Top 10 LinkedIn Tips on Mastering Objectives & Bid Strategies
Looking to increase your return on ad spend (ROAS) on LinkedIn?
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Your bidding strategy and campaign objective play a critical role.
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Hereâs my 10 tips from over $10 million investment in LinkedIn paid ads.
(In no particular order, they all matter)Â
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tip #1: The Power Behind Manual Bidding
- Tip #2: Fine-Tuning Your Bids
- Tip #3: Aligning Ad Type & Offer with Objectives
- Tip #4: The Optimal Objective for Thought Leader Ads
- Tip #5: When to Leverage Video Views Objective
- Tip #6: Match Your Content to the Most Suitable Objective
- Tip #7: Take Advantage of Document Ads
- Tip #8: Scale Conversions with Conversation Ads
- Tip #9: Top 3 Objectives for Single Image Ads
- Tip #10: When to Avoid Reach Objective (Brand Awareness)
- Conclusion:
- Resources for Mastering B2B Advertising
Tip #1: The Power Behind Manual Bidding
Unlike automated bidding, which leaves bid amounts at LinkedIn's discretion, manual bidding allows advertisers to set clear cost boundaries.Â
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This ensures that your campaign expenses align with your budgetary constraints and campaign goals, offering a level of precision that automated bidding simply can't match.
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By specifying the maximum amount you're willing to pay for clicks, the manual bidding places you in the driver's seat.
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The LinkedIn algorithm, while powerful, may not always allocate your budget most economically when given full control.
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Start collecting data quickly for your new campaign by bidding above the minimum threshold recommended by LinkedIn.
When to Consider Automated Bidding:
Automated bidding can be the best choice for specific situations, such as focused Account-Based Marketing (ABM) or retargeting campaigns with small audiences.Â
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Once the campaign starts spending and thereâs a benchmark, you can switch to manual bidding to regain full control.Â
Tip #2: Fine-Tuning Your Bids
A successful manual bidding requires daily checks on your spending against your budget to avoid overbidding or underbidding.
This is a straightforward yet insightful process, comparing the previous day's spend against the current daily budget to adjust your bids for optimal performance.
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The Process of Bid Adjustment:
By subtracting your daily budget from the previous day's total spending, you gain clear insights into your bidding strategy's effectiveness.Â
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A negative result suggests underbidding, where you're not fully utilizing your daily budget
While a positive result indicates overbidding, where you're potentially overspending.
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âPrevious day spent - allocated budget = + number indicated bid is too high
The previous day spent - allocated budget = - number indicated bid is too lowâ
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One challenge of manual bidding is finding the sweet spot where your bid is high enough to consume your daily budget fully but not so high that it leads to inefficient spending.Â
Side note:
If your audience size is too small, even a high bid will not cover the campaignâs full budget.Â
Tip #3: Aligning Ad Type & Offer with Objectives
LinkedIn ad campaigns' success deeply depends on the alignment between the chosen ad type and the content you're promoting.
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Understanding the nuances of each ad + offer and matching it to the applicable objective is key to maximizing engagement and conversion rate.Â
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Selecting the Right Ad Type for Your Objective:
Video Ads:Â
When promoting video ads, gravitate towards the Video View or Engagement objectives.Â
These objectives are designed to maximize viewership and interaction with your video content, making them ideal for capturing and retaining audience attention.
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Example of a video ad:
Document Ads:
The Engagement objective tends to yield the most success for document ads, which include PDFs, presentations, and other downloadable content.Â
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Keeping document ads ungated and focusing on engagement allows your content to reach a broader audience, enhancing brand visibility and thought leadership.
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Example of a document ad:
âSingle Image Ads:
Engagement and Website Traffic objectives can be effective when using single-image ads.
Your choice depends on whether your primary goal is to foster interaction with the ad or drive traffic to your website or landing page
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Example of a single image ad:
Tip #4: The Optimal Objective for Thought Leader Ads
If you're looking to boost your presence and authority on LinkedIn, thought leader ads present an attractive option.
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These ads turn organic content from individual profiles into sponsored messages, maintaining the authentic voice and personal touch that resonates with audiences.Â
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These campaigns can achieve lower costs per engagement by leveraging the engagement objective, enhancing their effectiveness and reach.
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Understanding Thought Leader Ads:
Personal Touch:Â
Unlike standard ads that originate from company pages, thought leader ads come from personal profiles, offering a humanized approach to advertising.Â
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This method harnesses the inherent trust and relatability of individual thought leaders, amplifying their messages across targeted audiences on LinkedIn.
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As of March 2024, businesses can promote content from any connected user on LinkedIn with Thought Leader posts, as opposed to just verified employees.
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Seamless Integration:Â
To the audience, thought leader ads appear as regular posts but with the added benefit of targeted reach and visibility.Â
This seamless integration into the newsfeed portrays a natural engagement experience, hence fostering higher engagement rates compared to traditional ad formats.
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Implementation and Best Practices
The success of thought leader ads hinges on selecting organic content that has already demonstrated shares and engagement.Â
By sponsoring high-performing posts, you capitalize on proven interest and ensure your ad budget is allocated to content with the highest potential return.
