For any business looking to target the right audience, there’s no more frustrating experience than when an ad campaign goes off track. Perhaps you’ve been served an ad for luxury cookware, only to realise you’re not even capable of boiling an egg, let alone using a five-star frying pan. These moments, though mostly a nuisance for customers, represent a costly mistake for marketers, especially in the B2B sector. Wasted ad spend due to misdirected targeting can set businesses back millions each year, leading to inefficiency and missed opportunities.
At LinkedIn, we understand how critical it is to get your message in front of the right people at the right time. That’s why we’ve launched a bold new campaign aimed at eliminating the wasted spend that so many marketers face. Our goal is clear: help businesses target their audience more accurately, ensuring their ad spend is maximised.
The Problem: Ad Waste in B2B Marketing
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, a “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” approach no longer cuts it. In fact, it leads to staggering amounts of waste. Think about it: if you were to send a letter to the wrong address, no matter how perfectly crafted the message, it wouldn’t reach its intended recipient. The same goes for ads.
Even the most beautifully designed campaigns won’t work if they’re aimed at the wrong people. That’s why LinkedIn Ads is dedicated to offering a powerful, precision-targeting platform that helps businesses cut through the noise and ensure their campaigns are seen by the right audience.
Delivering Ads to the Right People
The crux of successful advertising lies in one key question: “Are we reaching the right people?” As a savvy marketer, you likely already know your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and have invested in quality creative that speaks directly to your audience. However, the one thing that could be holding back your campaign’s success is the targeting.
That’s where LinkedIn Ads comes in. With over 1 billion members on the platform, LinkedIn provides unique audience-targeting capabilities that go far beyond typical marketing tools. Marketers can precisely filter and target users based on factors like industry, company, job role, and more. This level of granularity ensures your ads are seen by the people who need your product or service most, eliminating the wasted spend that so many marketers face.
The Creative Campaign: “Only on LinkedIn Ads”
LinkedIn’s new campaign, Only on LinkedIn Ads, was developed with this very premise in mind: to showcase how LinkedIn’s advanced targeting capabilities help marketers avoid wasting ad spend by ensuring they reach the right audience every time.
Our campaign draws attention to the common frustrations of misdirected ads, and with a touch of humour, it highlights how LinkedIn can solve these issues. For example, one video spot, Forklift, features a forklift being pitched to a group of financiers—obviously, a mismatch. Another spot, Server, showcases a modern server being shown to archaeologists at a dig site, missing the IT professionals who would truly appreciate it.
These videos offer a playful look at what happens when targeting goes wrong. But beyond the humour, they emphasise a vital point for B2B marketers: the importance of effective audience targeting in ensuring ROI.
Full-Funnel Digital Campaigns: Creative and Effective
This campaign, developed through a rigorous research process involving strategy, concept, and creative testing, is designed to resonate deeply with marketers. It is not just another tool to show how to do something; it’s a solution to a major issue—the wasted resources that arise from poorly targeted ads.
We’ve taken this concept and translated it into a full-funnel digital campaign. The ads don’t just demonstrate how LinkedIn Ads helps you reach the right audience; they also tackle the day-to-day challenges marketers face in ensuring their ads aren’t being wasted on the wrong people.
A Powerful Platform for Effective Targeting
With LinkedIn Ads, marketers can utilise a host of tools designed to boost their ROI. The LinkedIn Audience Network and LinkedIn Connected TV allow you to extend your reach and target qualified prospects beyond the LinkedIn platform, combining LinkedIn’s rich demographic data with the flexibility to meet your audience wherever they are.
Our campaign will run on a variety of high-impact platforms, including connected TV, paid social, online video, and podcast networks. By leveraging these mediums, we aim to show marketers how they can maximise their ad spend and ensure their message lands where it counts.
Conclusion: Don’t Let Your Ad Spend Go to Waste
For B2B marketers, the stakes are high. Wasting ad spend not only affects ROI, but it can also hinder brand growth. With LinkedIn Ads, the possibilities are endless when it comes to reaching the right audience, ensuring every penny of your marketing budget is put to good use.
Don’t let your marketing message fall into the void. Join us in harnessing the power of LinkedIn’s unique targeting capabilities to ensure your ads reach the people who matter most.
Learn more about how LinkedIn Ads can transform your B2B marketing strategy by targeting the right audience, at the right time, every time.
Keith Browning is the Director of Brand Marketing at LinkedIn.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/linkedin-ads/targeting-right-audiences-linkedin-ads
