If you’re a diehard marketing manager, then you’re always finding an edge to raise ROI. As a marketing channel that’s home to over 850M users, LinkedIn offers marketers a great opportunity to connect with prospects, build brand authority, and drive conversions. Like any other online marketing campaign, LinkedIn ads’ success is heavily reliant on personalization and optimization. However, fulfilling the twin desires of spending less on ads while increasing the ads’ ROI is no small feat.
Therefore, we’ve created a list of our secret, tried-and-tested, and most overlooked tips to increase LinkedIn ads ROI.
Tip #1: Targeting the right audience
The main reason for LinkedIn ad campaign failure is the wrong targeting of audience segments. Targeting the correct audience begins with identifying the ideal customer, their needs, interests, and pain points. When marketers focus on too many or the wrong audience segments, they render the campaign ineffective because money will be spent on the wrong users.
You have to narrow an audience dramatically to hinder performance, so it’s actually a positive thing to have a smaller audience. And for all campaigns, you need to keep an eye on frequency to avoid ad-fatigue. Moreover, by having a clear understanding of the target audience based on their age, location, job title, industry, etc., you can increase LinkedIn ads ROI. You can ensure that only those individuals will see the ads who’ve got a genuine interest in your offering.
Tip #2: Improve the ad quality
The difference between missing or hitting your marketing goals on LinkedIn depends on the ad quality. Sometimes, marketing managers focus only on media metrics like CPCs or CTRs, which don’t always determine how well the campaign is resonating with a potential audience. To win with customers, marketers should offer thoughtful ad experiences during the customer’s journey.
To improve ad quality, include keywords within the ad to improve ad relevance and user experience. This will ultimately increase the click-through rate. For instance, for a clothing business that sells denim jackets, marketers can include the keyword “denim jackets” in the ad’s headline. Moreover, use high-quality bright images that are easy on the eye and avoid dark images. Include a clear CTA so the audience understands what to expect after clicking on the ad.
Tip #3: Analyze CTR
CTR is measured by dividing the ad clicks by ad impressions and gives you the percentage of viewers who click your ad. CTR is one of the top metrics that provide real insights regarding how engaging and relevant the LinkedIn ad is. Higher CTR indicates that your ad copy and imagery are appealing and influencing your audience to take action. Analyzing CTR will help you identify the underperforming ads. Lastly, marketers must check relevant conversions when measuring CTR. It’ll show if the ad is affecting the ROI or not. Average CTR varies from platform to platform, and for Linkedin a typical CTR is around 0,5%, around 1% is very good, and if it’s below 0,3% something is wrong.
Tip #4: Target a single audience segment with at least 2 or 3 ads
Test 2 or 3 campaigns with each audience segment to determine which is more successful. With multiple campaigns, you’ll expose the potential customers with different business angles and identify the ad that’s getting the most attention. Moreover, marketers can also influence the audience to sign-up for a newsletter with one ad. Another ad can be used to funnel the audience into a landing page. One ad can include client success stories or testimonials. Multiple ad pieces will build credibility and trust. Furthermore, find the sweet spot between tiny and overly-broad audience sizes. For instance, rather than bunching all industries in a single ad, create different ads per industry.
Tip #5: Ask yourself why should someone click on your ad
To increase LinkedIn ads ROI, marketers must ask themselves why the target audience should click the ad. Does your ad copy serve the purpose of defining the business’s offering? Can your ad’s imagery, illustrations, and other visuals grab customer attention and communicate value? Will the ad copy connect with the audience’s emotional and rational motives in a purchase situation? Lastly, persuasive and effective ads are delivered through the right medium. For example, in a TV ad, character expressions, sound, dialogue, and lighting all contribute to the message’s mood. In online ads, the use of the color scheme and design impacts tone. Ask yourself if your message and the medium are working together to ensure a better impact.
Tip #6: Create a/b testing with different wording
Words matter, specifically when it comes to increasing LinkedIn ads ROI. Marketers must not take synonyms for granted. People react differently to certain words used in ads. Therefore, setting up a/b tests with slightly different wording make a significant impact on LinkedIn. For example, the tool manufacturer DeWalt used their site as an online shop for visitors to purchase tools. The main CTA on the DeWalt website featured the button “Buy Now”. After analyzing, their team hypothesized that replacing the word “buy” with “shop” could potentially increase click-throughs. After running a/b tests, they found that “buy now” was a more impactful CTA that brought 17% click-throughs more than “shop now”.
