Who Should Be Advertising on LinkedIn and Why

Deciding where your company should advertise is no easy task. LinkedIn, like any other platform, has its own unique qualities that make it a great place for some people to advertise, and not such a great option for others.

According to KissMetrics, there is one question you should ask yourself to determine whether advertising on LinkedIn is a good idea for your product or service:

“What affinity is a professional, in a day-job mindset, likely to have for my product, service, or offer?”

Now, obviously a lot of businesses can answer this question with ease, but the key is whether or not your product will offer something that benefits business and working professionals directly. If you can answer this question clearly and concisely in the size of the ad space, you have a good fit.

Here’s some food for thought: While LinkedIn caters to a business and professional audience, could it not expand its range a bit more? Perhaps to appeal to young professionals that use the site but are not looking to purchase business software or a degree program?

The short answer: yes. LinkedIn advertisements may not have the same marketing range as Facebook, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be exclusive to the audience as it stands now. For example, professional clothing may be a good fit for advertisement, and that is out of the realm of traditional B2B advertisements people seem to emphasize at the moment. After all, experts suggest 74 per cent of LinkedIn users gain insights on leads they would not have known otherwise.

LinkedIn Population & Targeting

Anyone who has a LinkedIn profile (and uses it regularly) has the potential to see LinkedIn advertisements. You can also “target” a lot about your customers to make sure the ads they see are relevant to them. You can target things like company size, title, industry, and geographic location. This makes it really easy to see how you can further target specific types of customers that would likely be interested in your business (if you can define why it may be relevant to a business or working professional, of course). It’s important to note that LinkedIn offers text and image ads. With these two formats for advertising, plus the ability to target specific types of customers, many brands are a good fit for LinkedIn advertisements.

Conclusion

Following KissMetrics’ suggestion, the question posed earlier is an important one. If you can answer it, and make a strong case for your company in the size and space of the ad, it could be worth your while. If you are a company that is a little “outside the box” compared to typical LinkedIn ads, you may get more attention. It’s up to your business to test and watch your analytics and change your strategies accordingly. But if you can answer the question above, you could be a great candidate to advertise on LinkedIn—even if you don’t fall under the typical mindset.