Linkedin advertising: top 8 best practices

The deployment of Linkedin Ads allows you, as a business, to reach an influential professional audience. For good reason, members of the Linkedin community have a 2 times greater purchasing power than the majority of Internet users. That being said, Linkedin Ads is an acquisition channel that is difficult to master. It can even end in a real failure, especially since Linkedin advertising is the most expensive. If you want advertise on Linkedin or simply improve your strategy, we reveal 8 effective practices to adopt to convert as much as possible. Follow the guide.

A successful Linkedin advertising is above all a good targeting of your audience

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The success of your Linkedin advertising campaign depends mostly on the audience you are targeting. If you are aiming for a Linkedin audience too broad, you may not reach your goals both in terms of performance and budget. On the contrary, if your target is too small, you risk compromising your chances of reaching users who match your criteria.

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The good news is that Linkedin targeting capabilities offers the possibility of targeting an audience according to the geographical position and the sector of activity of the company, but also according to age, gender, professional experience, position held, interests, specific groups, etc.

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We explain to you.

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First, you need to get acquainted with Linkedin member demographics and compare them to your customers' personas to build relationships. Next, specify the geographic location and preferred language of theLinkedin audience to reach, before staggering your campaigns by region to target each time zone.

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From there, your next choices should be strategic. Be on the lookout for Linkedin suggestions. For example, the latter noted that targeting by role generates a greater reach and a higher click rate (CTR) than targeting by position occupied.

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Here are a few of targeting suggestions offered by Linkedin for advertising :

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• Targeting by geographic area-business sector-seniority, such as France-Technology-Responsable.
• Targeting by geographic area-specific competencies, such as United Kingdom-cost-per-click-SEM.
• Targeting by geographic area-type of LinkedIn group, like United States-recruitment-HR.

Matched Audience is a Linkedin tool that allows you to include or exclude customers who are already engaged members. La Audience Expansion feature offers the possibility to extend The reach of a Linkedin ad. Very useful to raise awareness among your audience.

Important: the more parameters you integrate, the more restricted your core target will be.

In addition, there is a difference between targeting a position and a function. On Linkedin, everyone defines their position as they want. Let's take an example concerning the HR profession: there may be a “talent manager”, “HR manager”, “HR manager”, etc. It is therefore difficult to obtain a qualified target. To overcome this, it is possible to target functions. In our case, that would be the “HR” function.

Another point to pay attention to: you need to think about retargeting your ads. The reason? Studies show that Linkedin ads retargeted, in other words, broadcast to the same users several times, are 70% more likely to convert and have a click rate that is 10 times higher on average.

Be concise in your advertising messages

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Our ultimate advice when it comes to copywriting for your ads on Linkedin are:

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• Get the attention of your audience.
• Transmit the essentials.

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Remember that users' attention on social networks is short lived. A presentation text that is too long is likely to discourage them.

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Here's what Linkedin suggests for each Linkedin advertising format.

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Sponsored content 

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• The title should be no longer than 150 characters.
• The body of the text should be no longer than 70 characters. Note that texts of more than 100 characters are shortened on a computer.

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According to Linkedin, the engagement rate generated by a short post is on average 18% higher.

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Sponsored video

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• The length of a video to increase brand awareness should not exceed 30 seconds.
• The length of a marketing video should not exceed 90 seconds. However, those whose aim is to convert hot users can last between 2 and 6 minutes.

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Sponsored InMail

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• The message should be no longer than 1000 characters including links. According to Linkedin, bodies of text that are less than 500 characters have an average click rate that is 46% higher.

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Dynamic ads

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• The text should be as brief and concise as possible.
• If the secondary title isn't useful, don't include it. According to Linkedin, ads with only one main title generate a 25% higher click rate on average.

State a clear and specific offer for Linkedin ads

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You must apply the golden rule: An ad on Linkedin = a message. It must be delivered clearly and precisely in order to be understood immediately. You need to clearly present the benefits of your solution.

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If your Linkedin ads contains a video, know that the first 2-3 seconds are crucial in order to capture the attention of your audience. So, you need to make sure you communicate essential information within the first 10 seconds, before they are distracted by anything else.

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Another tip: put a single price! For example, “your training day from 1500€”. It was by using a single price for one of our customers that we noticed a significant difference in performance.