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Pro tip:
When creating a new single-image campaign, you can click âbrowse existing contentâ to find the post by searching for the LinkedIn member and sending a request for approval.Â
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Since these ads will not be sent to a landing page, itâs best to place the intended page link in the first comment and pin the comment.
Tip #5: When to Leverage Video Views Objective
When promoting video ads, selecting the Video View objective will increase the likelihood of getting the highest percentage of videos watched at the lowest cost.Â
This objective is designed to maximize the number of views your video receives, optimizing for visibility and engagement among your target audience.
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Creative Specifications:Â
For video creatives, the recommendation is to use a square format (1080x1080 pixels) and include captions.Â
This format is not only visually appealing but also takes up the most space in the feed property.
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Cost Efficiency and Performance:
The cost for video views on LinkedIn typically ranges from 10 to 15 cents per view.Â
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While this might be higher compared to other platforms like YouTube, which has been gaining traction in B2B sectors for its cost-effectiveness, LinkedIn's targeted audience can justify the investment.
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Best Practices for Video Campaigns on LinkedIn:
Starting with the lowest feasible cost per view (CPV) in your bidding strategy can help manage costs while assessing the content's performance.Â
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Adjustments can be made based on initial results to find the optimal balance between reach and budget efficiency.
Tip #6: Match Your Content to the Most Suitable Objective
Understanding the type of content you're promoting determines the most effective objective and ad type for your campaign.Â
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For event promotions, for example, certain ad formats have proven to yield higher results and drive registrations at a lower cost.Â
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Letâs break down what type of assets yield the highest results for this example:
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Lead Generation Forms (LGF):Â
The premier choice for driving event registrations.Â
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Lead-gen forms provide a seamless and streamlined user experience, with pre-populated forms making the conversion process as frictionless as possible.Â
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The convenience of instantly filling out forms within the LinkedIn platform significantly increases conversion rates for registrations.
Pro tip:
To improve the performance of LGF, it's best to keep the number of custom fields below three.Â
While leveraging pre-populated fields can maintain high conversion rates, adding more than two custom questions or actions can deter completions.Â
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Event Ad Format:Â
This is one of the most effective ad types for event registries, but it is important to note that it cannot be combined with any of the conversion objectives.Â
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Unique to this type of ad is the inclusion of social proof directly within the ad, such as the number of people who have shown interest or are planning to attend the event.Â
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While its conversion rate may not match that of Lead Generation Forms, the added visibility and credibility from social proof make Event Ads a valuable tactic.
Website Conversion:Â
Directing users to a landing page for event registration is generally less preferred due to higher costs and lower conversion rates compared to previous tactics.Â
Exceptions exist, such as directing traffic to a calendar link or for specific targeting scenarios, but overall, this method is seen as less efficient for event promotion.
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Design and Copy Considerations:
For campaigns opting to use landing pages, prioritizing copy over design is key.Â
The hero section, or above-the-fold content, is critical in capturing user interest.Â
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Ensuring message consistency between your ads and landing page, alongside efficient conversion tracking, will set you up for success.
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To learn more about landing page best practices, dive into the article below by Pedro CortĂŠs:
10 Proven Landing Page Tips To Boost Your Conversion Rates
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Pro-tip:
Streamlining Campaign Tracking with Dynamic URL Parameters:
LinkedIn's introduction of dynamic URL parameters at the campaign level presents a major leap forward in simplifying and enhancing tracking capabilities.Â
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This feature allows marketers to set up the tracking once for the entire campaign, eliminating the tedious process of manually tagging each ad with unique UTM parameters.Â
Tip #7: Take Advantage of Document Ads
Document ads have proven highly effective for marketers looking to deepen engagement and build a robust retargeting pool.Â
They typically have impressive click-through rates, often reaching 6-7% or higher.Â
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The best results from document ads are seen when paired with the engagement objective.Â
Users who interact with this ad type demonstrate a clear interest in your content, making them ideal candidates for subsequent, more targeted marketing efforts.
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For more information on setting up your first document ads, check out this guide provided by LinkedIn
Tip #8: Scale Conversions with Conversation Ads
Conversation ads offer a unique, direct method of engaging with your target audience by delivering messages right into their LinkedIn inboxes.Â
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These ads are billed on a cost-per-send basis, making it crucial to manage bids effectively to maximize both reach and budget efficiency.Â
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Start your bid as low as possible and make adjustments depending on how well itâs pacing.
A good starting point is a $1 bid.Â
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Due to LinkedInâs second-price auction model for convo ads, they typically keep the actual cost close to the average historical cost per send.Â
This model charges you just enough to outbid the next highest bidder, not the maximum amount you're willing to pay.
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Adaptation to Platform Changes:Â
Despite recent updates like the focus inbox change on LinkedIn, conversational ads have continued to perform well.Â
The direct nature of these ads keeps them effective, maintaining their status as a top-performing ad type.
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Best Practices for Conversational Ads:
Because convo ads are more intrusive than other ad types, itâs important to ensure your targeting is precise. This precision prevents user annoyance and increases the likelihood of engagement.
