Who better to walk us through the best ways to reach audiences on LinkedIn than someone who is immersed in the system on a daily basis?
Andrew Kaplan is LinkedIn’s Group Manager for Product Marketing, and for our latest Sophisticated Marketer’s Session, he took some time to chat about ad formats and underutilized marketing features on the platform.
We’ll recap some of the key points that he covered, but feel free to scroll down and press play if you want to see him explain the essentials of LinkedIn audience engagement.
Why LinkedIn is Perfect for Account-Based Marketing
Everyone operating in the B2B arena is beginning to see the benefits of account-based marketing, a more focused and deliberate approach that’s built around identifying and pursuing specific business accounts.
Kaplan notes that LinkedIn is tailor-made for this type of strategic B2B prospecting.
“You could upload a list of thousands and thousands of target accounts your sales team cares about most,” he says, “and you can target your ads specifically to people who work for those companies.”
Additionally, LinkedIn’s ability to filter for parameters such as job function and seniority enables you to really pinpoint the individuals who are most vital for your business to reach. There is simply no better social platform for ABM.
Why You Need to Know About Retargeting
A relatively new feature on LinkedIn is the ability to retarget your website visitors. This means that when members come to your site, you can track them and later target them with ads on LinkedIn.
Kaplan notes that this is “a great way to reach audiences who have already displayed a higher intent to purchase from your brand, or a higher preference for your brand.”
The numbers back it up. As Wishpond’s infographic illustrates, retargeting can increase clickthrough rate tenfold, with a dramatic lift in conversions. The simple fact is that most prospects aren’t ready to buy the first time they visit your website, and following up is critical. Doing so with LinkedIn is easy, and all you need to do is follow the simple instructions for placing our Insight Tag on your sight.
Kaplan on LinkedIn Ad Formats
During his interview, Kaplan touches on each of the LinkedIn ad formats, helping you determine which one(s) might work best for your company. Here are his quick takes on the value of each:
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
“Helps you reach your audience with targeted content right in the newsfeed, which is where the vast majority of LinkedIn’s traffic is. You can publish images, videos.”
LinkedIn Sponsored InMail
“Helps you engage an audience of influencers and business decision-makers with personalized messages sent to their LinkedIn inbox.”
LinkedIn Text Ads
“Easy-to-use, pay-per-click ads that allow you to reach members on the LinkedIn desktop with just a couple lines of text and a very simple image.”
LinkedIn Dynamic Ads
“Personalized desktop display ads that pull a member’s name and profile picture right into the ad unit, letting you customize that ad in a way that resonates.”
Have You Considered LinkedIn Audience Expansion?
This is one feature Kaplan says he’d love to see more marketers take advantage of. It’s “basically lookalike targeting,” he explains, adding that “when enabled it will serve your ads to people who resemble your initial target audience.”
This might mean they share similar demographic characteristics, but the algorithm digs deeper to identify traits that make members more likely to engage with your content, clicks on your ads, and convert on your site.
Get the full scoop from Kaplan in the video below:
For more insights on the best ways to reach and engage LinkedIn members, start your session.
