By Will Rico | September 24, 2021
When it comes to paid ads, B2B companies have more options than ever.
You can run ads on social media platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube. You can go the search engine route and advertise on Google. Or you can use display and programmatic ad networks to get in front of your target audience via ABM and interest targeting.
For B2B marketing, nothing will beat LinkedIn ads.
Here are some of the primary reasons why we love LinkedIn ads for growing B2B leads and what makes LinkedIn stand out from other platforms.
Your Audience is on LinkedIn
One of the critical differences between LinkedIn and other social media platforms is that LinkedIn members will keep their professional information up to date.
Take Facebook, as a point of comparison. Many members don’t pay attention to their job title and forget to update it over the years. Some members put fake job titles for a few laughs. Other times, members don’t want anyone to know who their employer is for privacy reasons.
For most, a Facebook profile is meant for personal use. Inaccurate profile information can make targeting by profession challenging for a platform like Facebook.
Since LinkedIn is a professional platform, members usually keep their profiles up to date with their latest professional information, from current positions to experience and education. The platform is a living resume for many of us. LinkedIn targeting options reflect this by offering a wide range of options to target members based on their professional experience and interests.
The Targeting Options Are Tailor-Made for B2B
LinkedIn ads targeting goes much deeper than just a job title. Other professional targeting options include:
- Company name
- Seniority
- Education
- Specific skills
- Member groups
- and more
The ability to target a specific level of job seniority is often essential in B2B marketing. Google Ads, for example, targets based on keyword searches. Ads are shown to anyone who searches for a specific keyword regardless of their level of seniority.
With LinkedIn, you can fine-tune your targeting to include a specific level of seniority, giving you a far higher degree of control over who sees your ads.
With LinkedIn ads, you’re able to target as narrow or as broad as you need to, making it ideal for B2B lead generation.
First-Party Data
When compared to programmatic and ABM platforms, LinkedIn has another key advantage. Because users are voluntarily signing into LinkedIn and sharing their professional history, this is considered “first-party data.”
Unlike other platforms that reach users via ad trackers and partnerships, LinkedIn doesn’t need to rely on third-party cookies — soon to be a relic of history — or convoluted workarounds.
LinkedIn Ads Are Useful For All Stages of the Buyer’s Journey
Although LinkedIn ads have a sweet spot in the middle of the funnel, they can be used effectively to reach customers throughout the entire buyer’s journey.
One of the main drivers behind the versatility of LinkedIn ads is the various types of ads you can use.
For example, text ads are an option to consider for the awareness stage, lead generation ads hit the sweet spot in the consideration stage, and sponsored messaging ads can be effective in the decision stage.
LinkedIn Reps are Helpful and Knowledgeable
Many different ad platforms have reps that can help answer questions and deal with any concerns that may come up.
In our experience, the LinkedIn reps are the most helpful and knowledgeable, especially compared to Google or Facebook.
For many advertisers, LinkedIn will provide a dedicated account rep to help guide your strategy, address your concerns, and deal with any issues using the LinkedIn campaign manager.
Features that Make LinkedIn Ads Stand Out
LinkedIn has some key features that make it our preferred platform for B2B advertising and help it stand out from other platforms. Here are three of the most important ones.
Lead generation ads
LinkedIn lead generation ads are great for collecting data while asking very little from leads.
Lead generation ads work by pre-filling forms for your leads. LinkedIn auto-fills as many form fields as possible, based on the user’s LinkedIn profile.
Simple integration with HubSpot
The LinkedIn ads platform integrates with HubSpot and other CRMs, providing additional efficiency to your marketing efforts.
For example, leads obtained from LinkedIn ads are synced directly into the HubSpot CRM without the need for manual export and import steps. Insights from your LinkedIn ads campaigns are also viewable from the HubSpot dashboard, meaning you can conveniently check on the ROI from LinkedIn and other marketing efforts all in the same place.
And if you’re a fan of using HubSpot for your ABM strategy, both contact and company lists can be synced from HubSpot to LinkedIn as Matched Audiences. You can then advertise to those contacts and companies on LinkedIn and HubSpot will do the work of keeping the lists in sync. If something changes within your HubSpot database, e.g. a contact is added or removed from the list, HubSpot will automatically sync that change to LinkedIn.
LinkedIn messaging ads
Instead of displaying ads to leads, LinkedIn sponsored messaging ads allow you to send messages directly into the user’s LinkedIn inbox.
In some cases, these messaging ads can outperform other types of ads.
This example from VistaVu outlines a campaign they put together for LinkedIn, using display ads to target their niche audience and messaging ads (then called InMail) to reach relevant decision-makers. The display ads performed admirably, but it was the messaging ads that stole the show. VistaVu saw a conversion rate of 23.8%—5.6% higher than the display ads.
If You’re In the B2B Space, Consider Advertising on LinkedIn
When used effectively, LinkedIn ads can elevate your B2B marketing strategy with effective ad formats, help you reach your ideal audience, and bring you closer to your overall marketing goals.
Struggling with LinkedIn Ads? CommonMind Can Help
With extensive experience in PPC, CommonMind can help you plan and execute an effective LinkedIn ads strategy. We can help you optimize for predictable, continual growth and reach your goals.
Reach out to us. We’re here to help.