Put statistics and quotes in your Linkedin advertising messages

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A good way to quickly capture attention before proposing your offer: statistics or a quote.

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As proof, Linkedin tested for us through 2 updates:

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• One included statistics.
• The other did not have one.

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Result: the update with the statistics generated higher click and impression rates of 162% and 37% respectively.

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Regarding quotes, Linkedin found that they generate a 30% higher click rate compared to statistics. The reason? The Barnum effect.

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We explain to you.

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Generally, when we feel that we are understood by someone and that we share with them our thoughts, our daily lives, our culture, our emotions and our work, we remember that person and we trust them.

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In other words, if you make your customer feel that you understand how they feel, they will think that your product/service is right for them.

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This is the whole art of the Barnum effect: a psychological bias that applies to reading a sentence, which seems very personal to us, when in reality, it applies to everyone. The aim? Make sure that as many of your readers as possible recognize themselves in the given situation.

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How do you make the Barnum effect affect your Linkedin ads ?

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• Take a pain point that your target is facing
• Highlight it at the beginning of your sales text
• Offer value to address this pain point

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Let's take as an example a Linkedin post from the startup Chance :

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These states of mind can be applied to anyone. In fact, 70% of the population has already experienced anxiety. So this statement is vague. However, it gives the effect of addressing you specifically. So you are inclined to click on the proposed solution.

The Barnum effect in growth marketing is that: a post, email or sales page hook to attract attention quickly.

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Fun fact : the Barnum effect is applied to all horoscopes!

Integrate clear calls to action into your Linkedin ads

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It is often the case that calls to action are overlooked in a Ad Linkedin.

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The result: a confusing or complicated call to action is ignored.

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Our advice is to opt for a call to action that is compatible with your advertising objective, using simple and direct language.

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Here is a list of most used keywords for sponsored InMail :

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• try;
• register;
• book;
• join;
• confirm;
• download.

If you see little action, try a different keyword!

During our internal tests, we found that the keyword “sign up” generated a higher click rate than the keyword “join.”

Personalize the message of your ads

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Customizing an ad for many users may seem difficult, if not impossible. However, with good targeting and the application of our recommendations below, you will be able to create a link with your users.

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Text Ads

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• Speak directly to your audience. For example: “Are you doctors?” or “Notice to all doctors.”

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Sponsored Content

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• Address your target audience with direct language.

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Sponsored InMails

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• Include a personalized greeting with first and last name.
• Mention the position occupied by the recipient.
• Use “you” in the body of the text.

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Dynamic Ads

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• Activate the option to display users' profile photos in the ad.

The importance of visuals in a Linkedin ad

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For advertise on Linkedin, visuals are as important as text. This is why it is essential to create visual coherence between your Linkedin posts And your Linkedin ads.

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In your visuals, highlight information that will pique the curiosity of your users. For example, compelling quotes or ads with immediate value.

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On the other hand, avoid using stock images in your ads. Instead, choose real people or unexpected images. This will lead to higher engagement.

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Another tip: also ban images that are too small or of poor quality, this undermines your point.

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For sponsored content, the recommended size is 1200x627 pixels. It must be greater than 400 pixels in width.

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Regarding the video, it must be between 75 KB and 200 MB.

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Attention, images must be compatible on mobile: 85% of engagement on Linkedin is done via mobile phones.

A/B test your ads

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Even if you follow all of these best practices for advertising on Linkedin, each campaign will have to be tested and modified before it can be truly effective.

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To know everything aboutOptimizing a Linkedin Ads campaign, read our article on the subject!

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We recommend that you test 2-3 variants of your Linkedin ad to determine which will be the most effective. It is also a way to diversify the ads offered to your audience.

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There are various ways to makeA/B testing on your Linkedin ads, such as changing the text, the call to action or the visual of your campaigns.

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Linkedin recommends replacing the advertising that generates the least engagement with a new creation. By doing this, you will improve the relevance index of your Linkedin ads, while winning more auctions.

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Remember to keep your results to use them for future use. Linkedin advertising campaigns, especially if you want to target the same audience or a similar audience.

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Any last piece of advice? Linkedin campaign manager is a good ally to better manage your Linkedin ads

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