LinkedIn Paid Ads: Best Practices and the Best Types of Ads

Posted on May 26, 2020 in Blog

Paid advertising on LinkedIn is an effective way to achieve several business objectives. Different types of LinkedIn ads give your team flexible solutions to ramp up hiring, support ongoing talent acquisition and generate high-quality leads to increase sales. There’s always room to improve your team’s efficiency and get more out of your LinkedIn advertising budget; we’ve organized several best practices and answered common questions about advertising on the world’s most influential B2B marketing platform.

Why Advertise on LinkedIn?

Audiences on LinkedIn are professional, engaged and have twice the buying power of the average online audience. Advertising on LinkedIn is a great way to tap into more than 875 million total accounts, with nearly half of all users logging in every month.

LinkedIn paid advertising spend has increased every year since 2017, reaching an all-time high of $13.8 billion in 2022, fueled in part by low unemployment rates in the US.

The key to reaching qualified prospects or topping off your sales funnel is leveraging the right types of LinkedIn ads to achieve your goals.

The Four Main Types of Paid Ads on LinkedIn

Whether it’s recruiting or lead gen, your campaign’s results can vary dramatically depending on the LinkedIn ad type you choose. Start by thinking about your target audience and how they’re most likely to interact with your ads; if you’re recruiting, would a discreet message be more enticing than a banner ad? What role or job title should be seeing your ads? How will your messaging change to suit a C-suite executive compared to, say, a purchasing manager?

These aren’t easy questions to answer; our paid team can help you connect the dots.

The different LinkedIn ad types include:

Text Ads

This ad type allows advertisers to generate quality leads on a pay-per-click or pay-per-impression basis. For brands with a strong PPC presence, text ads on LinkedIn should feel familiar, but you may find that different keywords are more effective on this platform. The LinkedIn audience is likely more qualified or further down the funnel, which may improve conversion rates.

Dynamic Ads

This ad type is highly personalized for your audience. Customize your ads for your marketing goals and automate individualized campaigns at scale. To fully leverage dynamic ads on LinkedIn, you’ll need a strong set of creative assets and copy – and be sure to add video ads to the mix.

LinkedIn Paid Ads Best Practices

Like most paid ad campaigns, getting everything perfect on the first try is rare. You’ll notice a theme throughout our list of LinkedIn tips; keep testing. Experiment with different iterations of ad images, copy and targeting and track how those changes impact your campaign’s KPIs.

Write ad copy with your audience in mind. The best LinkedIn ads are the ones that have been personalized specifically for your audience. They also have clear, actionable calls to action (CTAs).
Iterate. Within each campaign, create 2-4 ad variations to monitor. As time passes, use your campaign data to determine which variations are performing best. Pause the ads with the lowest clickthrough rate (CTR) to help make the most out of your ad budget.
Use targeting to your advantage. LinkedIn offers extensive targeting options to help you create ads that resonate with your specific audience.
Bid competitively. Set your bid at the high end of the Suggested Bid Range. You’ll be more likely to win the ad auction and get your ad seen by qualified LinkedIn users.

No matter what type of ad you choose, remember that the audience and call to action matter most. Experiment, test and don’t underestimate the value of putting yourself on the other end of the ad; what would appeal to you?

Paid Ads on LinkedIn Frequently Asked Questions

Most internal marketing managers are at least familiar with Google Ads; adding in a range of paid social campaigns presents a relatively steep learning curve and plenty of extra work. These are the most commonly asked questions our paid team gets about advertising on LinkedIn.

What’s a good CTR for LinkedIn ads?

Globally, the average click-through rate on LinkedIn is between 0.39 and 0.65%. A CTR of 0.5% is considered rock solid; anything over 1% is exceptional! Your campaign’s CTR will vary based on the creative, copy, campaign settings and general market trends. Your PPC agency should be able to provide additional insight into what’s working and what needs work.

Do LinkedIn ads work?

Absolutely! We’ve designed successful LinkedIn campaigns to generate new business leads and help multi-location businesses fill valuable positions nationwide.

Are LinkedIn ads expensive?

LinkedIn ads tend to be more expensive than other platforms like Google and Facebook. While rates vary based on market trends, keyword competition and campaign details, there are some useful averages that may help you determine how LinkedIn fits into your budget.

Cost per click (CPC): $8-11
Cost per mille (CPM): $33.80
Messaging: $0.50-$1 per send

You can optimize your ad spend by testing, tweaking and reacting to changing business needs, such as adapting to flexible sales cycles or staffing needs.

Link Up with the LinkedIn Experts

Whether you’re interested in LinkedIn paid ads, Google advertising or other social media and digital ads, our paid media team is ready to help you. We understand the nuances of operating and monitoring LinkedIn paid media campaigns, as well as paid campaigns on other platforms. Align all your paid media marketing with Oneupweb; reach out today at (231) 922-9977 to start the conversation!