Understand LinkedIn Advertising and How to Track ROI
Table Of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Why LinkedIn Marketing is Important? What categories should look at LinkedIn for Lead Generation?
- Targeting Options on LinkedIn.
- How Can you run Ads on LinkedIn? What are the different Ad Formats on LinkedIn?
- What are the different goals from LinkedIn Ads? How to Track Conversion on LinkedIn?
- Special Case: Online Acquisition- Offline Conversion Funnels- How Do You Leverage Your CRM For LinkedIn Ads?
- Conclusion
- FAQ's
- Read Also
Executive Summary
The established wisdom is LinkedIn Ads on ana average double the CPC compared to Google. That’s true. But does that mean we should not advertise on LinkedIn? The answer is it depends. Given the fact that the final conversion rates of LinkedIn leads can be double to four times that of normal Google Ads, the CPA at worst will be equal, or, maybe half of Google. A powerful lead aggregation tool, which allows Sales teams to efficiently convert leads with a proper ROI Tracking process can make investing in LinkedIn Advertising extremely rewarding.
In this article, we will explore the Why’s of LinkedIn Ads, the different Ad Types and formats, tracking mechanisms and bring it all together in exploring how a powerful omnichannel CRM can give you the extra edge. In the end we will take a look at a case typical of large B2B Businesses, Online Lead Acquisition- Offline Conversion with long gestation periods.
Why LinkedIn Marketing is Important? What categories should look at LinkedIn for Lead Generation?
With more than 930 million active professionals using LinkedIn to network, find jobs, search for solutions, this is one social network with a difference. As of Q4 FY 23, as per LinkedIn’s data, there are over 67,000 companies listed on LinkedIn and there are over 65 million business decision makers on LinkedIn.
Starting out as a networking platform, LinkedIn has continued to evolve and has literally become the go to ‘social media’ for professionals. While a CEO may spend his time off from work watching cat videos on TikTok, or a CTO may spend her time watching Iron Man training videos on YouTube, when it comes to vetting potential vendors, or searching for possible recruits, or even searching for content around their professional lives, LinkedIn is the go-to platform.
Think of it this way, for personal life, there’s social media like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc, but for professional there is LinkedIn. Another way to distinguish, would be what kind of products and services would be best suited for LinkedIn exposure.
Goes without saying, if you are a B2B firm, LinkedIn is the place to be for brand awareness and lead generation. But don’t rule out B2C brands totally. Whether it’s Universities, Career Coaching, Recruitment, or, even to build a serious leadership profile of your CEO, LinkedIn is an amazing platform.
Targeting Options on LinkedIn
One of the biggest advantages of advertising on LinkedIn is the enhanced targeting options. LinkedIn users voluntarily share information about their professional lives, education, interests, which lends itself to amazing targeting options. On LinkedIn you can target audiences based on:
Location & LanguageLocation based on IP Address or Address given in their profile; Language in which profile is.
Job ExperienceChoosom Job Function; Job Title; Job Seniority; Years Of Experience (calculated from adding up non-overlapping years in each role on profile); Skills.
CompanyName;ustry; Growth Rate; Category (Fortune 500/ Fortune World’s Most Innovative Companies); Company Size.
EducationSchool/ University; Degree; Field of Study.
Interests and TraitsReach people on basis of topics they mostly discuss; Member traits like #OpenToWork, etc; Groups membership.
DemographicsAge; Gender.
Lookalike Audiences & Audience Expansion
How can you run Ads on LinkedIn? What are the different Ad Formats on LinkedIn?
Before we get to how to run LinkedIn Ads, let’s take a quick look at the different content formats and LinkedIn Ad sizes and formats and their CTA’s. LinkedIn has four different Ad types with different Ad formats designed to achieve different objectives:
Text and Dynamic Ads
Text Ads
Simple text only PPC Ads designed to drive customers to your business.
Spotlight Ads
Text and image Ad designed to showcase your event, product or service.
Follower Ads
Boost your LinkedIn Page following.
Sponsored Content
Single Image Ads
Visual Ad with single image run on LinkedIn Feed.
Video Ads
Native video Ad run on LinkedIn Feed
Carousel Ads
Multiple image carousel Ads in LinkedIn Feed. Being swipe able, these ads are great for mobile audiences.
Event Ads
Boost event attendance with Text and Image Ad by highlighting event details.
Document Ads
Fish food Ads, share documents with interested audience. Create a prospect list for the future. Can share up to 100 MB files.