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The content of your conversation ads should be compelling and offer clear value to a specific job function.
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Pro-tip:
The sender should resonate with the target audience for the highest credibility.Â
Choosing someone with a similar job function or an industry expert/influencer can immediately boost credibility.
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For additional tips on convo adâs best practices, check out this post by AdConversion
Tip #9: Top 3 Objectives for Single Image Ads
Single-image ads are versatile and can be tailored to meet various objectives, but understanding which objective to prioritize can have a noticeable impact on the effectiveness of your campaigns.
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Lead Generation:Â
The primary objective for many single-image ad campaigns is lead generation.
LinkedInâs Lead-gen focuses on gathering user information through forms that are pre-populated with LinkedIn profile data, making it easier for users to submit their information without leaving the platform.Â
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Engagement:Â
The second most common objective for single-image ads is engagement.Â
This objective aims to maximize interactions such as likes, comments, and shares.Â
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It's particularly useful for increasing brand visibility and engagement within your target audience.Â
Fostering interactions also enhances the organic reach of your ads through the network effects of user engagement.
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The visual appeal and message of your single-image ad should resonate with your audience and encourage interaction.Â
Regular testing and adaptation of your ad creatives can help maintain high engagement levels.
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Website Visits:
The third objective focuses on driving traffic to your website or specific landing pages to achieve conversions.Â
Whether your goal is to increase sign-ups, sales, or another conversion action, directing users to your website allows for more detailed tracking and nurturing of potential leads in your sales funnel.
Tip #10: When to Avoid Reach Objective (Brand Awareness)
Brand awareness, which prioritizes impressions and broad visibility, often comes under scrutiny due to its cost implications and lower engagement metrics compared to other objectives.
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The reach objective operates on a cost-per-impression (CPM) model, where you are charged each time your ad is displayed, regardless of user interaction.Â
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This can lead to higher expenditure without the guarantee of equivalent engagement or conversions.Â
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The inherent nature of paying for mere visibility rather than actionable engagement makes this objective less appealing for many advertisers seeking tangible returns on their investment.
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This objective is also inefficient for retargeting.Â
Building retargeting audiences requires not just impressions but meaningful interactions that signal interest or intent.Â
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The reach objective's focus on maximizing views rather than fostering engagement makes it less effective for gathering a meaningful contribution toward the retargeting pool.
Conclusion:
In this article, we covered 10 actionable tips for matching the most suitable objectives and bidding strategies to your LinkedIn campaigns.
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Whether itâs choosing manual bidding to control costs, aligning ad types with your marketing objectives, or understanding when to leverage specific ad formats, each tip offers a pathway to better performance.
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By implementing these top 10 tips, you can navigate through the complexities of LinkedIn paid ads with greater precision and efficiency.
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I hope you found this article insightful and that it leads to successful outcomes for your future campaigns.
If youâd like to reach out or get more tips, please connect with me via LinkedIn.
Resources for Mastering B2B Advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
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âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
â
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
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Other Articles You May Enjoy.
10 Tips to Make LinkedIn Ads Work for B2B SaaS
Over the past few years, Iâve helped dozens of B2B SaaS companies develop their LinkedIn Ads strategy.Â
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Below, Iâll be sharing ten tips that I always give to my own clients, and that will significantly increase your chances of success with LinkedIn Ads đ
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:Â
- Tip #1: Research Your Customers
- Tip #2: Define Your Targeting
- Tip #3: Distribute Your Content
- Tip #4: Repurpose Your Content
- Tip #5: Test Lead Gen alongside ungated content
- Tip #6: Capture Demand With Retargeting
- Tip #7: Use Text and Spotlight Ads
- Tip #8: Leverage your SMEs for thought leader ads
- Tip #9: Set up the right tracking combination
- Tip #10: Make a commitment of at least 6 months
Tip #1: Research Your Customers
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As a marketer, it can be challenging to fully understand your customers, especially since youâre not in direct contact with them.Â
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In order to gain a better understanding, itâs a great idea to watch 3-5 sales calls, recommended to you by the Head of Sales.Â
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Analyze how your sales team is presenting the product to make sure your messaging is aligned.Â
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In addition to this, you can pull transcripts and summaries from hundreds of calls and have ChatGPT develop a content matrix and empathy map for you, summarizing the top pain points of your prospects.Â
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Here is a templatized example of the outcome. ChatGPT can pull it out in this format based on the call summaries and give you a good foundation of commonalities for different prospects.
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Once youâve identified the top pain points and topics with the help of ChatGPT, send them over to a few people on your sales team to validate them. It can be very subjective but can help you to ensure that you havenât missed any important nuances.Â
Tip #2: Define Your Targeting
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Next, define your targeting.Â
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What job titles, job functions, industries, and company sizes do you want to target?Â
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Once youâve drafted your audiences, you can share and refine with your stakeholders.Â
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To start out, you can use a simple targeting combination such as Job titles + Company Sizes + Industries.Â
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If your audience is too small using only job titles, you could substitute for Job Function + Seniority + Skills.Â
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A few additional notes:Â
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1. Make sure to check the audience insights section of LinkedIn Campaign Manager to find exclusions that you could potentially make. (video walkthrough)
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2. If you have multiple personas, make sure to separate them into different campaigns so you can tailor your messaging.
