Getting Started with LinkedIn Advertising - Universal

We bet you’re familiar with Facebook, Twitter and maybe even Instagram and Pinterest … but do you “link-in” on LinkedIn? LinkedIn is such a powerhouse for lead generation because it’s one of the most popular places to do business.

Before I dive into how to get started setting up and optimizing your first LinkedIn Advertising Campaign, here’s a little food for thought.

LinkedIn launched in 2003 having a total of 4,500 members by the end of its first month. – LinkedIn Press Room
As of the time this article is being written, LinkedIn has 364,000,000+ members. – LinkedIn Press Room, accessed July 2015
LinkedIn users are more interested in your company. LinkedIn is responsible for 64% of all visits from social media channels to corporate websites, according to research noted in an Econsultancy article.
22% of top level executives primarily use LinkedIn for industry networking. – CMO

I’m going to make a big assumption here and assume that you already have your LinkedIn personal profile and company page setup and optimized and now you’re ready to take the next step … LinkedIn advertising. (Don’t worry – if you don’t have an account set up, contact us for assistance.) I’m also going to assume you have a LinkedIn strategy in place, which includes details of your target audience; having a strategy is a must for getting the best results. Trust me – if you go into something like LinkedIn advertising blindly, you could be throwing a lot of money down the drain.

Now that we got that out of the way, follow these steps to get your first Sponsored Content Campaign up and running!

Step 1

Select ‘Advertise’ from the top right of your LinkedIn dashboard.

Step 2

Select ‘Get started.

Step 3

Choose your campaign. The campaign you choose should be selected based on your goals, as inline with the LinkedIn Marketing Strategy. For the sake of this example, select Sponsor Content Campaign.

Step 4: Determining Your Sponsored Update

LinkedIn will then ask you to:

Name your campaign. (An important step for organizational purposes. Keep the name short and specific.)
Select which company the campaign is for. (In the event you have more than one company page.)
Choose an update you would like to sponsor then select ‘next.’ (The update should be highly engaging and preferably link back to your website or blog.)

Step 5: Audience Setup

Once your LinkedIn strategy is in place, this step can be completed. Take a look at the details of your targets in your strategy before determining your audience. You never want your ads to target everyone, just the most qualified potential buyers.

Step 6: Payment Structure

You’ll see something that looks like this:

As I rule of thumb, I typically start by bidding right in the middle of the suggested bid. While taking this approach can result in your ad not getting seen as much, I prefer to test at the average price and only increase when necessary. Your total budget is also something that should be determined previously in your LinkedIn Strategy.

Step 7: Payment

In this second to last step, LinkedIn will ask for your credit card information. Fill out the section to proceed.

Step 8: Monitor

After you have your payment details in place, be sure to monitor your ad for engagement and have fun!

LinkedIn Advertising can be highly effective but I don’t want you to waste your time and money not doing it right. Feel free to reach me directly.

Marisa Sanfilippo
Content and Social Media Marketing Director
Fortune Web Marketing
(732) 898-6197.
marisa@fortunewebmarketing.com.