In part 1 of Big Red SEO’s tutorial on LinkedIn Ads, our Omaha SEO team went over questions to ask yourself before you decide to advertise on LinkedIn. We helped you understand the demographics of the site, and told you how to target an audience for your ad. Today, we’ll dig further into what those ads look like and how they work! A LinkedIn Ad is comparable to one in Google AdWords, but they’ve gone one step further in giving you the option to add a photo.
How Much Do LinkedIn Ads Cost?
Cost per click (CPC) depends on a number of factors, including targeting criteria and competition, but they generally range from two to five dollars per click. Considering that some targeted keyword ads in AdWords can cost hundreds per click, running ads on LinkedIn can be a much more cost-effective option (at least as a supplemental campaign) despite its smaller audience.
Once you have an ad, click-through rates can vary—LinkedIn defines a “good” CTR at 0.025%, but you can do better by following our suggestions above. Remember, the more tightly focused an ad is on one particular subset of LinkedIn users, with high-quality copy and an eye-catching and relevant photo, the more successful your ad could be.
A LinkedIn Ad’s Anatomy
Because shoppers rely heavily on visual cues when making decisions, picture ads allow you to draw your viewer’s eye more effectively than with a normal ad. Be aware, though, that the picture will be very small. With that in mind, there are a few things to consider when choosing a picture for your ad:
- Don’t use a picture that’s too “busy”; remember the picture is small, so any fine detail you want the viewer to pick up on will most likely be lost.
- Pick a photo that will immediately draw your viewer’s eye and make them want to click.
- Don’t fall back on using your business logo, unless you’re actively trying to build brand awareness—instead, try to use a picture that ties in directly with the ad.
- LinkedIn’s optimization team says that using a photo of a woman in your ad leads to the best click-through rates.
Aside from the photo, LinkedIn Ads have the same basic structure as AdWords ads, with a headline, ad copy, and destination URL. There are a few things to keep in mind here as well when building an effective ad:
- The headline is short, so make it sweet. Using the title of the people you want to reach can yield great results.
- With the destination URL, tailor your ad to its own appropriate landing page on your site. Don’t simply take visitors to your homepage. Remember, you want them to get to pertinent information as quickly as possible. If they have to navigate long (ie, more than three clicks) to find what the ad promised then they’ll probably stop looking.
Big Red SEO and PPC Advertising
Hopefully these first two parts of our Big Red SEO introduction to LinkedIn Ads has given you a good idea of what they are and where to start putting them to work for your business. Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll discuss how and why to track the results of your LinkedIn Ads campaign!
If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give our team at Big Red SEO a call at (402) 522-6468. We’re always happy to talk about LinkedIn Ads, web design and SEO as ways to enhance the visibility of your business!