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3. There is no ideal audience size on LinkedIn Ads â small audiences of 10K can work well and larger audiences of 100K can also work well. Start by targeting your ideal customers, and you can expand over time.Â
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Recommendation: Use a validated company list for better targeting and reporting.
Tip #3: Distribute Your Content
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Once youâve set up your audience, the next step is to distribute content towards them.Â
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I highly recommend optimizing your ads for in-feed consumption â talk about the problems you solve directly in your ad copy.Â
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This way, even if people donât visit your landing page right away, theyâll still be learning about your company and can be retargeted later down the line with a more bottom of funnel offer.Â
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Videos are a particularly great format for delivering these in-feed messages, and they also allow you to generate large retargeting pools.Â
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When you run these ads, look at your impressions and views to make sure that youâre reaching your ICP. And check your engagement rate and dwell time metrics to ensure that the content is resonating.Â
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Donât expect demos or trials right away â the goal of these ads is to start generating some initial interest.Â
Tip #4: Repurpose Your Content
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Do you have any great podcast or webinar clips related to your solution?Â
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Has anyone on your team created a product demo walkthrough recently?
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Do you have any customer testimonials from recent events?
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This type of content can be easily repurposed for ads, and is great for both generating and capturing demand.
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Before you start creating new content, look at the content that you already have.Â
Tip #5: Test Lead Gen alongside ungated content
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I know lead gen is an unpopular strategy, but it can be a great approach to run lead gen campaigns alongside ungated content.Â
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If youâre getting leads from incredible people within your ICP, you can show that to your stakeholders as proof that youâre reaching the right audience, and this can help you get approval to run more ungated content.Â
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I donât recommend lead gen as a standalone tactic, but it can be a solid way to get some initial results and build your retargeting audiences, while also validating the quality of your targeting.Â
Tip #6: Capture Demand With Retargeting
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On LinkedIn, lead gen forms arenât just for content like ebooks and whitepapers.Â
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Theyâre also great for capturing demo requests.Â
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The benefit of using lead gen forms is that people donât have to leave the LinkedIn platform to request a demo, so it helps to simplify the process.Â
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To start, I recommend running these ads to your retargeting audience, since people who have already interacted with your brand are the most likely to convert.Â
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Also, when it comes to these demo campaigns, donât be discouraged if you donât see success right away.Â
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In order to succeed, you need to test different types of messaging, different content, and different creatives until you find the right formula.Â
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Another word of advice: Make sure you refresh the creatives in your retargeting audience at least once a month. Retargeting audiences tend to be small and have very high frequencies, so you may see signs of ad fatigue if you donât refresh your creatives consistently.Â
Tip #7: Use Text and Spotlight Ads
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Text and spotlight ads are an amazing and affordable way to stay top of mind with your retargeting audiences.Â
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Theyâre very small and usually appear on the right side of the feed, and they get a ton of impressions but very few clicks.Â
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I recommend setting these ads up with the website visits objective, so that you only pay when someone actually clicks.Â
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Also, I recommend setting the lowest bid you can possibly set, along with a bid cap to avoid overpaying for clicks.Â
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Another format to consider are follower ads, which are very similar to spotlight ads, but intended to drive more company page followers. This format is great for your colder audiences, and can help funnel your ICP into your organic audience for a longer term nurture.Â
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You can use this template to draft the ad copy with ad specifications. You can also use dynamic macros in follower ads.Â
Tip #8: Leverage your SMEs for thought leader ads
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If you have a founder or subject matter expert thatâs active on LinkedIn, consider running their posts as thought leader ads.Â
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Thought leader ads are great because:Â
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1. They have high CTRs and very low CPCs compared to other formats
2. They allow you to get high-performing organic content in front of your ICP
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Customer stories and educational content related to the problem you solve typically perform well as thought leader ads.Â
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Iâd avoid overly promotional and generic, AI-generated content â you want to distribute content thatâs memorable and valuable to your ICP.Â
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For more thought leader ad ideas, check out 14 Powerful LinkedIn Thought Leader Ad Strategies Worth Testing.Â
Tip #9: Set up the right tracking combination
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There is no perfect tracking combination, but you do have to make sure that youâre collecting enough data to understand whatâs happening inside your account.Â
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First of all, you can track online conversions, like form submissions on your website. Then, you can also set up conversion API to have a deeper understanding of which campaigns are turning into pipeline and revenue.Â
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Also, make sure youâre using UTM parameters â itâs much easier now because LinkedIn has dynamic UTM parameters â and pushing them into your CRM for full visibility.Â
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And add âHow did you hear about usâ into your high-intent forms to capture additional insights about the sources that indirectly influence the prospects.
