In the demanding B2B SaaS market of today, where decision-makers are overwhelmed with choices, LinkedIn advertisements serve as an essential instrument for grabbing attention, establishing credibility, and increasing conversions. As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn offers B2B marketers unique opportunities to connect with their target audience more directly. However, with several ad types, how to pick the right one for your campaign? In this guide, we’ll walk through 7 types of LinkedIn ads you can use for your overall B2B SaaS campaign strategy and how to harness their full potential.
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Benefits of Using LinkedIn Ads for B2B SaaS
Before we explore the various ad types in detail, let’s answer the most basic question of all: Why should B2B SaaS businesses prioritize LinkedIn ads?
With more than 900 million members, including executives, managers, and other stakeholders, LinkedIn offers direct access to decision-makers. This is why this well-regarded platform is a must for reaching, well-to-do professionals. LinkedIn, on the other hand, offers robust targeting options that enable you to target users by job title, industry, company size, and skills for your ads to be seen by the right audience. The quality of leads is also excellent from the platform since LinkedIn users tend to interact with professional-related content, which increases B2B SaaS solutions open rates on this platform versus others. In addition to its robust targeting options, LinkedIn’s variety of ad formats allows you to customize your campaigns according to your objectives—be it traffic generation, capturing leads, or brand awareness.
We know how important LinkedIn ads are, now let’s dive into different ad types and how to use them to your advantage.
Related Article: https://www.adlabz.co/how-linkedin-ads-algorithm-shapes-b2b-saas-success
What Are the Different Types of LinkedIn Ads?
There are many different types of ad formats LinkedIn offers, and each has its inherent strengths and best use cases. Let’s discuss the different types of LinkedIn ads:
1. Sponsored Content
What is Sponsored Content?
Sponsored Content shows bold in the LinkedIn feed — looking almost like organic posts. These ads may consist of a single image, carousel, or video.
When Would You Use Sponsored Content ?
Use Sponsored Content to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website or landing page, or promote gated content like whitepapers or eBooks for lead generation.
How to Create an Effective Sponsored Content?
Best Practices for Sponsored Content: Use eye-catching visuals to draw attention, write concise and compelling headlines that address a pain point or offer a solution, and don’t forget to include a clear call-to-action CTA — think “Download Now” or “Learn More.”
2. Sponsored Messaging (Message Ads & Conversation Ads)
What is Sponsored Messaging?
Sponsored Messaging showcases tailored messages in LinkedIn inboxes. There are two subtypes: Message Ads, which are direct messages with a single CTA, and Conversation Ads, which are interactive messages with multiple CTAs that let users choose their path.
When Should You Use Sponsored Messaging?
Sponsored Messaging is the most valuable in the following scenarios: can nurture leads with targeted offers, invite users to webinars or events, or promote free trials or demos.
How to Do it Right?
For optimal results, maintain a conversational and personalized tone, and incorporate a clear value proposition, while also underscoring value added over aggressive sales pitch-like language.
3. Text Ads
What are Text Ads?
Text Ads are simple, budget-friendly ads that appear on the right-hand side of the LinkedIn desktop layout. They have a headline, description, and small image.
When to Use Text Ads?
These ads are ideal for generating traffic to your site or landing page, particularly for campaigns operating on a budget or to be used to test messaging or creative ideas.
Effective Ways of Displaying Text Ads
For text ads, try powerful headlines that speak to specific pain points, include a professional image or logo with your ad, and focus on click-through rate (CTR) for making improvements!
4. Dynamic Ads
What are Dynamic Ads?
Dynamic Ads pull in information about the user like their name, profile photo, or job title to create personalized ads. Follower Ads to get users to follow your LinkedIn page, Spotlight Ads to send traffic to a landing page or highlight an offering, and Content Ads to promote gated content such as eBooks or a case study.
When to Use Dynamic Ads?
Dynamic Ads are an excellent way to increase followers to your LinkedIn page, boost engagement through personalized calls to action, or promote lead magnets.
How to Run Successful Dynamic Ads?
To get the best from Dynamic Ads, utilize the personalization factor to make people feel special, make sure that your landing pages are consistent in messaging and visual content with the whole advertisement, and test various CTAs to understand what works best for your audience.
5. Video Ads
What are Video Ads?
Video Ads incorporate video content to catch user attention in the LinkedIn feed. They serve as an excellent medium for showcasing product features or benefits, providing customer testimonials or use cases, or creating brand visibility through rich graphics.
When to Use Video Ads?
Video Ads: Use video ads to show product features or benefits, customer testimonials or case studies, or engaging visuals to build brand awareness;
How To Make Your Video Ads Effective?
You can achieve success with Video Ads with shorter (ideally under 2 minutes) and focused videos, captions for accessibility, and a strong hook at the first three seconds of the video to grasp attention.
6. Lead Gen Forms
What are Lead Gen Forms?
Lead Gen Forms work directly with Sponsored Content and Sponsored Messaging. They enable users to fill out their information in native LinkedIn, without leaving the platform to access an external landing page.
When to Use Lead Gen Forms?
