LinkedIn Conversation Ads Guide

In this video, Silvio covers how to use LinkedIn Conversation Ads effectively to generate demo requests and drive pipeline revenue and will walk you through the strategy, targeting, and creative aspects required for successful LinkedIn Conversation Ad campaigns

Objective: Generate over a thousand demo requests and over $5 million in pipeline revenue using LinkedIn Conversation Ads with an incentivized offer.

Scope: Comprehensive crash course on strategy, targeting, and creative for scaling demo requests.

Strategy

Campaign Overview

• Purpose: Prospecting ideal customers using LinkedIn Conversation Ads with an incentive.

• Example: Companies like metadata.io have leveraged this tactic to generate millions in closed-won revenue.

Incentive

• Common Incentives: Amazon gift cards or DoorDash gift cards.

• Key Considerations:

• Audience: Tailor the incentive to what is most valuable to your target audience. Understand their preferences and needs to choose the right incentive.

• Fulfillment: Ensure the incentive is easy to deliver. Digital gift cards are popular because they are valuable, versatile, and easy to distribute.

Benefits of Incentives

• Conversion Rates: Incentives significantly increase demo request rates from ideal prospects. Even after accounting for the cost of the incentive, the overall cost per demo request tends to be lower due to higher conversion rates.

• Cold Audiences: Incentives are especially effective for cold audiences with no prior brand trust. They provide a tangible benefit, encouraging prospects to engage even if they are unfamiliar with your brand.

• Early Engagement: Attracts prospects earlier in their buyer’s journey, allowing you to build relationships and nurture leads over time. Early exposure to your product can result in faster deal velocity when prospects are ready to purchase.

Targeting

Audience Selection

• Ideal Customers: Focus on specific job titles, industries, and company sizes that align with your ideal customer profile (ICP).

• Exclusions: Exclude irrelevant job titles, competitors, and current employees to ensure high lead quality.

LinkedIn Ads Manager

• Tool: Audience Insights

• Steps:

1. Go to LinkedIn Ads Manager.

2. Navigate to “Plan” > “Audiences” > “Create Audience”.

3. Set up audience criteria and preview the audience.

Criteria

• Location and Language: Begin by setting your target locations and selecting the appropriate language for your audience. Ensure you target individuals who permanently reside in these locations to avoid generating leads from irrelevant areas.

• Audience Size: Aim for an audience size between 50,000 and 250,000. A smaller audience may limit your reach, while a larger one may reduce the quality of leads. However, if the audience is highly targeted, smaller sizes can still be effective.

Job Title Targeting

• Starting Point: Use job titles as a foundational targeting criterion. This approach allows you to reach specific individuals who hold relevant roles within their organizations. Make sure to select "current" job titles.

Audience attributes > Job Experience > Job Titles

• Additional Targeting Layers: Enhance your targeting by incorporating additional characteristics, such as member skills and company size. This layered approach ensures that you reach the most relevant prospects.

Example:

Refinement

• Preview Audience: Once you apply the adjustments, use Audience Insights to review job titles and companies within your audience. Make adjustments based on insights to refine targeting.

Exclusion Criteria

• Competitors and Employees: Exclude individuals who work at your company or with competitors to avoid wasting ad spend on irrelevant audiences.

• Poor Fit Titles and Companies: Use exclusions to filter out job titles and companies that do not align with your target market, ensuring that your ads reach only the most relevant prospects.

Creative

Key Elements of a Successful Ad

Sender:

The sender of the message plays a crucial role in the ad’s success.

• Influencer: Ideally, the message should come from an influencer recognized in your industry. This lends credibility and increases the likelihood of engagement.

• Industry Peer: If an influencer is unavailable, choose an industry peer with a relevant job title. Prospects are more likely to engage with someone they perceive as a peer.

• Salesperson: As a last resort, use a salesperson as the sender. While less effective, this can still be successful with a well-crafted message.

Crafting the Message

• Skimmable Content: Ensure your message is easy to read and not a wall of text. Use spacing, bullet points, and emojis to create a visually appealing layout.

• Personalization: Utilize LinkedIn macros to personalize the message with the recipient’s name, making it feel more tailored and relevant.

• Value-Driven Messaging: Focus on the benefits to the prospect. Highlight how your product solves their pain points and improves their situation.

• Clear Call to Action (CTA): Include a strong, explicit CTA that guides the prospect’s next steps. Make it easy for them to understand what action they should take.

Offer Structure

• Incentive Testing: Experiment with different types of incentives and amounts to determine what resonates best with your audience. Ex: Amazon Gift Cards vs Doordash Gift Card, $50 Amazon Gift Card vc $75 Amazon Gift Card

• Type of Offer: Based on our experience, lead generation forms performs better than landing pages, as they typically yield higher conversion rates. Customize these forms with questions to pre-qualify leads and ensure quality.

Best Practices

Message Formatting

• Skimmable: Use short sentences, bullet points, and spacing to enhance readability. Avoid large blocks of text.

• Personable: Personalize messages using LinkedIn macros like [First Name]. Make the message feel conversational.

• Value-Driven: Focus on the benefits to the recipient, using “you” instead of “we”. Highlight how your product solves their specific pain points.

Call-to-Action

• Clarity: Make the next steps obvious and straightforward. Use engaging and specific language for buttons and prompts.

• Engagement: Use expressive CTA labels to encourage action. Avoid generic phrases.

Examples

Example 1: Qrvey

• Sender: The ad is sent from an industry peer, which is relevant and credible for the target audience.

• Message: The message could be improved by reducing the length and making it more skimmable. Adding dynamic personalization and more engaging CTAs would enhance effectiveness.

• Offer: Includes a second message with qualification questions to filter out low-quality leads and improve overall lead quality.

Example 2: Workado

• Sender: The sender’s growth title is relevant to the audience and establishes credibility.

• Message: The formatting is better, with clear spacing, but the message could improve by connecting the value proposition to the prospect’s pain points more effectively.

• Offer: Offers a unique incentive with a substantial gift card amount. However, CTAs should be more specific and engaging.

Example 3: Mutiny

• Sender: The head of marketing is a relevant and credible sender for the target audience.

• Message: Well-formatted with immediate mention of the incentive. However, the message could be improved by explicitly addressing the prospect’s pain points and adding more engaging elements like emojis.

• Offer: Uses companion banners and personalized elements effectively. The incentive is clearly stated, enhancing the ad’s appeal.

LinkedIn Conversation Ads are a powerful tool for generating leads and increasing your sales pipeline when executed correctly. By following this guide, you will be able to craft compelling ads, target the right audience, and maximize your conversion rates. Remember to continuously test and refine your approach based on performance data and audience insights.

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