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Just by having these basics in place, you should already have a solid understanding of whatâs happening inside your account.Â
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If you want even more insights on which campaigns and ads are influencing pipeline, you could use a tool like Fibbler to look at multi-touch attribution.Â
Tip #10: Make a commitment of at least 6 months
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If youâre going to get started with LinkedIn Ads, make sure you make a commitment of at least 6 months.Â
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Once you have your audience, targeting, messaging, and content ready to go, you need to decide what your game plan will be and how much budget you need.Â
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How much money will you need to generate awareness within your cold layer?Â
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How will your retargeting audiences expand over time?Â
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What metrics will you look at to determine initial success? Maybe reach and engagement as leading indicators, and conversions as a lagging indicator?Â
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Present a clear plan to your stakeholders so that they know what to expect and are on the same page. Also, emphasize that success wonât happen overnight, and that it takes time and patience to start seeing results.Â
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Hope you found this article helpful!
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Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn with any ad-related questions.Â
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Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start levelling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
10 B2B SaaS Copywriting Tips for Better Ad Performance
I donât need to be the one to tell you this, but B2B tech companies have it hard when it comes to getting their advertising to perform.
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Theyâve got complicated products. And sophisticated audiences (who are all but totally allergic to buzzwords and fluff). And together, they make communicating your company or productâs value super hard.
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Having helped countless B2B companies over the past 9 years Iâve learned more than a thing or two about writing copy for these companies.Â
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And today Iâm sharing with you my top 10 copywriting tips â tips you can use right away (literally, try them out after you finish reading this) to evaluate your existing ad campaigns and improve their performance, stat.
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TABLEÂ OFÂ CONTENTS
- Tip #1: Sell The Click, Not The Product
- Tip #2: Take Something Out Of Your Ad Instead Of Putting More In
- Tip #3: Write First, Edit Later
- Tip #4: Remember How People Interact With Ads
- Tip #5: Use The Slippery Slope
- Tip #6: Donât Be Afraid to Try Long Copy
- Tip #7: Try to Use Your Voice of Customer As Much As Possible
- Tip #8: Clear Before Clever
- Tip #9: Tie Benefits Back to Something Realistic
- Tip #10: Make Sure Your Copy Passes the âSo Whatâ Test
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Tip #1: Sell The Click, Not The Product
The first tip is more of a mindset shift: remind yourself that your ad is selling the click, not the product (as a whole).Â
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Prospects donât see your ad in isolation. They see it in the context of everything else that happens throughout their day, AND in the context of everything else they see on LinkedIn, Google, Facebook or whichever platform your ad is served to them. So unlike an ecom ad, the goal of your ad here is to build excitement and anticipation. You want your prospect to be inspired enough to click on the ad and go where they can learn more about what you have to offer.Â
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This still applies even if youâre providing a free trial, or something else that is free.
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Because if you have an average contract value of $50,000-$100,000/year your prospect is NOT going to click on your ad and buy right away.Â
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Instead focus on giving the prospect something â a tip, an idea, an emotional twinge â that will motivate them to click.
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This could be through:Â
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- The messaging you use (make sure youâre talking about how you solve business problems, not just âhey our product is really coolâ)
- The type of call-to-action (CTA) (making sure itâs not too pushy for people who didnât know you existed until now)
- The visual in your ad creative (making sure it hits an emotional soft spot)
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Remember: You can always go into more depth on the landing page. But that wonât happen if your prospect doesnât click through in the first place.Â
Tip #2: Take Something Out Of Your Ad Instead Of Putting More In
Focus on getting one really memorable takeaway across in your ad copy.Â
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Writing copy by committee is never a great strategy and itâs easy to end up with ads that are saying so many different things that the prospect wonât take away any one thing in particular.Â
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Letâs say your productâs main value propositions are: itâs fast, itâs easy to use, and it saves money.Â
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Instead of stuffing all of that information into the same ad, I would write 3 variations:
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- Ad Variation 1: FastÂ
- Ad Variation 2: Easy
- Ad Variation 3: Saves Money
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Test each message separately so you can see which performs better AND so the prospect can remember your core value proposition.Â
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Pro tip: you can say the same message 1,000 different times or more by repurposing the way you communicate that message to the market through different creatives, ad types, and copy.Â
Tip #3: Write First, Edit Later
There are so many times when we sit down to try to write an ad and itâs really hard.
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First get all your thoughts, ideas, and concepts out in a document, then let it sit for a couple of hours, and finally go back to it with fresh eyes. Â
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If you just try to write it in one session itâs going to be messy and youâll spend forever tweaking it.Â
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The idea is that you get to write a really stupid first draft. But you KNOW that itâs going to be bad. So that gives you the chance to get the bad ideas out to make way for the good stuff. Your goal is to come back later to edit and make it better.Â
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Iâve lost count of how many times my first line in the body copy becomes my headline or other parts of my copy shift places with each other because theyâre better suited for a different part of the ad. But Iâm only able to make these connections with fresh eyes.Â
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Pro tip: you can use ChatGPT for brainstorming but even still you need to let the copy sit. Give yourself time to process it so you can edit it and not just run with it at face value.
Tip #4: Remember How People Interact With Ads
Each element of your ad is a part of the puzzle.Â
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People will stop the scroll because the creative caught them. Then they'll look at the headline. Then they go up and read the body copy. And finally they go back down to the headline before clicking.
