Linkedin Course Episode two

Hey there,

Today we’ll continue with our 6-week, high-level Linkedin Ads Course 😍.  

First, a few people you should follow if you are interested in LinkedIn ad tactics and personal experiences:

• Justin Rowe

• Tom Hunt

• Chris Walker

However, if you find these insights valuable, the best way to support our work is by inviting your friends to become Dot Connecters and learn more about Connecting The Dots between marketing activities and financial goals.

Topic Of Today

• 🤓 Understanding the LinkedIn audience

• 🛠 The Basics of LinkedIn Marketing

• 🔥 The Power of Personal Profiles

• 📊 Reality Check on Linkedin

• 👍 Pros & Cons of Ads

• 📌 Actionable Tips

• 📚 Homework

• 💡 Pro Tip

🎊 Week 1.5: Kickstart Your LinkedIn Advertising Journey - Part 2 🎊

Deep Dive into LinkedIn Audience & Marketing Solutions

Quick Recap:

1. 🤓 Understanding the LinkedIn Audience

In Part 1, we touched on the unique value proposition of LinkedIn.

Now, let's dive deeper into understanding the LinkedIn audience. Knowing who uses LinkedIn and why this audience is valuable is crucial for your advertising strategy.

LinkedIn is home to:

• Professionals seeking career opportunities.

• Businesses looking for partnerships and clients.

• Recruiters searching for talent.

• Individuals looking to expand their professional network.

• The audience here is not only vast but also highly targeted. This means you can reach decision-makers, influencers, and professionals who are receptive to your message.

2. 🛠 The Basics of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

LinkedIn offers a variety of advertising options.

Here’s a quick rundown:

• Sponsored Content: Promote posts to a wider audience. But be cautious, as this might not be the most cost-effective option.

• Text Ads: Display ads in the right rail or top banner on desktop.

• Sponsored InMail: Send personalized messages directly to inboxes.

• Video Ads: Engage users with video content.

• Carousel Ads: Use multiple images to tell a richer story.

• Lead Gen Forms: Capture leads with pre-filled forms.

• Conversation Ads: Interactive messages for personalized experiences.

3. 🔥 The Power of Personal Profiles

Your personal LinkedIn profile is an advertising goldmine.

Here’s how to leverage it:

1. Tailor Your Profile to Your Audience:
   Customise your profile to resonate with your target audience. Use a warm, friendly profile picture and a banner that draws attention to your other content channels or a landing page. Your headline should be compelling and speak directly to your audience’s needs or pain points

2. Optimise the About & Featured Sections:
   The About section should tell a story, not just list facts. Instead of simply sharing dry facts and a writing something that sounds like ChatGPT had a bad day, write as you would talk about your passion. Share what you enjoy doing, your values, and how you’ve helped others. In the Featured section, showcase your best content, whether it's articles, videos, or slides.

3. Build a Network of Subject Matter Experts/Industry Professionals:
   Connect with professionals in your niche. This not only expands your network but also positions you as an authority in your field. Easiest way of doing this is by selecting a few thought leaders in your niche and adding valuable insights to their posts regularly. But of course, it does not mean flooding their posts with spam-like comments.

4. Share Valuable, Relevant Content to Establish Thought Leadership:
   Post content that focuses on your audience's problems. Make sure it’s relevant, engaging, insightful, and not overused ideas. Expand ideas with your personal experience. In the B2B arena, focus on all Buying Committee members. You can use these posts as the basis for your ads as well.

5. Engage with Your Network Through Comments and Messages:
   Don’t just post content; engage with your audience. Respond to comments (on your ads too), participate in discussions, and send personalised messages. This builds relationships and keeps you top of mind.

6. Repurpose Your Content:
   Turn your views and ideas into various content formats like posts, comments, ads, messages, blog posts, videos, newsletters, and PDFs. This helps in reaching a wider audience and establishing thought leadership.

7. Collaborate with Industry Influencers for Content Co-creation:
   Partner with influencers in your industry to co-create content. This not only enhances the quality of your content but also expands your reach.

8. Continuous Value Delivery:
   Send personalised connection requests and provide continuous value to your connections with relevant, tailored content pieces. Avoid flooding them with too much information.

9. Use Video/Audio for Introductions:
   Consider using video or audio messages as an introduction or first touch after connecting. This is still an approach that not many use, and can thus set you apart. Videos should be short, engaging, to the point and provide value.

10. Focus on Relationship Building:
    Remember that LinkedIn is a platform for building relationships. Focus on providing value instead of hard selling.

4. 📊 Reality Check: LinkedIn as a Non-Intent Channel

LinkedIn is a social platform, not a search engine.
Users are not actively looking for products or services on the platform.

That does not mean that they are not looking for a solution like yours,
but they are most likely not actively searching for it on Linkedin.

The goal is to be relevant and capture attention.
Focus on providing value instead of trying to score quick sales.
Emphasise the social part in “Social Selling” and focus on building relationships and nurturing not just leads but connections.

5. 👍 Advantages and Disadvantages of LinkedIn Ads

Advantages:

• Unique targeting options.

• Up-to-date data for targeting.

• Professional audience with a business mindset.

Disadvantages:

• No device bidding.

• Higher cost per click if not optimised.

• Minimum audience size requirements.

5. 📌 Actionable Tips

Use LinkedIn’s precise targeting options to reach the right audience.
Experiment with different ad formats to see what resonates with your audience.
Engage with your audience through comments and messages.

6. 📚 Homework:

Research and understand the LinkedIn audience that is relevant to your business. ↳ Basically, check if the niche you are targeting is available on Linkedin, and check relevant thought leaders in the space that they follow.

Experiment with different LinkedIn Marketing Solutions to find what works best for your objectives.

For example:

• Try Sponsored Content to promote an insightful article or a case study.

• Use Text Ads for a direct approach to promoting your product or service.

• Experiment with Sponsored InMail for personalized outreach to potential clients.

• Create a Video Ad to showcase a behind-the-scenes look at your company or a product demo.

• Use Carousel Ads to tell a story or highlight different features of your product.

• Set up Lead Gen Forms to capture leads efficiently.

• Engage your audience with Conversation Ads for interactive messaging.
  
  

Remember to monitor the performance of each marketing solution you try, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

7. 💡 Pro Tip:

LinkedIn is about building relationships. Focus on providing value through your content and engagements. Be genuine and authentic.

That’s a wrap for Part 2 of Week 1! Stay tuned for next week as we dive into setting up for success. Don’t forget to check out the latest episodes of Connecting The Dots & Business Companion.

Keep learning and growing! 🚀 ❤️

That’s it for today…

New episodes of Connecting The Dots & Business Companion are coming out each week, so stay tuned.

Subscribe to our podcast and keep an eye on your inbox for the next edition of our newsletter as well.

LinkedIn posts worth reading this week:


1. 10x LinkedIn traffic without a budget

1️⃣ Zero Click Content from Company Page, 2️⃣ More Company Pages... etc.

2. Linkedin About Section Guide
Instead of paying €4K for it, just check out this guide.

3. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
11. The Law of Perspective: Marketing is not what you think it is; it's what the consumer thinks it is."