As many businesses have realized by now, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for growing your business.
The platform, and how to best use it, continue to evolve. It now has many helpful features, and knowing how to use them is paramount for leveraging the platform. One of the best features to get on board with now is LinkedIn Message ads (also known as Sponsored Inmails.)
What exactly are Message Ads and why do you need them?
In this article, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about LinkedIn Message Ads and how to get started.
Read on to find out more!
What are Sponsored Inmails?
First, it’s helpful to understand exactly what LinkedIn Message Ads/Sponsored InMail is. Essentially they are messages that you pay to send out to people. You cannot ensure that they will ever open or click on the link in your sponsored message. For this, the cost can add up if you are not careful.
When someone receives a Message Ad it will display that the ad is sponsored. The Ad comes from a personal LinkedIn page. Even though the message is sponsored, it can still be very effective for reaching your target prospects.
We’ll dive into some tips for effective LinkedIn Message Ads shortly, but first, let’s review how to set them up.
Set Up LinkedIn Message Ads
Setting up a LinkedIn Message Ad is a bit more complicated than setting up other types of LinkedIn ads. Here’s how you do it:
- Open the Campaign Manager Dashboard and select a campaign group. Then hit “Create Campaign.”
- Choose a campaign objective.
- Set the target audience for the Message Ad. you can choose between various demographics, education levels, job experience, and interests. You can also narrow down the category by selecting further differentiators.
- Name the campaign based on the type, objective, and audience so it’s easy to keep track of.
- Select the Ad format (Message Ad).
- Choose your daily budget.
- Design the ad by selecting “Create New Ad.” You must select the profile that the ad message will come from.
- Add a compelling subject line to encourage opens.
- Personalize the message text (for example by inputting fields for first name, last name, company name, etc.
- Put the value at the front of your message.
- Add the call to action with the relevant link.
- Click “Upload” to add a banner creative.
- Once you are finished, hit “Create.”
- You’ll see your ad draft. To launch it, click “Next.”
- Finally, hit “Launch Campaign.”
Benefits of LinkedIn Message Ads
Why are LinkedIn Message Ads such a powerful marketing tool? Simply put, they help you get right in your prospect’s inboxes.
Let’s take a closer look at the top benefits of this strategy.
Highly Targeted Messaging
These ads allow you to target very specifically, niche audiences. You can tailor the ad copy and CTA based on very specific criteria. You’re also able to add many personalized elements to the message automatically. This helps you micro-target, making it easier to reach people how you want to.
Great Open Rates
Compared to many other ad or messaging strategies, LinkedIn Message Ads have a very high open rate. Over half of all prospects open their sponsored messages, according to LinkedIn. This gives you a much better chance of getting your message in front of your prospects.
Measurable Impact
Enjoy demographic reporting to carefully track the success of your ads. You can track who viewed messages, who clicked, and more. The dynamic reporting allows you to measure the impact of your ads, and adjust accordingly for even stronger ones in the future.
Lead Generation
Message Ads are a great way to generate leads. You can include relevant lead gen forms right in the ads. This is a fast, simple way to generate leads right from your LinkedIn inbox.
What About the Cost?
Other LinkedIn ads only require you to pay when someone clicks on the ad. With Message Ads, you have to pay for every successful send, regardless of if the person ever opens it or clicks. As you can imagine, this can get expensive if you aren’t careful.
However, when you properly use these ads, they can be cost-effective. It’s all about creating an ad that gets great engagement. Essentially, the better the engagement of the ad, the lower your cost-per-click drops.
Personalization Wins
One of the keys to successful, affordable Message Ads is personalization. You want to craft an ad so that the recipient perceives it as a personal invitation.
A very generic ad like “check out this eBook you can download” won’t have strong conversions. It’s too generic and impersonal. It does not make the person feel special.
Instead, you need to focus on a personal offer. Try to address unique qualities about your target audience. Provide a reason for why you are contacting them. Like “because you are in this industry, we thought this resource would be helpful for X.” Offering “VIP” access or invitation to something may also help.
Furthermore, make the ad feel personal by including their name, company, job title, and other details the messages let you add.
Do I Need LinkedIn Message Ads?
Given the other forms of advertising you can do on LinkedIn, you may wonder if these Message Ads are really worth it. While you may also benefit from other forms of advertising on the platform, you should still consider LinkedIn Message Ads.
This form of advertising puts you right in your audience’s inbox. You can use it to create custom copy for different micro-audiences. This can help you reach more of the right leads, and jumpstart the lead generation process.
Simply put, LinkedIn Message Ads are a feature you should absolutely be using. However, it is important to consider the best practices for these ads. You want to create ones that are compelling and high-converting.
