Online marketing is changing dramatically and the statistics are different depending on which medium you use.

Smaller companies now need a more refined approach than to just concentrate on search engine optimisation. Social media offers a great way to do this.

1) Is LinkedIn the right audience? 

Firstly, LinkedIn is a networking tool for professionals. This community is not the same as Facebook, or any other broader Pay Per Click campaign.

Of all of the LinkedIn users, 39% pay for a premium account. This indicates that a large portion of users take the social media site seriously.

Core LinkedIn activities include:

• Online networking & staying in touch with past, present and future business contacts
• Sharing of business related content
• Recommendations & endorsements
• Job applications and recruitment
• Corporate identity (Company Pages)
• Sales and business development tools
• Aggregated content (post and read)
• Specialist industry groups to network and share content and views with

Remember: You will be targeting your customers based on job title or sector and regional criteria so keep your adverts focused on business!

2) Is your business right for LinkedIn?

On LinkedIn, a person will only consider clicking further to:

• Enhance their career prospects
• Grow their business
• Receive a message from a trusted brand which the viewer identifies with status.

Any offers you make must adhere and cater to these factors.

What offers are successful on LinkedIn?

• Networking Opportunities
• Business events (Online Webinars & real world events)
• New statistics, reports and infographics that are easy to understand
• Job offers
• Further Education & Courses (MBAs are a large market)
• Tools used to make business savings and useful downloadable content

3) Are you sending out the right messages?

How does your advert help the viewer get a promotion? How do you provide them with an enhancing article or experience?

Try the following introductions to your ad:

• Improve business results by…
• Enhance your profile with…
• Boost your performance with the latest…

The words you choose should be optimised, and you may find that the most successful ones may not be the most “attractive” sentences.

It is also important to bear in mind that this advert is just part of your overall retention strategy. Consider where in the buying cycle it might be seen and also consider its part in your marketing strategy as a whole.

Remember: don’t sell your products too hard. Promote your company as a company that provides value to the industry. Promote useful content, tools or events that can help other LinkedIn members become more successful . People respond better to useful advice, don’t just promote your products.

4) Are you using the right measurements?

Define realistic goals. Think about what you would like the end outcome to be. What would represent success to you? You may get a click rate of 0.05%, but remember that LinkedIn is not the same as Google, as quantity does not mean quality.

What are your tried and tested tips for LinkedIn advertising?

Tweet us your thoughts! @gordondsilva or leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.