Thought Leader Ads
Promote content from executives and employees of your company as thought Leaders. Great way to increase brand awareness and engagement with your brand.
Lead Gen Forms
Sponsored Messaging
Conversation Ads
Three possible CTA’s (See next message, fill out a form, click through to a landing page). You can put one or all of them.
Messaging Ads
Like Conversation Ads but instead of multiple CTA buttons, you can have only one CTA.
There are three types of Text and Dynamic Ads-
The primary goal of this Ad Type is Engagement. There are six Ad formats:
These Lead Gen Forms come prefilled with information drawn from the profiles of your audience. You can use LinkedIn Prefilled forms with Message Ads and Sponsored Content also.
Directly message your audience through LinkedIn Messaging. There are two Ad formats available. One key change is that as of Jan 2022, both these Ad formats have been discontinued in the EU.
What are the different goals from LinkedIn Ads? How to Track Conversion on LinkedIn?
All the different Ad formats on LinkedIn end up in a fixed set of goals and CTAs.Depending on the goals, choose your Ad format and CTA.
| Ad Objective | Goal | Ad Formats |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Awareness | I want more people to know about my brand or organization. |
|
| Website Visits | I want more people to visit a website destination on or off LinkedIn. |
|
| Engagement | I want more people to engage with my content posts. |
|
| Video Views | I want more people to watch my videos. |
|
| Messaging | I want more people to message my company on LinkedIn Messaging. |
|
| Lead Generation | I want to collect more quality leads on LinkedIn. |
|
| Website Conversions | I want people to complete actions I’ve defined. |
|
#Special-Case:-Online-Acquisition--Offline-Conversion-Funnels
LinkedIn Campaign Manager
If LinkedIn is your main Ad platform, then the best thing is to use the LinkedIn Campaign Manager. Check the performance of your Ads, get your Leads all in one place. Do remember to add the LinkedIn Insight Tag to your website globally. The data will flow back to your Campaign Manager and give you the ability to target visitors. Refer FAQ section on What Insights do LinkedIn Ads provide?
Google Analytics
GA4 does not have a native integration with LinkedIn, therefore you would need to work a little bit. A good practice is to use UTM’s for website visits or for taking people to a page where the form is being submitted.
Use an Integrated Omnichannel CRM
If the key focus of your organization is Lead Generation and Revenue delivery more than Brand Awareness, then having an Omnichannel CRM like Pronnel to aggregate your leads would be your best bet.
Special Case: Online Acquisition- Offline Conversion Funnels- How Do You Leverage Your CRM For LinkedIn Ads?
If LinkedIn is just one of the many sources from where you collect leads. If you need to track the performance of Ads. And if your Business has a lengthy Sales Cycle, then the above methods will not suffice for your needs. In this case, you will need to bring your leads directly on to your CRM in real time, where your Sales Team can follow and work on conversion. You will also need a template wherein your Marketing Team can track the performance of their Campaign Group, Campaigns and Ads. Checking for Ad spend vs final realized conversion amount.
If your Business Model acquires leads online, and converts them offline, then you need to have an omnichannel CRM like Pronnel that can aggregate leads in real time and allocate them automatically to Sales team members. Especially if the Sales Cycle is long, then the leads need to be organized in a manner that the team does not lose them, and Managers can see how the funnel is performing.
Based on the CTA used for Lead Generation Pronnel does the following:
Website Visit/ Form Fill Outside LinkedIn
When a form is submitted in Pronnel captures Lead in real-time and captures the Lead Source information and tags it to the Marketing Board against Lead Source. This way at any point in time the Marketing Team has a clear idea of the status of various leads marked to each Ad. Pronnel also gives you the option of using UTM’s for Forms or track at LinkedIn Campaign level, Campaign Group Level or Ad Level.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
Every time a Lead Gen form is submitted, Pronnel immediately generates a new lead ticket in the Sales Funnel with source information (Campaign, Campaign Group, Ad ID) encoded in the ticket.
#Pro Tip:Most B2B Businesses also end up with a fair share of offline leads (phone calls, enquiries, references, cold call, events/ conferences). Pronnel’s Omnichannel CRM can support and manage both streams equally well.
Conclusion:
LinkedIn Ads offer businesses targeting professionals an amazing range of targeting options and a wide range of Ad formats to raise brand awareness, boost engagement and most importantly, generate leads. Even though prima facie, LinkedIn Ads seem expensive compared to other media, the higher conversion rates seen in LinkedIn can result in better Marketing ROI by reaching the right decision makers in B2B Businesses.