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The prospect's eyes are going all over the place which means you canât afford to have copy thatâs disjointed.
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The headline leads into the body copy and should support the creative. And the body copy should support the headline. All the elements have to work together.Â
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As Eugene Schwartz once said âcopy is not written, itâs assembled".
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Treat each element of your ad with equal importance and make sure it makes sense when you look at it from the eyes of your prospect.
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Pro tip: you canât create ads in isolation, you need your designer and copywriter working together to ensure each variable in your ad works together (headline, body copy, creative).
Tip #5: Use The Slippery Slope
Your first line of copy should get the reader excited to read the second line. The second line should motivate the reader to read the third line. And so on. Direct marketer Joseph Sugarman calls this the âslippery slopeâ. It makes sure your ad is interesting to read and that the ideas inside it are easy to digest.
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The best way to check and test your messaging for clarity and word choice is to read it out loud.Â
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If youâre in the middle of a sentence and you paused for breath, you should place a period. That will help your sentences flow more naturally one into the other.
Tip #6: Donât Be Afraid to Try Long Copy
I have a bone to pick with people who say ânobody reads online!â Because of course they donât â if they donât have something interesting to read.Â
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People binge on Netflix series, video games, novel trilogies, and more for hours in one go.Â
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When you have people's attention you can keep sharing with them new details. But you have to earn their attention, first. (Which wonât happen with clickbait.)
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What can you give them in your ad that will make them feel they got value from this interaction, no matter how fleeting it was?Â
- Did they learn something new?
- Did you make them feel something?
- Did you make them think for a second?
If you can do at least one of those three things youâll earn their attention.Â
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Itâs hard to do this in 150 characters which is why long form copy is so powerful.Â
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Donât be afraid to push up until that 600 character limit if needed.Â
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Long copy will also lead to a greater dwell time and provide so much more context and opportunity for you to build motivation so they have a reason to click through.Â
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The takeaway here is that people will read your long form ads if itâs interesting to them. But they wonât read even short copy if itâs terrible.
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Side note: When writing ad copy I create 2-3 variations for the headline and the body, usually testing out different lengths (short vs long).Â
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Hereâs my simple but effective copywriting template I use in Google Docs:
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LinkedIn ads template | Eden Bidani
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Pro tip: itâs easy for ads to get stuck in the same creative loops, donât forget to brainstorm new creative concepts to test.Â
Tip #7: Try to Use Your Voice of Customer As Much As Possible
If no one in the product marketing or CS team is interviewing your customers do this ASAP.Â
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Get on a call with them and ask them questions such as:Â
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- How do you use the product?
- What is the impact of your product?
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The goal here isnât to get testimonials, itâs to understand how your customers talk.Â
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Youâll walk away knowing the benefits that matter to them and challenges.Â
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Iâd also recommend talking with sales and asking them what are the top customer objections that prospects say and exactly how they describe it.Â
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Using the same words and language your customers use allows you to communicate in their voice.Â
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These insights are so powerful that not even ChatGPT can brainstorm this for you.Â
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For example I used to work with a company that created $700 work bags and I interviewed a customer that mentioned she used to carry around a âmom bagâ.
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What did she mean by that? âA shapeless, old ugly bag.âÂ
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That word âmom bagâ is so unique and reflective of the voice of our customers that using that in our landing page copy instantly resonated and resulted in tremendous lifts in conversion rates.Â
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Five customer interviews can be all it takes.Â
Tip #8: Clear Before Clever
Jay Abraham once said sometimes the easiest way to sell a horse is to say âhorse for saleâ.Â
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You have a fleeting moment with your prospects engaging with your ads.Â
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So even if you have to use specific, complicated terms (for your sophisticated audience)Â you need to focus on making your copy as clear as possible.
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For example, try to simplify your language as much as possible. Yes, this might result in you using less voice of customer, or using a different brand tone of voice, and other elements of your messaging. But clear will always convert best.Â
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Consider the words you are using and find synonyms that imply the same meaning with less cognitive load.Â
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John Carlton refers to these as âpower wordsâ for example:Â
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Sometimes you want to say fast but you should be saying swift.Â
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Swift implies a very different connotation than fast.Â
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Itâs a whole different level of sophistication above âfastâ but itâs still a simple word.Â
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How would you say this same thing to a friend? Is a great frame to have.Â
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Remember to avoid complicated and overdone words like omnichannel đ¤Ž
Tip #9: Tie Benefits Back to Something Realistic
Everyone LOVES to talk about benefits â think: âGrow your business!â, âTransform your workplace!", âWin more customers!â, or âOptimize your lifeâŚ!â đ
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Itâs not that itâs not true. They are. But theyâre just so high-level and vague people struggle to grasp them. You need to tie them back to something tangible â something realistic that your prospects identify with. Otherwise, they just come off as fluff.Â
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So make sure the claims you make in your ads are specific. And even better, back up your claims by connecting them to a feature or capability of your product.
