LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for business-to-business (B2B) companies, as the platform provides a network of professionals looking to connect to other businesses. While you may already know the importance of making connections, posting content, and leaving recommendations, can you confidently say that you are using LinkedIn to its fullest potential? The next step for your B2B company is advertising. Advertising on LinkedIn is a necessity if you want to skyrocket your connections as well as your profits. Check out these four reason why LinkedIn advertising is a must for B2Bs.
1. Increase the visibility of your company. LinkedIn advertisements serve a specific purpose: to showcase your company to the world. Or, at least, to users of LinkedIn – most of whom happen to be company executives and business professionals. Your profile should be a refined example of your company, while serving as a portfolio of sorts as to what exactly you provide. Once you have an excellent profile, the next step is to advertise to increase your company’s visibility. That way, other businesses will think of your B2B when your services are needed.
2. Connect with more leads. When your company has higher visibility, the opportunities for connections also increase. For B2Bs, finding leads is the single most important aspect of marketing. It’s the epitome of the figurative “get them in the door” saying. Sales is all about getting people to just step foot into your business. For e-commerce businesses or B2Bs, the “door” of your business is your company’s profile. Advertising on LinkedIn is an efficient way to connect with more leads and can help you – potentially – gain more clients.
3. Ensure that your content is read. If you use LinkedIn often, you know that posting unique content is an effective way to interact with connections and share your insight. The problem is – you need your content to reach your audience to be efficient. Advertising ensures that the content you work hard to create is seen by more than close connections.
4. Optimize your goals with A/B testing, made easy on LinkedIn. How do you create your marketing goals? It’s easy to assume which ads may perform the best; however, LinkedIn provides a perfect opportunity to test which ads will truly reach the most people. A/B testing is an ad comparison technique used to see which updates will yield the greatest results at the lowest cost. Not only will you save money on advertising, but you could possibly hit the jackpot with a plethora of new leads.
Now that you know the beneficial aspects of marketing your business on LinkedIn, read through the list of advertising options to see which could be a better fit for you.
- Text Ads – This option is typically the first and easiest one to create. LinkedIn’s Text Ads can be set to Pay Per Click (PPC) or Cost Per Impression (CPM) advertisements. In a matter of minutes, you can create the copy for a small text advertisement, target an audience, and choose between PPC and CPM payment methods. Text ads are a great option for beginning marketing strategies.
- Dynamic Ads – Similar to Text Ads, Dynamic Ads reach a targeted audience with marketing copy that you create. However, these advertisements are slightly difference, as they feature a call-to-action to ensure that viewers of the ad follow and connect with your company’s page.
- Sponsored Updates – This advertising method focuses on the content of your company page. Choose a recent post to sponsor, and it will advertise the specific update to your connections as well as to a targeted audience beyond your connections. This differs from “Company Updates,” which are not paid advertisements, but the post you create to be seen by your followers. Simply, Sponsored Updates are advertisements of your Company Updates. Typically, this option is used to increase engagement rates and shares.
- Direct Sponsored Content – Alternatively to Sponsored Updates, Direct Sponsored Content does appear on your company’s LinkedIn page. Instead, it is a special update that you create to specifically be advertised. The update is only seen by your audience, and not by your connections. This marketing method is used most when trying A/B testing to find which ads perform the best.
- Sponsored InMail – Exactly what it sounds like, Sponsored InMail is an advertising method which sends messages to the inboxes of individuals within your targeted audience. When done correctly with professionalism and individualization, these ads can be very effective. However, it’s important to avoid sounding like a spam email, and should be designed like a sales email.
- Display Ads – To reach the most LinkedIn Users, Display Ads are the way to go – as they are the largest advertising option currently available. These ads are placed on the home screens of individuals within your targeted audience. You can choose between a 160 x 600 banner and a 300 x 250 banner, which showcases your company’s page. According to LinkedIn, this method of advertising can “reach more than 433M professionals.”
For more information about LinkedIn advertising or to learn how you can start connecting with more businesses, follow this link.