I instantly enjoyed working on LinkedIn because the results depend a lot on budget management and content strategy. I have a lot of experience in those areas.
When I became a certified trainer, the choice was simple: I will share my knowledge with everyone who wants to know more about LinkedIn Ads and support this channel’s popularization in Romania.
This interview with me first appeared on MarketingFocus.ro content platform in Romanian language.
What does a “B2B Lead and Demand Generation Digital Marketer” do, and how do they create value in an organization?
Marketers working in B2B need to be prepared to “work” differently in a much longer-term effort that includes more success points. The primary mission of a B2B marketer is to generate leads from the target audience. Lead volumes and quality are essential. For contracts where the buying cycle is at least six months, the success rate rarely exceeds 1%, at least in highly competitive markets.
Leads’ quality is a result of very rigorous targeting and up-to-date & engaging content used in campaigns. To deliver results, marketers working in B2B must have a broader range of knowledge: from the ecosystem of lead generation platforms, content curation, funnel’s particularities, and targeting (buyer personas-centered) to nurture programs and sales enablement.
We can and must bring value from our work on the pipeline. In most of the ABM (Account Based Marketing) and content syndication programs I managed, I worked with salespeople to bring leads to the next level and turn them into opportunities. Together. There shouldn’t be any friction between marketing and sales, on the contrary. Working on the pipeline’s progression is gratifying because marketers can significantly contribute to opportunities’ progress in the conversion funnel. B2B is an area that requires experience, patience, and that is very rewarding.
Who and why should seriously consider promoting on LinkedIn? For what objectives and with what results? What types of companies and industries use LinkedIn well, and what approach/types of messages and content?
LinkedIn Ads is an essential vehicle in B2B when our objective is lead generation. To decide if it is suitable for us, we need to answer three key questions:
Does LinkedIn cover a large enough percentage of the audience we want to target (minimum 50%)?
Can we afford it? The costs are high compared to other platforms. In a competitive market in the technology industry, the cost per acquisition of a lead can be at least $ 200, while an ABM vendor or content syndication may deliver at the price of $ 70 / $ 80 (varies depending on several factors: geography, industry, other targeting elements, etc.).
Do we have the right content and sufficient pieces? Content is responsible for the quality of the leads. We need to provide for consumption (in exchange for contact details) consistent, up-to-date material that addresses and presents solutions to the challenges customers may face. The content utility should prevail, don’t make it too salesy. An obvious sales angle will prevent us from continuing the conversation.
LinkedIn is a must-have in the B2B marketing mix, regardless of industry. I would say that the technology industry is among those that invest the highest budgets in LinkedIn advertising.
Marketers should rather use LinkedIn to build brand awareness and not necessarily expect engagement, warns a Forrester report, comparing LinkedIn performance with other networks, especially Facebook. What types of marketing goals is LinkedIn best suited for compared with Facebook, and what are the key factors responsible for delivering results?
We can use LinkedIn Ads to build brand awareness, but it’s worth the effort if we plan for more tangible goals at the same time. The business targeting capabilities are clearly superior on LinkedIn. Besides, on LinkedIn, the audience has a business mindset; messages are “digested” easier, faster. On Facebook, a B2B ad may be perceived as a “foreign body.” As for the traffic landed from Facebook, include it later in remarketing campaigns on LinkedIn. The volumes are small, most likely.
What are the least used LinkedIn resources or features that marketers should look at more closely?
Text Ads and Message Ads formats are used to a lesser extent, but this is a sign that the strategy is clever: the first is not very appealing. The second is effective when you have already gained visibility in front of the audience. My recommendation for marketers is to make the most of LinkedIn targeting capabilities and additional audiences. It’s an area where LinkedIn has made significant progress in recent years, allowing us to build audiences and sophisticated ways to reach them.
The most used and most effective format is Single Image Ad (Sponsored Content). Fewer use the carousel format, for example, but I don’t think it’s a problem. It doesn’t perform nearly as well, and it requires a very well-thought-out concept and well-crafted visuals. My advice is to test all formats while relying on Single Image Ad to lead the way. The video format is a catalyst for engagement, is better suited for visibility and branding objectives.
