LinkedIn Ads for Beginners: Launch, Target and Optimize Your First Campaign

Step 1: Create Your LinkedIn Ads Account

Go to Campaign Manager and Create Account. Provide an account name, select the currency type, and link the company Page. Currency once selected, cannot be changed back; so, be sure of your choice. Set up the billing information before starting out. 

Step 2: Set Your Campaign Objective

You will be asked by LinkedIn what you wish to accomplish. There are several objectives such as brand awareness, website visits, engagement, video views, lead generation, website conversions, and applications for jobs. Your choice of objective will determine the format and bidding strategy.

Step 3: Pick the Ad Format

Pick any of the ad formats available. If it’s your first time running a campaign, it is wise to use the Single Image format in Sponsored Content. This format is simple, easy to understand, and provides clear metrics.

Step 4: Identify Your Audience

Start with your geographic location and continue to include job roles/functions, levels, or industries. Try to select audiences ranging from 50,000 to 300,000 people. LinkedIn requires a minimum of 300 people, however small audiences offer very little.

Do not overload yourself with multiple filters. Every additional filter will reduce the size of your audience drastically.

Step 5: Develop your Ad Copy and Creative

Draft an introductory text of 150 characters, as you don’t want your ad to be cut off on a mobile phone. Also, include a headline and a single call-to-action button. Use a creative with either a person’s face, some number, or an emphatic text message. Do not use any stock images.

Start testing two copies of your ad right away. Make sure you have just one difference between these two.

Step 6: Choose a Landing Page or Lead Generation Form

If you want to drive traffic to your website, the page has to correspond to the message that your advertisement carries. The ad promising a free pricing guide has to lead users to the page dedicated to this guide, not to your homepage. For a Lead Generation Form option, use no more than three or four fields.

Step 7: Select Your Budgeting Parameters

Set up either a daily or total budgeting scheme. LinkedIn has a limit to how much money you can spend daily per campaign. As of now, the limit is approximately 10 USD or the local equivalent, so you should check the current amount in your account. Automated bidding works well for beginners, and manual bidding for advanced users.

Step 8: Review and Launch Your Ad

Make sure that you have checked the audience, the preview, and the destination URL on both your desktop and mobile device. Test the URL. A broken link is a huge waste of time and money.

Once the ad is launched, LinkedIn will review it, and this will take less than 24 hours. Don’t be tempted to tweak anything for at least a couple of days after the launch.

Also Read: How Can Students Leverage LinkedIn For Better Career Opportunities? 

How Much Do LinkedIn Ads Cost?

LinkedIn ads are at higher range than the other platforms. In LinkedIn Ads, there is less chance of your money getting wasted. As your target audience is very precise. There is no specific fee for LinkedIn ads since it all depends on your goal and a number of other factors. 

LinkedIn doesn't charge a setup fee. You pay only for clicks, impressions or sends, depending on your bidding choice.

That sounds expensive, and it is. But a click here is worth more when your buyers are executives. If a lead from LinkedIn closes at ten times the value of a lead from a cheaper channel, the higher cost can still make sense.

What Factors Affect LinkedIn Advertising Costs?

Several things can affect your price and move it up or down:

• Audience size and seniority: Executive audiences cost more.
• Competition: If many brands target the same group, the auction price rises.
• Ad quality: Strong click rates lower your cost over time.
• Format: Messaging ads and lead forms follow different price patterns.
• Industry: Software, finance, and consulting are crowded categories.
• Type of bid: A higher manual bid may increase your expenses.

There is also a timing factor. Weekdays in the morning are always busier than weekend days. This means that costs will change depending on the day. Don't assess your campaign based only on one day of data.

How Do You Set a LinkedIn Ads Budget?

Be careful here, but don't go too conservative. A small budget won't give you enough data to make any conclusions. Be prepared to invest for at least 2-4 weeks before assessing results.

One method of calculating budget is by determining how many leads you would like to get. Estimate cost per lead and multiply those figures. In case of 20 leads needed and 60 USD cost per lead, your budget should be close to 1,200 USD. Consider this number approximate, as your first month will be a learning process.

Don’t allow yourself to be drained in one day by setting a daily limit on spend. Check your spending every couple of days throughout the first week. If your campaign isn’t working at all, make sure your target audience size and bid are appropriate.

Lastly, always have some budget left over to experiment with creatives. 

Also Read: Top 7 Digital Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Next Campaign 

How Do You Measure and Optimize LinkedIn Ads Performance?

Launch is the easy part. The difficult part is analyzing the figures without freaking out. Go to the reporting tab on LinkedIn Ads Manager, set your date range, and analyze some important figures before making any changes.

Let each tweak have enough time to sink in. You will not be able to tell whether you got better results because of the change made if you make too many tweaks on the same day. Make one change at a time.

What Metrics Should You Track in LinkedIn Ads?

Track numbers that match your objective. 

These benchmarks differ depending on industries. To measure conversions, install the Insight Tag and then define a conversion in Campaign Manager. Without it, you would get clicks but no information on what clicks led to sign-ups or sales.

What Are the Best Practices for Optimizing LinkedIn Ads?

Make an easy-to-follow weekly schedule. 

• Suspend the ad that performs worse: When one ad has less than 50% CTR than the other, after getting enough impressions, suspend the ad.
• Rotate the creative: Audiences get tired of watching the same advertorial; rotate it every three or four weeks.
• Filter the audience: When the audience who clicks are coming from incorrect job titles, filter the audience.
• Improve landing page: Low conversion rate may indicate that there is something wrong with the page and not the ad.
• Make forms shorter: Each added question reduces the response rate.
• Use frequency limits where available: So the same person sees the ad only once per period.

Two traits distinguish a bad advertiser from a good one. First, they maintain a testing log. Maintaining a log in Excel of what has been done and how it turned out saves a lot of time afterward. Second, they check the competition. Just open the LinkedIn Ad Library, look up your competitor, and find out their offers, hook, and format. You are not plagiarizing; you are getting a feel for what the market already likes.

If after some cycles your results are still bad, go back and ask yourself whether the offer you are giving is even important for that particular market segment.

Also Read: How To Evaluate an Influencer Marketing Campaign? 

What Are the Common LinkedIn Ads Mistakes Beginners Should Avoid?

Most beginners make some mistakes. Here are the common mistakes to avoid:

• Targeting too broadly: A huge audience wastes budget on people who'll never buy.
• Targeting too narrowly: An audience under a few thousand members delivers poorly and costs more.
• Mixing goals: Running awareness and lead goals in a single campaign confuses the data.
• Weak landing pages: A slow or off-topic page kills conversions after you've paid for the click.
• Skipping the Insight Tag: Without it, you can't build retargeting audiences or track conversions.
• Giving up too soon: Judging a LinkedIn ad campaign after two days is like judging a gym after one workout.
• Leaving Audience Expansion and the LinkedIn Audience Network on by default: They can add low-quality traffic you didn't plan for.
• Using a hard sell in the feed: People scroll LinkedIn to learn and network. Lead with something useful.

Conclusion

It does not have to be flawless, but it has to be limited. Set one goal, choose one target audience, run two tests and analyze the results for several weeks. After that, change only one thing in each new cycle.

Do not invest a single dollar yet – go to the LinkedIn Ads Library and choose five of your competitors. Note their offers. After that create your campaign in the LinkedIn Ads Manager and set the daily spending limit, which is acceptable for losing. This approach will provide you with much better understanding of the LinkedIn advertising than any guide can.

Ready to start your journey? Book a free consultation with upGrad today to find the best path for your career.