Strategically, Lead Gen Forms are great for capturing high-quality leads at scale, promoting gated content, or collecting sign-ups for events and webinars.
How to Make Lead Gen Forms Work?
To maximize Lead Gen Forms, pre-fill form fields so users have to contribute little to no effort on their end, provide a valuable incentive e.g. an eBook or demo, and only ask for the minimal fields on the form to avoid friction.
7. Carousel Ads
What are Carousel Ads?
Carousel AdsThese are used when the ad unit consists of multiple images or cards that can also tell a story and allow the highlighting of different features of your products.
When to Use Carousel Ads?
This ad format is effective when you want to highlight several features about one product, tell a story in chronological order, or generate interactions with interactive content.
How to Make Carousel Ads More Effective?
To make the most of Carousel Ads, make use of engaging visuals and headlines on each card, make the first card attention-grabbing, and add a CTA on the last card to drive action.
8. Document Ads
What are Document Ads?
Document Ads enable you to use the LinkedIn feed as the source for downloadable content (think: PDFs or presentations). Users can see and download the content within the platform.
When to Use Document Ads?
This is especially useful if you want to share whitepapers, case studies, or even product guides.
How to Make Document Ads Work for You?
To drive success with Document Ads use a catchy and relevant document title, set the value proposition for downloading the content, and add a CTA that reflects your overall campaign objectives.
How to Choose the Right LinkedIn Ad Type for Your B2B SaaS Campaign
Choosing the right LinkedIn ad type starts with defining your campaign objective. For example, if your goal is brand awareness, you should consider using Sponsored Content, Video Ads, or Follower Ads. On the other hand, if lead generation is your priority, Lead Gen Forms, Document Ads, or Sponsored Messaging may be more suitable. Additionally, understanding your audience is crucial. Decision-makers, such as CEOs and managers, may respond better to professional content, while mid-level professionals might engage more with conversational messaging. Budget is another key factor; some ad types, like Text Ads, are more cost-effective, whereas Sponsored Messaging may require a higher budget but deliver high-quality leads. Finally, leverage A/B testing to identify the ad formats that resonate best with your audience, such as comparing Sponsored Content versus Video Ads for promoting the same offer.
How to Find the Perfect LinkedIn Ad Type for Your SaaS Campaign
Finding the perfect LinkedIn ad type for your SaaS campaign requires a strategic approach. Start by clearly defining your campaign’s primary goal, whether it’s increasing brand visibility, capturing leads, or driving website traffic. Align this goal with the strengths of specific LinkedIn ad formats. For instance, use Video Ads for product demonstrations, Carousel Ads for storytelling, or Lead Gen Forms for seamless lead capture. Next, consider your target audience’s preferences and behavior. If your audience values personalized engagement, Dynamic Ads or Sponsored Messaging may yield better results. Lastly, experiment with different ad types and measure their performance using LinkedIn’s analytics tools. By iterating and optimizing based on data, you can identify the ad formats that drive the best results for your SaaS campaign.
Still Not Seeing Results From Your LinkedIn Ads?
If your LinkedIn ads aren’t paying off, it’s time to take a second look at your LinkedIn advertising strategy — and the execution.
Do Your Targeting Parameters Match?
Review your targeting settings first. Are you targeting the right people, whether that be for their job title, industry, or company size? One common reason why ads may perform poorly is simply misaligned targeting.
Is Your Ad Creative Engaging or Not?
Then, look at your ad creatives and messaging. Are your visuals and headlines attention grabbers? Is your CTA direct and actionable?
Is Your Landing Page Optimized?
Look at the experience on your landing page. A conversion-oriented landing page that matches the messaging in your ad can really improve conversion rates.
If Budget Is Managing You, Are You In Charge?
Finally, keep an eye on your budget and bidding strategy. Since LinkedIn ads can get expensive, it helps to optimize your spending by focusing on your high-performing ad types. You will overcome obstacles and succeed with LinkedIn ads by testing and refining your process.
What Is LinkedIn Ads? LinkedIn Ads FAQs
How Much Do LinkedIn Ads Cost? The price of LinkedIn ads differs based on ad format, targeting position, and opposition. LinkedIn CPC (Cost Per Click) is $5 to $9 & LinkedIn CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions) is $6 to $12, on average. Some more tips on maximizing your LinkedIn ad performance: Revisit your targeting settings to guarantee relevancy, leverage high-quality visuals and succinct copy, conduct A/B tests for various ad formats as well as CTAs, and keep an eye on important metrics, including CTR, conversion rate, and cost per lead. So, yes, everyone should invest in LinkedIn ads, especially small B2B SaaS companies experienced in targeting and reaching decision-makers, as well as in generating quality leads.
Conclusion
LinkedIn ads are a flexible and robust solution for B2B SaaS businesses to target and engage with their perfect audience. Tailor your campaign objectives to the ad type strengths. From promoting gated content and showcasing product features to building brand awareness, LinkedIn’s various ad formats offer the tools you need to thrive in the competitive landscape of the B2B SaaS industry.
And there you go — now I can start my LinkedIn ad campaign! So define your goals, choose the ad type, and adjust your approach for the best return on investment (ROI).
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