Then what are the most common promotion mistakes on LinkedIn?
First, it is essential to set the right expectations and goals for each of the available formats. I’ve seen companies using Message Ads (formerly InMail) as their first move, targeting audiences that haven’t been exposed to their messages before. This type of approach is what salespeople call “cold calling.” Messaging someone who has too little or no information about your company will not generate the results you expect, on the contrary.
One (big) mistake is to treat a paid ad just like an organic post in the feed. If we talk about Single Image Ad, the format is identical. In B2B, we promote content to generate leads. I see many examples of paid ads in which the tone is informative-descriptive, the copy way too long, and the generous space of the image not used to its full potential. Don’t describe the content. Sell it! Paid ads must generate clicks and leads. Eventually.
Finally, I would think that whatever action I want a user to take once they land on the website, I’ll make sure we can continue the conversation. That is, in 99% of cases, filling in a form. We need to make sure we can continue the conversation.
How did you get from PPC to LinkedIn Ads, and why do you personally invest so much time and money in your training and coaching?
My solid expertise in paid search (Google Ads) brought me to the company where I started working on LinkedIn (more than five years ago). I was making a transition from B2C and Business to SME to a niche B2B, and my first challenge was to deliver results for Google Ads budgets. Very quickly, I was handed the management of the LinkedIn account, which targeted global audiences with a focus on the United States. I had never interacted with the interface before, and I didn’t know what to think about the CPA I saw there; it was very high. I used my solid performance marketing experience to change the strategy entirely, and I reconsidered budget distribution. In three months, I reduced the CPA by 300% to a cost that I later realized was optimal. I instantly enjoyed working on LinkedIn because the results depend a lot on budget management and content strategy. I have a lot of experience in those areas.
After ten years of being ultra-specialized in Google Ads, I was introduced to another digital marketing tactic that immediately caught my interest. The company allocated higher budgets, and I took full advantage of my relationship with the LinkedIn account management team (in New York) – I learned a lot from interacting with them. I attended training sessions with experts specialized in LinkedIn Ads; I connected with many marketers who have solid experience in the area. I opened my own LinkedIn Ads account and invested budgets in promoting the content of my website. I aim at learning something new every day.
When I became a certified trainer, the choice was simple: I will share my knowledge with everyone who wants to know more about LinkedIn Ads and support this channel’s popularization in Romania.
Which companies in Romania promote themselves smartly on LinkedIn and why?
Looking at the Romanian market, I can’t say, as a LinkedIn user, that I’m overwhelmed by the volume of paid ads in my feed. Over the last year, I’ve paid attention to who introduced LinkedIn Ads to the marketing mix. I spot a higher share of ads for the brand awareness objective. Banks, technology companies, and companies in the automotive industry dominate the advertising space. Plus, several training companies and an increasing number of digital advertising and marketing agencies are promoting their services and teams. There may be others, but they don’t target me. There are also cases where I do not understand why I would be part of their audience. Here’s another idea in terms of intelligent approaches: LinkedIn allows us to target fairly well-defined audiences that respond best to our messages. It is preferable to have a more significant engagement from a smaller, homogeneous audience. And remember, paid advertising is not organic. We invest budgets to generate conversions, not likes, shares, and comments.
How can LinkedIn be used for account based marketing?
Like many other B2B platforms, we can target an audience of professionals within certain companies on LinkedIn. The condition is that, once the targeting is completed, the resulting audience is large enough (minimum 300 people). Going to the next level, if the market we are working on is vast, we can make a strategic ABM program to target a buyer group from a single company.
LinkedIn’s undeniable advantage for B2B is that the audience has a business mindset when active on the platform – this increases the chances that our messages will be better assimilated. Moreover, some of the most sophisticated ABM platforms have weak coverage in countries like Romania. It is more challenging to drive results if this is the market we are targeting. LinkedIn is an option we can rely on.