Tip #7: Ensure your ad headline matches the image and CTA
Creating distinguished and exceptional ads that stop the audience mid-scroll is the key to increasing LinkedIn ads’ ROI. To convince the audience to click the ad, marketers must create a headline that highlights the business’s unique value proposition. However, the largest element in an ad is the image. So, there’s a lot at stake when choosing the perfect image. It’s recommended to use crisp and clear, vibrant images to make the ad stand out. Pick images that are relevant to the ad’s headline and target audience. Don’t just use a product picture or graphic of your logo. Irrelevant or misleading images in the ads are considered deceptive and negatively impact the brand’s reputation.
Similarly, CTAs must be aligned with the ad headline. The goal of CTA depends on the content you’re promoting. For instance, if your headline and ad copy are for lead generation, the CTAs will convert if they contain a strong bonus or offer. So, the CTA might be phrases like “Get your free trial” or “Get started”. You can’t draw a positive response with a CTA “Submit your info.”
Furthermore, if your ad is leading the audience to the landing page, then the landing page must align with your ad headline, messaging, and brand as a whole. For example, a web hosting service ad having CTA “One-click installs” shouldn’t have a “Submit email” CTA button on the landing page.
Bonus: Companies that effectively used LinkedIn ads
Hubspot
The in-charge of Hubspot’s marketing revealed in the LinkedIn case study that they got 60% more success on LinkedIn compared to other social media platforms. Hubspot credited its success to the direct and simple nature of LinkedIn as it’s much easier to target the marketing campaign there.
Clever Zebo
As a B2B company, Clever Zebo utilized LinkedIn’s self-service ads and ultimately calculated a 15% conversion rate. The company credits its success to LinkedIn as it helped them reach certain audiences.
Utah State University
Utah State University leveraged LinkedIn demographic data with parameters like expertise, geography, and career level to reach the highest-caliber candidates. Their message ads and display ads’ relevance resonated, and the campaign generated a 20-to-1 ROI and turned more than 70% of clicks into information requests.
Why do marketing managers love LinkedIn advertising?
LinkedIn has become a go-to platform for many marketers because its audience is so specific (professionals and businesses) that they can effectively increase LinkedIn ads ROI. Marketers have a neat idea of how they’re marketing and who to. Compared to other platforms like Instagram, where they’re marketing to vast audiences. With LinkedIn, marketers understand users and can break up the niche into specific segments.
Moreover, LinkedIn users mostly use the platform to enhance their business’s internal operations. For instance, if a consulting firm has developed a specialty training program or specific software that can benefit businesses, marketers can use LinkedIn ads to generate better leads. Potential businesses wanting time management solutions similar to your offerings will just have to find you.
Additionally, with professional details and demographics, marketers can refine the ideal audiences and create personalized ads. For example, by targeting through skills, you can advertise certain tools that can help the audience continue improving these skills. Similarly, if you’re targeting companies in the finance sector, you can personalize the ad with a certain finance message.
The bottom line of how to increase LinkedIn ads ROI
When businesses want to swiftly expand their digital content reach, paid ads are often recommended. With machine learning and AI technologies, campaigns are now built and launched within hours with platforms consistently refining ads depending on performance.
Yet, for many businesses wanting precise ad targeting without the privacy and security risks of using third-party data, LinkedIn is the advertising sphere’s North Star. This is supported by the data, which shows that between 2018 and 2023, B2B ad spending on social networks increased significantly, from 0.65 billion to 2.33 billion, respectively.
LinkedIn is a powerful platform for marketers and businesses of all sizes. It helps you increase conversion rates, target a certain industry, and connect with a more knowledgeable audience. Besides that, the ad budget can be customized to fit the business needs, making LinkedIn Ads a feasible option. By implementing our tips, and make use of paid media AI optimisation, marketers can increase LinkedIn ads ROI and succeed in a competitive business environment.
