perform best. Turn off low performing ads and raise bids on well converting ads. This optimization allows you to get better results for every dollar spent.
Over time, you may be able to decrease cost per click/lead as the right audience engages with your best ads. Testing and iterating on your LinkedIn campaigns brings down your cost per outcome.
Ad Format Costs
The specific ad format you use will also impact costs. Let’s look at the average cost per click for some common LinkedIn ad formats:
Ad Format | Average CPC |
Sponsored Content | $6-$12 |
Sponsored Messaging | $12-$20 |
Text Ads | $8-$15 |
Dynamic Ads | $10-$18 |
Sponsored messaging and dynamic ads tend to produce the highest cost per click, while more native formats like sponsored content have lower costs. However, sponsored content can boost brand awareness at efficient CPCs.
Beyond CPC – Evaluating Cost Per Outcome
When evaluating your true advertising costs, look beyond just CPCs. Instead, calculate your cost per outcome – how much you spend to achieve a conversion, signup, download or other goal.
For example, here are some sample cost per outcome benchmarks for LinkedIn:
Objective | Typical Cost Per Outcome |
Lead | $50 – $100 per lead |
Signup | $25 – $50 per signup |
Content Download | $1 – $3 per download |
Job Application | $30 – $60 per application |
Pageview | $0.10 – $0.50 per pageview |
Add to List | $1 – $2 per list addition |
Evaluating your true return on ad spend requires tracking conversions and bottom-of-funnel performance. What’s your ultimate goal and are your LinkedIn campaigns achieving it at an efficient cost? Mastering cost per outcome puts spend in clearer context.
Ways to Reduce LinkedIn Advertising Costs
Here are some tips to control LinkedIn advertising costs:
– Set Specific Targeting – Targeting by seniority, job title, company, groups, and interests can lower average CPCs
– Use Negative Keywords – Block irrelevant traffic that won’t convert to lower costs
– Test Ad Variations – Find the best performing creative and messages
– Use Split Testing – Test elements like headlines, ad copy, images, call-to-actions
– Analyze Metrics – Optimize based on results and kill low performing ads
– Promote Company Page – Building followers with a Company Page can establish social proof
– Retarget Website Visitors – Remarket to high-intent visitors who didn’t convert
– Review Audience Insights – Determine the best audience segments to reach
– Set Conversion Tracking – Track clicks to conversions to understand true cost per outcome
– Measure ROI – Evaluate return on ad spend and aim for positive ROI
With the right optimization, you can get LinkedIn advertising costs down to profitable levels over time.
Conclusion
LinkedIn advertising costs vary based on your campaign objective, target audience, bid type and budget. Typical cost per click ranges from $5 – $35 based on these factors. To understand true costs, evaluate cost per outcome for conversions. With optimization and conversion tracking, you can lower cost per lead and drive positive ROI from LinkedIn ads. Consider both reaching your target audience and generating measurable business results when evaluating your ideal LinkedIn advertising budget and approach.