LinkedIn has become one of the most popular websites on the internet, and even more within the field of social media. Designed specifically for business professionals trying to connect with others in their industry. With over 175 million users, it’s pay per click (PPC) advertising model can reach wide but at the same time target extremely well.
Step 1: Getting Started
Start at the LinkedIn Advertising and click on the “Start Now” button. LinkedIn ads have a 25 character headline and allow 75 characters for the body of the ad. You can also upload a 50 by 50 pixel image to accompany your text. You should enter a campaign name in order to keep track of multiple versions of the ad. Finally, input the destination URL where you would like the people who click on the ad to go.
The character limits on the headline and body text are restrictive, so you’ll have to have an eye-catching, emotion invoking phrase. You’ll want to see what others are saying, and then spend some time carefully crafting this message for maximum impact. When developing this ad copy, you want to think about how the ad can present the product or service as useful. It should clearly solve some problem that the target audience has to deal with. The copy should contain a call-to-action phrase like try-today, or buy-now. It should invite the audience to click right now. You also want the copy to set you apart as unique from others who offer the same service, and this can be done by representing your unique selling point clearly. Be sure to test multiple versions of the copy to see which works best.
The image is a necessity. You are only allowed 50 by 50 pixels so you should not put up a very cluttered image. With such a small image size, a cluttered image is going to be confusing to the audience. You want to have a sharp focused image that is going to get your audience’s attention. Use the crop and zoom tools on an image editor to grab one striking piece of the image and use that to really catch the eye of the viewer.
It is important to keep in mind that people who are checking their LinkedIn accounts are probably not looking to make an immediate purchase. A softer approach that seeks to generate leads rather than immediate sales might be necessary. It would be helpful to entice your audience with a free ebook or white paper in order to get them to click through to your landing page.
Step 2: Targeting Your Audience
The biggest advantage of LinkedIn advertising is the ability to target specific audiences. You can identify specific companies whose employees should see your ad. The simplest way to find the specific companies worth advertising to is a Google Search. If you are looking to advertise to marketing companies in Orange County, you can put “Orange County Marketing” to find companies in which you might be interested. You can include these 
companies in the target market for your ad and when these employees check their LinkedIn accounts your ad will display.
There are many other ways target your audience available on LinkedIn. You can target specific job titles and functions. For example, you can specify that the ad be shown to people who job involves marketing. People with certain seniority can be identified so that you can make sure that you ad reaches people who are in positions to make decisions about your product or service. For instance, you can aim an ad at people who have the job titles of Director, Vice-President or Owner. LinkedIn groups are another way to target your audience. You can include specific LinkedIn groups in your target audience. Your ad will now appear for these group members. You can search LinkedIn with your keywords to identify specific groups in which you might be interested.
Step 3: Managing Your Campaign
LinkedIn allows each campaign to have multiple ads. You want to try three ads at a time and see which ones generate the most clicks. You should launch new versions daily and continually test which ones are the most effective. LinkedIn will deactivate any ads with click through rates of less than 0.025% so you want to make sure that you pull the ads that are not effective.
Next, you want to consider how much you are willing to bid for each click. The minimum available is about two dollars. LinkedIn can suggest a range for your ad. The LinkedIn system will select the ad with the highest bid for a page in your target market. You want to make sure that your bid is high enough so that it is seen by many people in your specified audience. LinkedIn has a minimum daily budget of $10. You want to consider how much you would like spend in a month and set your bid for each click and monthly budget accordingly. Be sure to monitor your campaign carefully so that you are not surprised by any bills which are generated.
If you have a product or service that is targeted at business professionals, advertising on LinkedIn may have advantages over AdSense of Facebook advertising. It provides access to people in specific industries, companies and job functions that are not available in other advertising venues.
Step 4: Measure Performance
Pay attention to metrics of your LinkedIn ads’ effectiveness. With that attention make sure you align your marketing and business goals with your LinkedIn ads. There are two main metrics to keep your eye on:
- Click Through Rates
- Leads