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Take the step to connect your benefits back to something realistic.Â
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Pro tip: even better than talking about how your benefits connect to something realistic, SHOW PROSPECTS HOW this happens with supporting images or videos.Â
Tip #10: Make Sure Your Copy Passes the âSo Whatâ Test
You should be totally skeptical about your copy (just like prospects will be).Â
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People arenât stupid â even if they fall victim to clickbait they will bounce from your landing pages.Â
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Every time you look at your copy ask yourself so what? And pick it apart to see where itâs fluff.Â
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Sit back and look through to see where youâre missing proof points or what can be removed.Â
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Youâll be able to find all those tiny things that will throw people off reading your ads.Â
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At the end of the day your audience will look at the total sum of your ad (headline, body copy, creative) and if there are elements out of place such as:
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- Run on sentences
- Improper formatting
- Typos and obvious errors
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All of these details will affect whether the audience feels they can trust you with their click.Â
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So what allows you a third person frame to find what looks off, and what can be stronger.Â
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Pro tip: search for free ad mockup software on Google to find tools you can use to see what your copy will look like to your audience within the platform youâre advertising.Â
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Hope you found this article helpful! đ
âConnect with me on LinkedIn and letâs keep the conversation going.Â
And if youâre in need of copywriting assistance check us out at CAPE Agency.
â
Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start levelling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
10 Tips You Need to Know Before Hiring Your Next Ad Agency or Consultant
Working with an advertising agency, freelancer, or consultant?
After the past 12 years working in-house I know what good and bad looks like.Â
In this article Iâm going to share with you my hard lessons learned on working with these partners.Â
And if youâre an agency owner, freelancer, or consultant reading this (take notes!) đ
These tips are bucketed into four parts: people, product, process, and results.
Letâs dive in!Â
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Tip #1: Be clear on your communication needs and expectationsÂ
- Tip #2: Decide your meeting cadence
- Tip #3: Get clear on who and what for your tools
- Tip #4: Review your brand foundations
- Tip #5: Make sure your extended team knows the audience targeting
- Tip #6: Define your operational plumbingÂ
- Tip #7: Share your historical benchmarks
- Tip #8: Be clear on your naming conventions
- Tip #9: Have clear trackable goalsÂ
- Tip #10: Set clear timelines and deliverables
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[process] Tip #1: Be clear on your communication needs and expectationsÂ
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You have to be upfront about this from the beginning.Â
Where and how often are the two key questions here:
- Where will we be communicating? (ex: Slack)
- How soon should you expect a response? (ex: within 24 hours)
- How fast can I expect a certain task to be completed? (ex: 72 hours)Â
You need to tell your partners what you expect from them in terms of communication.Â
Steal this template:
âHey {Name}, I want to be really clear that with the agencies I work with I expect a response from my slack or emails within {timeframe, ex: 12Â business hours}â.Â
This is equally as important for those of us managing clients as it allows you to more effectively prioritize your communications with clients and triage your day.Â
[process] Tip #2: Decide your meeting cadence
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This tip connects with the previous around framing expectations.Â
You have to get clear on how often youâre going to be meeting, is it weekly, bi-Weekly, monthly?
Communicate your expectations on how often youâll meet and the options available.Â
By getting clear on your needs and how fast you want to get things done will allow you to answer this.Â
The best part about defined meeting cadences is that it allows you to hold people accountable.Â
Itâs a forcing function that makes sure youâre getting what you need fast enough.Â
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My preferred meeting cadence:
Weekly for the first six weeks to build trust and create momentum then move towards bi-weekly.Â
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Within the first 6-weeks of working with a new agency or consultant youâll want to ensure they are set up with:
- Systems access
- Clearly defined goalsÂ
- Clarity on your ICP and audienceÂ
From here everything is addressed and you can move to a bi-weekly cadence.Â
Again this is my personal preference align according to your needs!
If you want some tips on how to run an effective meeting check out my LinkedIn post đÂ
[process] Tip #3: Get clear on who and what for your tools
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The last thing you want is for it to take four weeks for your agency to get plugged into your system.Â
Get your new partners access to your systems as fast as possible so they can begin adding value.
Build a document with a clear list of all the primary tools theyâll need access for and who to contact.Â
If the agency, consultant, or freelancer youâre onboarding already has clear documentation already on how you can provide them access to their primary tools this is a green flag! đ˘
If you can take the initiative to build an internal version of this document even better.
You know your marketing operations person's name, make sure they know as well.Â
The more people working together across teams the more important this becomes.
[product] Tip #4: Review your brand foundations
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Make sure your agency, freelancer, or consultant understands your brand.
Your brand foundations consists of:
- What does your solution do?
- Whatâs your unique value prop?
- Whatâs your origin story?
- Who are your competitors?Â
- Whatâs your tone of voice?Â
Even better if your partners can sit in on a live demo (or at the minimum watch a recording).Â
If your partners donât get sold on the unique value you provide they will never be able to make an impact with the campaigns they create for you (and red flag if they donât want to know! đ´).Â
[product] Tip #5: Make sure your extended team knows the audience targeting
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We touched on this on tip #4 but this is so important it deserves its own tip.Â
Audience targeting is the foundation of everything youâre going to be doing.
