I have been working with LinkedIn for over 10 years now mostly in the education vertical. Having worked with this platform for so long, I have seen how LinkedIn has evolved through the years. Not only have their users grown, but so has their offerings for marketers. It has become a must have for most marketing plans.
Why use LinkedIn?
- Brand Awareness
- Lead Generation
- Thought Leadership
LinkedIn’s first party data derived from member’s profile and/or the content a member interacts with provides an advertiser with solid targeting opportunities.
What to target?
- Company
- Demographics
- Education
- Job Experience
- Interests and Traits
Additional targeting options
- Look a Like Audiences
- Retargeting Audiences
- List Uploads
- Third Party Data
Ad formats
- Single/Carousel Image
- Video
- Text Ad
- Spotlight Ad
- Message Ad
- Conversation Ad
- Event Ad
I have tested almost all these ad formats for our clients mostly in the .edu space. What works best? It depends on the objective and the goal. For Awareness, image ads and video ads have worked the best. For lead generation, image ads and message ads have been successful in driving efficient leads. The conversation ad which is relatively as new format offers the user a choose your own adventure opportunity and has provided strong engagement and delivered leads at the same time. The event ad is new, and I have not had the opportunity to test it, but hoping to use it soon.
Recent and Upcoming Product Updates
- Time remaining stamp for video ads moving to upper right corner
- Recommended video ad aspect ratio changing from 9:16 to 4:5 starting mid-July
- Single image retargeting for Sponsored Content is now available
- Business Manager is launching at the end of June!
I am very excited to test the retargeting for Sponsored Content. This will offer our clients another way to engage with a LinkedIn user that has shown an interest in their content.
In my opinion, LinkedIn’s capabilities has come a long way in the last 10 years. They are constantly trying to improve and provide new offerings for their advertisers. Looking forward to what the next 10 years hold.
Written by Account Director, Cheryl Ill.
