How to Use LinkedIn Advertising for Small Businesses?

Everyone is now going social. If there’s one thing that many people can’t do without even for a day, it would be engaging in various social media activities. Social media networks used to be a platform where people connect with their friends and loved ones. These days, however, social media is no longer just a platform for socialization but also a great venue for entrepreneurs to market their business, boost their reach, improve brand engagement, increase sales, and eventually grow their business. One of the social media networks that are gaining popularity among businesses nowadays is LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn is generally geared toward professionals, career-driven individuals, and renowned businesses. This makes it an amazing platform for networking, connecting with joint venture partners, growing an email marketing list, improving brand visibility, and cultivating small businesses. 

If you haven’t started using LinkedIn for your business yet, it is never too late for you to take action. Sign up now and experience what LinkedIn has on the table for you. However, if you are already using LinkedIn but have not utilized all of its exciting features yet, this blog is perfect for you. Today, we will talk about how you can gain exposure and inexpensively grow your small business. 

Just like Facebook, you can also market your business on LinkedIn through LinkedIn advertising. I will walk you through the important steps you need to take when using LinkedIn Advertising for your small business. 

Set up your LinkedIn Ads account

Before you can use the all-in-one advertising platform of Linkedin, you need to set up your LinkedIn Ads account first. We will break down this process into 8 main steps.

Create your company’s LinkedIn page: Start by creating your company’s LinkedIn page. Creating a LinkedIn page is quite simple, quick, and straightforward. You just have to provide the necessary information and follow the instructions on the screen. If you already have an existing LinkedIn page for your business, you may use it and proceed to the next step. You will need a LinkedIn account before you can build your company page on the platform.

Be an admin to your company’s LinkedIn page: Becoming an admin to your company’s LinkedIn page allows you access to all admin features and privileges. This includes permission to create, edit, and delete ads. You can also opt to use the “Direct Sponsored Content Poster” access feature. This feature won’t grant you admin access but it will allow you to create, edit, and delete ads.

Create a LinkedIn Ads account: The next thing you need to do is to create a LinkedIn Ads account. This will give you access to the LinkedIn Ads feature of LinkedIn. After creating a LinkedIn Ads account, you will be logged into an ad platform called “Campaign Manager”. You will need a LinkedIn account to run and manage ad campaigns and control your Ad budget. 

Customize your LinkedIn Ads account: To maximize the potential of LinkedIn Ads features, you have to customize your account and ensure that everything is in line with your business goals, targets, and values. Customizing a LinkedIn Ads account typically includes setting up conversion tracking, integrating Lead Gen forms, creating retargeting audiences, and adding company information like email and company lists. 

Install the LinkedIn insight tag

Installing the LinkedIn insight tag on your website and web pages will allow you to keep track of the success of your ad campaign. The LinkedIn insight tag will provide you access to features like retargeting, conversion tracking, and free web demographics. It enables you to see critical information like who is viewing your offer and clicking through your ad campaign.

Determine your company’s objectives

Having a clear set of objectives is critical to the success of your ad campaigns. Do you want to boost your online presence, promote brand awareness, or improve engagements? Perhaps, you want to focus on lead generation. Regardless of what you intend to achieve you have to clearly determine your objectives. This will help you streamline and customize a successful ad campaign. 

Pick self-service or managed campaigns

LinkedIn offers small businesses a quick and easy way to utilize a self-service campaign. Simply get into the Campaign Manager hub to configure and run ad campaigns. You can also use the Campaign Manager hub to check your ads’ performance, monitor their progress, and find detailed information on other advertising activities.

Decide what Ad format you will use

LinkedIn allows you to choose either Sponsored Content, Text Ads, or both. Before creating an ad, you will have to decide first what format you will use.

Sponsored Content feels and looks native to the platform and appears naturally in the member’s feeds. Ads in Sponsored Content format look like a typical post with a headline, image, and sponsor’s link. They are displayed in the company’s own feed as “boosted” posts. If you opt to choose this format, it is best to use your company page’s top-performing posts as they are most likely to attract more audience.

 

Text Ads appear on the top, bottom, or side of the member’s feed. This format may be simple but when created wisely, it can be very effective. For best results, use dynamic visuals and add a short yet concise and compelling copy.  

Create and run your ad campaigns

Now that you have everything ready, you can now start creating and running a successful ad campaign. You have to set your target audience, though, to make sure that your ads are shown only to your prospective customers. You also have to set your ad campaign budget so you won’t end up spending too little or too much of you are willing to invest for your ads. 

And lastly, optimize your LinkedIn ad campaign and promote it across various social media platforms for better results.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ankit Patel is a Sales/Marketing Manager at XongoLab Technologies LLP & PeppyOcean. As a hobby, He loves to write articles about technology, business, and marketing. His articles featured on Datafloq, JaxEnter, TechTarget, eLearninggAdobe, DesignWebKit, InstantShift and many more.