Most common LinkedIn Paid Ads mistakes - Targeting

Welcome to our weekly blog series, where we delve into the most common mistakes businesses make when running LinkedIn Paid Ads. Today, we'll focus on targeting, a crucial aspect of any successful ad campaign on the platform. By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can optimize your targeting efforts and maximize the effectiveness of your LinkedIn ads.

Targeting Mistakes:

Using Incorrect Filters: One of the most common mistakes is using incorrect filters when defining your target audience. And some of those LinkedIn Native filters seem obvious, but in reality that might not be the case. Filters like Seniority or Company Size don’t work the way you might expect them to.

Neglecting the 'Exclude' Feature: Many advertisers overlook the 'Exclude' feature, which allows you to exclude certain criteria from your targeting. Do you already exclude your customers, competitors or certain industries? If not, we advise you to set up a framework of who to always exclude, that will make it easier and could boost your results too.

Lack of Specificity: Being too broad with your targeting can dilute the effectiveness of your ads. Instead, be specific about who you want to reach, focusing on niche audiences that are most likely to convert. This ensures that your ads resonate with the right people and drive meaningful engagement.

Ignoring Product/Service Interest Categories: LinkedIn offers a range of interest categories related to specific products and services. Failing to leverage these categories can limit the reach of your ads and miss out on valuable opportunities to connect with potential customers interested in your offerings.

Not having an advanced retargeting strategy in place: Retargeting is where most of the LinkedIn Ads magic takes place. You need to stay in front of your audience over time to convert. And look, many companies have therefore already adopted retargeting into their marketing strategies, both on and off LinkedIn. If you have done so too; great! That is one step closer towards results. However, do you have a graduation retargeting process in place? Think about this as high-school. You essentially graduate from Grade 6 to 7. And then from 7 to 8. Having a marketing funnel that resembles this will boost your results even further.

Next Week

In our next blog post, we'll explore bidding strategies and common mistakes that businesses make in this area. As an SME it is crucial to keep stay away from overspending and you’ll likely want to keep your spending to a minimum too. We’ll give you some actionable insights on how bidding works, what to do to keep costs low and how to optimize your results for any budget.

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