Tracking Performance of LinkedIn Ads can be done three ways- Through LinkedIn Campaign Manager (best option if LinkedIn is your main platform), through GA4 (unfortunately in absence of native integration with LinkedIn you will not be able to track Lead Gen Forms, or, video views or measure engagement with your content) or through an Omnichannel CRM like Pronnel (best option if LinkedIn is just one of your many platforms and your main focus is revenue generation and tracking ROI rather than measuring brand engagement).
FAQ’s
Q1: How Does the Ad Auction work on LinkedIn? Is it like Ad Auctions on Google?
Like the Google Ads Auction LinkedIn Ads calculate Ad Rank for an Ad by multiplying Bid Amount and Relevancy score (based on Predicted Response Rates). When the Ad runs, you will be charged at the price of the second highest bidder + US 0.01. In other words, LinkedIn Ad Auctions functions as a Second-Price Auction.
The primary difference between Google Ad Auctions and LinkedIn Ad Auctions is that generally LinkedIn CPC is 2 to 3 times that of a similar Google CPC.
Q2: What Insights do LinkedIn Ads provide?
Campaign Manager lets you track:
- Conversions to track leads, conversions, purchases, event registrations, downloads against Ads.
- Measure Campaign Performance to measure Clicks, Comments, Impressions and Social Shares against Campaign spend
- Analyze Audience engagement against Ad based on geography, industry, job titles, and company names.
- Benchmark your brand’s engagement against competition
Q3: How does the LinkedIn Pixel work?
When you add the LinkedIn Pixel or the LinkedIn Insights Tag to your website, you open options to retarget your visitors on LinkedIn. You can go to Campaign Manager, create a Retargeting Audience, and run campaigns targeting them. This way if someone had navigated to your website searching for information, you can continue to selectively serve them content every time they sign into LinkedIn.
Q4: What are the Bid Types on LinkedIn?
Currently, LinkedIn allows three types of bidding:
Maximum Delivery
Earlier known as Auto Bid or Automated Bidding, Maximum Delivery is a fully automated set by LinkedIn to deliver best possible results on the full budget.
Cost Cap
Semi-Automated strategy for CPM, CPC, CPV and CPL campaigns where the advertiser can set a preferred cost per result for each type.
Manual Bidding
Gives advertiser complete control.
Q5: Can you target a specific Group of companies on LinkedIn?
Absolutely. One of the beauties of LinkedIn Advertising is being able to target individuals at specific companies if they have listed the company as their current employer.
Additionally, you can even build a custom Matched Audience of Companies or Contacts in LinkedIn for targeting by uploading data from outside the system.
Q6: How Do You Run Remarketing Campaigns on LinkedIn? Benefits?
A report, underscoring the need for Remarketing in B2B Sales, by Laire Digital identifies that a B2B purchase journey may need up to 50 touchpoints before a customer finally buys .If you are looking to engage deeply with a select audience, reinforce and speed along your client through the Sales Funnel, LinkedIn offers options for Remarketing/ Retargeting. Two of the easiest paths for reinforcement are:
Retargeting Visitors to your website
Add the LinkedIn Insights Tag to your website through Google Tag Manager. When these visitors log on to LinkedIn you can retarget them with personalized Ads.
Matched Audiences
Build an audience of LinkedIn members who have interacted with your Image, Video, Lead Gen, Document, Event Ads or visited your company page and interacted with one of the CTA buttons. You can then target them with Ads in future.
Read Also
This blog is the sixth in the series on Lead Management. Dive deep and check out our other blogs:
- Mastering Marketing ROI: What Is Marketing ROI (ROMI)? Why is it important? How do you build a system to track marketing ROI?
- Practical Steps to Track Marketing ROI (pronnel.com): How to Track Your Marketing Performance- From Zero to ROAS to ROMI with downloadable templates.
- Trends in Global Marketing Spends: Globally consumer media consumption habits are changing. You need to be where your consumers are. The toss-up between Traditional Media and the Digital World is not so clear cut. Depending on whether you are targeting the Boomers, Gen X, Millenials or Gen Z, you need to plan your media mix. We also briefly discuss how changing Privacy regulation is impacting advertising.
- Google Is Not the Only Game In Town: Search has become synonymous with Google. But based on geography, User preferences and niche, there are other Search Engines to keep in Mind. Understand the difference between Organic and Paid Search results.
- Generating and Tracking Organic Online Leads that have an Offline Conversion. Explore assets for Organic Lead Generation and how you can leverage them. Learn how you can track leads cradle-to-grave for Online Acquisition- Offline Conversion.