LinkedIn has become an essential platform for B2B marketers. With over 700 million professionals actively using the network, it offers an unparalleled opportunity to reach decision-makers and influencers in your industry. However, advertising on LinkedIn can seem discouraging, especially for businesses operating on a tight budget.
In this post, I’ll explore effective strategies on how to advertise on LinkedIn on a small budget, focusing on remarketing and promoting educational content to establish thought leadership.
Understanding LinkedIn Ads
Before diving into specific strategies, it’s important to understand the types of LinkedIn Ads available:
- Sponsored Content: These are native ads that appear in the LinkedIn feed.
- Sponsored InMail: These ads are sent directly to LinkedIn members’ inboxes.
- Text Ads: Simple but effective ads are displayed on the right-hand sidebar.
- Dynamic Ads: Personalized ads that appear on the sidebar.
- Video Ads: Sponsored content in video format.
- Carousel Ads: Sponsored content that features a swipeable series of images or videos.
Leveraging Remarketing for B2B
Remarketing, or retargeting, allows you to re-engage people who have already interacted with your business. This can be particularly effective on LinkedIn, where the audience is more targeted and professional.
Steps for Remarketing on LinkedIn:
Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag:
This is a lightweight JavaScript tag that enables LinkedIn to track conversions, retarget website visitors, and unlock additional insights about your audience. Important: The usage of the LinkedIn Insight Tag needs to be mentioned on the Privacy Policy and you need the user’s content via a Cookie Consent Banner.
Create a Matched Audience:
Go to your LinkedIn Campaign Manager and navigate to “Matched Audiences” to create a new audience based on website visitors, uploaded lists, or LinkedIn data.
Segment Your Audience:
For a small budget, it’s crucial to segment your audience effectively. Focus on high-intent users, such as those who visited key pages like your pricing page or downloaded a whitepaper.
Craft Compelling Ads:
Develop ads that specifically address the interests and needs of your segmented audience. Use clear CTAs and highlight the value proposition.
Monitor and Optimize:
Track the performance of your remarketing campaigns and make adjustments as needed. Focus on metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and cost per conversion.
LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads
LinkedIn’s new Thought Leader Ads provide a unique opportunity for B2B businesses to promote educational content effectively. Here’s how to leverage this ad format to establish thought leadership on a small budget:
1. What are Thought Leader Ads?
LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads allow you to sponsor posts from personal profiles rather than company pages. This approach gives a more authentic and personal touch to the content, making it more engaging and relatable.
2. Benefits of Thought Leader Ads
- Authenticity: These ads avoid the typical sales feel of corporate posts, leading to higher engagement.
- Humanizing the Brand: Featuring posts from key individuals (e.g., CEOs, industry experts) creates a personal connection with the audience. People buy from people!
- Showcasing Expertise: Use posts that highlight your team’s expertise, such as case studies or industry insights, to build credibility.
3. Best Practices
- Retargeting: Use Thought Leader Ads in retargeting campaigns to engage visitors who have shown prior interest.
- Content Selection: Promote posts that showcase deep industry knowledge rather than just asking for a sale.
- Engagement Tracking: Monitor interactions with your ads to refine your audience targeting and improve campaign performance.
4. Implementation Steps
- Choose Engaging Content: Identify posts from key team members that provide valuable insights or educational content.
- Launch and Monitor: Set clear objectives, start with a small budget, and optimize based on performance data.
By integrating LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads into your marketing strategy, you can maximize your reach and engagement, even on a limited budget, establishing your business as a thought leader in your industry.
Combined with Google Ads, LinkedIn can be a source for a steady flow of leads for your business. Learn here how to launch your first B2B Google Ads campaign.