How to Run Linkedin Lead Gen Ads

Networking in the professional world has always been important, but in the current digital age, it’s more important than ever. LinkedIn is primarily known as a business networking site, which makes it the perfect place to target leads. Users also browse LinkedIn to update themselves about what’s happening in their industry and add co-workers to their network.

With 875 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, it presents a huge opportunity you won’t want to miss. What many people don’t realize is that LinkedIn also offers a powerful lead generation tool in the form of LinkedIn Ads. 

Just like social media giants Instagram and Facebook, LinkedIn has developed its own advertising platform to help businesses reach their target audiences. LinkedIn Ads is a cost-effective and powerful way to reach out to professionals and generate leads for your business.

If you’ve never run ads on LinkedIn before, the process may seem a bit daunting. But don’t worry, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about setting up and running LinkedIn Lead Ads for your business.

How do LinkedIn Ads Work?

LinkedIn Ads work in a similar way to other social media advertising platforms. You create an ad campaign with a specific goal in mind, such as generating leads for your business. Then, you target your audience using LinkedIn’s targeting options. 

LinkedIn offers a variety of targeting options, which we’ll discuss in more detail below. Once you’ve created your ad and targeted your audience, LinkedIn will show your ad to the people who are most likely to convert. You only pay for LinkedIn Ads when someone takes an action, such as clicking on your ad or filling out a form.

LinkedIn Ads Targeting Options

One of the great things about LinkedIn Ads is that you can target your ads to a very specific audience. LinkedIn offers a variety of targeting options, which allows you to reach the people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. 

For example, you might want to target your LinkedIn Ads to people who work in a certain industry, people who have recently changed jobs, or by company size, job title, and more. You can even create lookalike audiences on LinkedIn, which allows you to reach people who are similar to your current customers. This is a great way to reach new leads who are likely to be interested in your business.

What are Lead Generation Ads?

Choosing lead generation ads for your campaign means that your ad will be shown to users who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. LinkedIn offers a variety of targeting options that allow you to narrow down your audience by factors like job title, company size, or even specific skills. 

When a user clicks on your lead generation ad, they’ll be taken to a form that you’ve created in advance. This form will pre-populate with information that LinkedIn has collected about the user, which makes it easy for them to submit their information. The advantage of using lead generation ads is that you’re able to collect leads without interrupting the user’s experience on LinkedIn. They can simply click on your ad and submit their information without ever having to leave the site.

Benefits of Linkedin Lead Ads

LinkedIn Lead Ads removes the barrier to entry that can exist with other types of online ads. With lead generation ads, all a user has to do is click on your ad, and their contact information will be automatically populated in the form that you’ve created. This makes it easy for users to sign up for your offer or request more information about your product or service. And because the process is so streamlined, you’re more likely to get high-quality leads that are actually interested in what you have to say.

In fact, while the average conversion rate for web landing pages is 2.35%, Linkedin’s lead gen forms provide a 10 – 13% average conversion rate.

Not only that, but LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager also allows you to track conversions and leads so that you can see how effective and valuable your ads are. After all, what’s the point of running ads if you can’t track their performance?

Another perk of LinkedIn Lead Ads is that they allow you to target specific professionals. LinkedIn’s extensive database includes millions of users, so you can be sure that you’re reaching the right people with your ads. You can target by job title, company size, or other factors, ensuring that your leads are quality ones.

Steps to Running LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of LinkedIn Ads, let’s shift our focus to how to set up and run a LinkedIn Lead Gen ad campaign.

1. Choose your objective

The first step is to choose your advertising objective. As we mentioned before, LinkedIn offers a variety of advertising objectives, each with its own set of features and targeting options. For lead generation purposes, we recommend using Sponsored Content or Lead Gen Forms.

2. Set up your campaign

Once you’ve chosen your objective, it’s time to set up your campaign. You’ll need to provide some basic information about your campaign, such as the name and start and end dates. 

3. Target your audience 

The next step is to target your audience. LinkedIn offers a variety of targeting options, including demographic options like job title and location, as well as interests and behaviours. You can also create custom audiences based on criteria that you define yourself. 

4. Set your budget 

After you’ve targeted your audience, you’ll need to set your budget. LinkedIn allows you to set a daily or total budget for your campaign. You’ll also need to choose how you want to pay for your ads, such as pay-per-click or cost-per-impression. 

Budgeting for LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads is a little different than budgeting for other types of ads. With Lead Gen Ads, you’ll want to set your budget based on the number of leads you want to generate, rather than the amount you’re willing to spend. For example, if you have a $1,000 budget and you want to generate 100 leads, then your budget for each lead would be $10.

5. Create your ad 

Finally, it’s time to create your ad. LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats, including single image, video, and carousel ads. You’ll need to choose an image or video for your ad, as well as some copy and a call-to-action. 

6. Test and optimize your campaign 

Once your campaign is up and running, it’s important to keep an eye on your results and make sure that your ads are performing well. LinkedIn offers a variety of reporting and optimization features to help you improve your campaign over time.

What makes a successful Linkedin Lead Gen Ad?

While there isn’t a proven formula for creating successful LinkedIn lead ads, there are certain elements that tend to perform well. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating your ad:

• Having your target audience in mind: When creating any kind of ad, it’s important to keep your target audience in mind. As mentioned, LinkedIn Ads offers targeting options that allow you to specifically target the types of people you want to reach with your ads.
• A strong headline: Your headline is the first thing people will see when they come across your ad, so you want to make sure it’s eye-catching and relevant to your message. A good rule of thumb is to keep your headlines short and sweet – around 5-7 words is ideal. 
• A clear offering: The whole point of running a LinkedIn lead ad is to generate leads for your business, so you want to make sure your offer is clear. What are you offering potential leads? A free trial? A downloadable e-book? Make sure your offer is relevant to your target audience and something that they would be interested in.
• High-quality images: Images are an important part of any ad, and LinkedIn lead ads are no exception. Be sure to use high-quality, professional images that help convey the message of your ad. 
• A call-to-action (CTA): Your CTA should be clear and concise, and it should tell people exactly what you want them to do. A good CTA will encourage people to take the desired action, whether it’s taking advantage of sales or heading over to your website.

Start Running Lead Gen Ads on Linkedin Today

LinkedIn isn’t just a place for business networking – it’s also a powerful lead generation tool. LinkedIn Lead Ads can be a great way to generate high-quality leads for your business in a place where you can access a broad community of global professionals.

The days when you had to rely on print ads or cold-calling are long gone. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to be utilizing LinkedIn Lead Ads in your marketing mix. So why wait? Start reeling in those valuable prospects today!