Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your LinkedIn ads strategy. It's definitely a platform with potential, but it needs a considered approach to get the most out of it.
First, let's think about your ideal customer...
You've mentioned wanting to warm up leads before approaching them directly. That's a smart idea, especially if you're dealing with a considered purchase or a longer sales cycle. The key here is understanding exactly who you're trying to reach.
Ask yourself:
- Which companies would benefit most from your solution? Think about size, industry, existing tech stack, pain points, etc.
- Who are the decision-makers at those companies? Job titles are crucial here – are you targeting CMOs, CTOs, Heads of Sales?
For example, say you're offering a contact data enrichment service. Your ideal customer might be:
- Companies: SMEs with 50-200 employees
- Decision Makers: CMO, CSO, CTO, Head of Marketing, Head of Sales, Head of IT
- Industries: Business services, software, marketing and advertising, financial services
The more specific you are, the better you can leverage LinkedIn's targeting options.
We'll need to look at traffic quality and your website...
It is important to remember that advertising is just one part of the bigger picture - if you have problems converting leads that could be down to the website.
Some things we usually look at:
- Website load speed. A slow website is guaranteed to put visitors off - and potentially harm your Google rankings.
- Mobile-friendly design. Many users will be accessing your website from a mobile, make sure it looks good and is easy to navigate!
- Landing page design. It's a no-brainer, but make sure the user journey is clear and that it's obvious to the user how they can convert.
- Persuasive copy. Use a copywriter to write copy that will grab your visitor's attention and make them convert into a lead.
What's your main objective?
What do you want to achieve with your LinkedIn ads? This will heavily influence your campaign setup and bidding strategy. Here are a few common goals:
- Starting conversations: If your primary goal is to spark engagement, consider using LinkedIn's Conversation Ads. These can be really effective for initiating dialogue and building relationships – think of it like paid cold outreach.
- Generating Leads: For lead generation, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms (which pop up when someone clicks the ad and pre-fill their details) can be powerful. These usually work best with Sponsored Content ads. Alternatively, you can direct traffic to a landing page on your website.
Picking the right ad format:
The ad format you choose should align with your objectives. Here are a few options:
- Text Ads: Great for starting conversations. Short, punchy, and designed to grab attention.
- Video Ads: Use these to tell a story, showcase your product, or build trust. A persuasive video can significantly lower your lead costs.
- Image Ads: Ideal for driving traffic quickly. A visually appealing image combined with a compelling headline can be a surefire way to get clicks.
- Carousel Ads: Perfect for relaying multiple pieces of information in one ad – showcasing different products, services, or features.
Bidding Strategy Considerations
As you are new to bidding strategies, it can be difficult to know where to start. The best option is to select the most appropriate one that relates to your campaign goals.
A couple of key considerations:
- Automated bidding. It is often useful when you want the platform to take control of setting bids for you and is ideal if you are new to LinkedIn Ads.
- Manual bidding. This is where you have complete control of the bidding process and set how much you're willing to pay. If you have lots of experience with the platform then this could be the best option.
Don't forget split testing!
Regardless of what strategy you decide to implement, the most important thing to consider is testing, testing and more testing!
We like to test various creatives and targeting options within the same campaign to see what performs the best. This will give you insights into what your customers respond well to, which can be invaluable moving forward!
Table Summary:
Here's a quick summary of the actionable solutions you can implement to take your LinkedIn Ads to the next level:
| Area | Actionable Solution |
|---|---|
| Target Audience | Define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and create your ad targeting based on this. |
| Ad Objectives | Decide what your main ad objective is so that you can optimize the campaign towards this. |
| Ad Formats | Select the correct ad formats based on your ad objectives. |
| Website Optimization | Improve your website with persuasive sales copy to improve conversion rates from traffic generated via LinkedIn Ads. |
| Bidding Strategies | Select an appropraite bidding strategy which can align with your campaign goals. |
| Split Testing | Test ad creatives and targeting options and optimize for what performs best. |
We can help you scale your software campaigns...
Scaling software campaigns can be difficult, and that's where expert knowledge can be useful.
We have experience in scaling software campaigns, for instance:
- We helped a client get 3,543 new users at a cost of £0.96 per user via Google Ads.
- Another client we work with generated 5082 Software Trials at $7 per trial using Meta Ads.
- We also saw 4,622 Registrations at $2.38 for a B2B Software client using Meta Ads.
If any of this resonates with you, we'd be happy to offer a free consultation to discuss your specific needs and see how we can help. Just let us know!
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
