3 LinkedIn ads mistakes that could be costing you money (and how to fix them)

As the world's largest professional network, LinkedIn is the social media network for B2B marketing. 

The platform has come a long way from being a tool for recruitment. Advertisers on LinkedIn can use over 200 targeting options - from industry and seniority to interests and education - to build a profile of their ideal target audience. It's no wonder that studies show that LinkedIn ads can boost purchase intent by an impressive 33%!

Sounds good, but the main barrier to using LinkedIn ads is its cost. With the average cost-per-click being between £2 to £4, and sometimes as high as £14 if you're targeting a very competitive audience group, it can be offputting to marketers.

LinkedIn ads tend to work best for companies that sell at a higher price point or whose customers have a higher lifetime value to justify the ad spend.

However, there are ways that you can optimise your account to secure results at a lower price point and stretch your LinkedIn ads budget further. 

Here are 3 common LinkedIn ads mistakes that could be costing you money. 

Mistake 1: Not separating your target audiences

Not all audiences are created equal in terms of what you need to spend to reach them.

A client of mine targets people who work across different industries. Over the same period, it cost £10 per click to target one industry group and £3 per click for another.

The moral of the story is that if I had grouped the target industries together, we wouldn't have known which one was driving up the cost-per-click. 

Splitting up your different target audience groups lets you discover which ones are the least cost-effective. Once you know, you can choose to pause, optimise your ads or rethink how you're targeting this group to try to bring down the cost-per-result.

Splitting your audiences also let you personalise your ad messaging to make it more impactful. You can call out benefits, pain points or solutions that will resonate with each group. 

Mistake 2: Targeting all seniorities and company sizes

You can be very surgical with your targeting on LinkedIn in a way that other ad platforms don't allow. Beyond demographics and industry, LinkedIn also lets advertisers target by company size, job title, seniority and more.

Take advantage of this by layering on additional targeting options to avoid spending money on users who aren't right for your offering.

For example, if you want to reach decisions makers, you can opt to exclude juniors employee. Or, if your product has a high price point, you may want to target larger companies that are likely to have substantially bigger budgets.

You don't want to be too niche, but try going beyond the basic targeting options to cut down on irrelevant clicks that are costing you money.

Studies show that LinkedIn ads can boost purchase intent by an impressive 33%!

Mistake 3: Not checking your cost-per-result

Your LinkedIn ads can generate a different cost per result depending on how well they are performing. Ads that are working well can generate lower cost-per-result than those that are less popular.

In LinkedIn Campaign Manager, drill down to the Ad Performance report to check if one of your ads is responsible for driving up your spend. You may want to pause or optimise the offending ad to prevent it from burning through your ad budget.
Different LinkedIn ad types and ad objectives can have a wildly different cost-per-result depending on a number of factors. You may want to experiment with different set-ups to see what one delivers the best returns at the lowest cost.

Bonus tip to make your LinkedIn ad budget go further: try remarketing

Are you only using LinkedIn ads to reach top-of-funnel prospects? If it's becoming costly, you may want to rethink and expand your approach. 

LinkedIn ads can be an effective way to reach out to people who have previously visited your website and drive warm leads back to the site.

Brands advertising on LinkedIn saw a 14% decrease in cost-per-conversion from website remarketing ads. Even if the person reached your site from another source, you can retarget them on LinkedIn with a convincing mid to bottom-of-funnel message. 

Sources for statistics: LinkedIn, Hootsuite & Social Media Examiner.

Are you ready to use LinkedIn's sophisticated targeting options to reach valuable B2B prospects? If you are, get in touch to find out how I can help you make the most of your LinkedIn ad budget. The first consultation is free.