Best practices voor advertentietargeting op LinkedIn

Why does understanding your target audience matter?

What is the real benefit of knowing your audience in a LinkedIn ad campaign? Understanding your audience helps in three key areas:

Campaign objective: Who you target shapes what action you want them to take. For example, if your audience is existing clients, your goal might be to promote a new service and get them to click a button on their dashboard. LinkedIn calls this a Website Conversion. Alternatively, if you target new prospects, you might aim for more leads or website visits.

‍Targeting: Knowing your audience helps narrow down LinkedIn's extensive targeting options so only the right people see your ad. This reduces wasted spend and improves engagement. For example, if you want to target marketing managers in tech companies in London, you can fine-tune these details precisely.

Messaging: The better you know your audience, the more personal and relevant your ad copy can be. Speaking directly to their needs increases the chance they will act. You can even use phrases like "Are you a sales director struggling with lead generation?" or "Attention HR professionals looking to boost employee engagement."

To sum up, understanding your target audience keeps your campaign focused and effective. It helps you choose the best goals, reach the right people, and speak their language.

What does LinkedIn targeting include?

How do you start building your target audience within LinkedIn? Begin by outlining who you want to reach. What are their key characteristics? Consider these questions:

• What common traits do they share?
• What topics interest them?
• What problems or challenges do they face?
• What does their daily routine look like?
• Where are they located?
• Which age group are they in?
• How many years of experience do they have?
• Are they from specific companies?
• What language do they use primarily?

Once you have this outline, use LinkedIn Campaign Manager to create your audience. LinkedIn lets you select targeting options such as:

• Language — choose the language your audience speaks.
• Location — target by country, city, or region.
• Company — select specific companies, industries, or sizes.
• Job experience — target by job titles, seniority, and years of experience.
• Education — target by degrees, fields of study, or schools.
• Interests — reach people based on their professional interests.
• Demographics — such as age or gender, where available.

For example, if you sell software to finance directors in mid-sized companies in the UK, you can pick those exact criteria. This avoids showing your ads to irrelevant users, like entry-level employees or people outside your market.

How can exclusions and audience expansion improve your results?

Did you know you can exclude certain groups from seeing your ads? For example, excluding existing customers helps focus your budget on new prospects. In LinkedIn Campaign Manager, click "Exclude" and define the audience parameters to filter out unwanted viewers.

LinkedIn also offers an Audience Expansion feature. What does this do? It lets LinkedIn show your ads to people similar to your defined audience. Think of it like Facebook's Lookalike Audience but on LinkedIn.

However, experts say LinkedIn’s Audience Expansion isn’t as precise as Facebook’s. So use it carefully and monitor your campaign performance closely.

What are some real-life examples of effective LinkedIn ad targeting?

Imagine you’re promoting a professional coaching service for project managers. Your target audience might be:

• Project managers with 5+ years experience
• Working at tech or construction companies
• Located in Greater London or Manchester
• Interested in leadership and team management

Using LinkedIn, you’d select job titles like "Project Manager" or "Senior Project Manager," industries like "Information Technology" or "Construction," and regions like "London" and "Manchester." You might exclude current clients if they’re already enrolled.

Another example: If your product is a university training platform targeting recent graduates, set the education filter to relevant degrees and graduation years, and target the locations you serve.

In both cases, clearly defining these criteria helps your ads reach the people most likely to engage.

Next steps: How to put this into practice?

Ready to build your LinkedIn audience? Start with detailed audience research. Use customer data, market reports, and LinkedIn’s insights tools to understand who you want to reach.

Create multiple personas and test different targeting combinations. For instance, run separate campaigns targeting different job seniority levels or industries. Compare results and refine your approach.