I met a designer at my cousin’s engagement party last weekend, and he asked me the following question: “I have a client that has a blog, an optimized website, and a good social media presence, but this client wants more site visitors and I’m not sure what else to suggest. Do you have any ideas?” After he mentioned it was a B2B business the first thing that came to mind was LINKEDIN ADS.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network with over 175 million members. Top-level executives, middle management, and entry-level members use this social network to search for jobs, network with coworkers and the industry, keep in touch with colleagues and classmates, hire employees, and to promote a business.
LinkedIn is a perfect platform to reach B2B leads. Advertising in this platform will help your business reach
- 7.9 million business decision makers
- 1.3 million small business owners
- 5.5 million high tech managers
- 4.5 million corporate executives
How does it work?
Every time a LinkedIn user in your target market visits a page that contains ad spaces, an auction takes place where your ad competes with other ads. Your bid and previous performance determines if the ad is eligible to appear. Ads will appear in the profile page of other LinkedIn members, LinkedIn’s home page, users’ inbox, search results page, and LinkedIn groups.
What you need to know about LinkedIn Ads
- $5 activation fee
- $10 minimum daily budget
- $2 minimum bid
- 25 character ad headline
- 75 character ad description line
- You can add a 50×50 px. image next to ad text
- The ad can link to a LinkedIn page or your website
- LinkedIn will provide the profiles of those who clicked on your ad (leads)
- Large variety of targeting options
And now…my favorite features:
- Targeting Options: You can target by industry, job function, job title, industry, company name, company size, seniority, gender, LinkedIn group, age, geography and network. This is very exciting because LinkedIn members share detailed information about themselves since this is a professional network.
- Leads List: Normally when people click on your ads, you get a count of clicks, impressions, etc. But you only get contact information if the visitor submits a form. LinkedIn actually lists the profiles of those who clicked on your ad, giving you access to the lead’s detailed information.