You need to be absolutely clear on:Â
- Job titles
- Job functions
- Company size
- Industries
Really, really, really hone in on this! đ
Make sure your extended teams knows this as well.Â
This is where your buyer persona comes into play, if you need help on how to craft one check out Module 2 of my B2B Advertising Foundations course where I show you how to piece it together.Â
Give them as much customer information as possible because they have to know this.Â
They need to know what good vs bad leads look like.Â
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Pro tip:Â
Keep all this customer information in a shared document so your partners can refer back to it in the future when needed and setup a shared channel to monitor lead quality đĽ
[process] Tip #6: Define your operational plumbingÂ
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You need to be specific on how things should be tracked.Â
The goal isnât to just drive leads, itâs to scale legit qualified pipeline and revenue.Â
Work with your extended teams to map out your customer lifecycle operations.Â
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For example, they should be clear on:Â
- Once someone fills out a form, now what?
- How are leads being handed off to sales?Â
- How is the team being notified on new leads?Â
- How are they being followed up with?Â
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From here itâs piecing together the right UTM conventions for measurement, connecting forms in our marketing automation tools so be able to route appropriately.
Walk through all of these steps and the points in-between so things are tracked.Â
Take my word for it, defining this will save you a lot of headaches at the end of the quarter! đ
[results] Tip #7: Share your historical benchmarks
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You need to first understand your historical benchmarks so you can share them.Â
Reverse engineer your funnel to understand your performance between steps.
This will look different for every company but hereâs an example for sales led:
- Meetings Booked
- Meetings Completed
- Opportunities
- Pipeline
- Revenue
Knowing the difference between steps is crucial to improve efficiency.Â
If your agency or consultant isnât trying to reverse engineer your funnel thatâs a red flag! đ´
Share these historical benchmarks and hold them accountable.Â
[Process] Tip #8: Be clear on your naming conventions
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Your partners need to be able to jump inside your ad accounts and understand whatâs happening.Â
The first step is making sure they are informed on your naming conventions.
Align on naming conventions for:Â
- Forms
- Campaigns
- Creatives
And if youâre reading this and donât have existing naming conventions, ask yourself:Â
What are the questions Iâd like to answer from my campaigns?Â
For example, I want to know:
- Whatâs my performance by region?Â
- Whatâs my performance by campaign objective?
- Whatâs my performance by ad?
Then use these answers to include them in your naming convention.Â
This is a really small in the weeds tactical step but worth sharing.Â
[results] Tip #9: Have clear trackable goalsÂ
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Determine the metrics that matter that your advertising partners should track and the frequency in which they should be reporting on these goals to you.Â
I personally like to report on these weekly to make sure everything is pacing appropriately.Â
This also allows you to pivot quickly when things start to go off track.
When determining the metrics that matter, also brainstorm your leading indicators.Â
Leading indicators are clear metrics that help you determine early signs of success.
For example, depending on your campaigns objective it might look a bit different:Â
- Lead gen = qualified leads created
- Awareness = engagement rate by ad type
Just choose something that can happen quickly within the first 7 days of a campaign going live and is a relevant milestone that will ultimately lead to your end goal.Â
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đ˘ An early and specific goal is better than no goal at all.
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Without this clarity you or your partners wonât be able to prioritize what needs to be done.Â
If youâre struggling with deciding on your goals go back to tip #7 and understand your benchmarks.Â
[results] Tip #10: Set clear timelines and deliverables
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Defining the success metrics that matter and the roadmap to get there is CRUCIAL.
You have to be clear upfront timelines for both parties or itâs going to get squirrely đżđ
If itâs not defined upfront as you go things will go sideways.Â
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Communicate to your agency, consultant, or freelancer:
Hereâs what we expect from month 1, 2, and so onâŚ
Youâre hiring these experts to come in and solve a specific problem.Â
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The goal is to hold your partner accountable to the outcome and not tasks.Â
This keeps you focused on the things that matter (ex: funnel optimization, benchmarks, goals).Â
I hope you found these 10 tips helpful and the best of luck in your future partnerships! âĽď¸
â
Connect with me on LinkedIn, and letâs keep the conversation going.Â
You can also visit my website here for more valuable content.
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Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
Google Ads Quality Score: Everything You Need To Know (2024)
Mastering quality score is essential if you want to pay less per click and outrank competitors.
In this article youâll learn the 80/20 of what you need to know about quality score.Â
Letâs dive into it!Â
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Quality Score SimplifiedÂ
- How is Quality Score Calculated?
- How to audit your Quality Score?
- How to improve your Quality Score?
- Quality Score FAQ
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Quality Score SimplifiedÂ
Back in 2005, Google released Quality Score.Â
This is a number from 1-10 that Google created to determine how relevant your ads are to what people are searching for (1 being the lowest relevance, and 10 being the highest).Â
Google wantâs people who search to find what they are looking for.
This way they come back to Google and search again in the future.
Quality Score is how they gamified the system to achieve this objective.Â
Itâs the perfect trinity between advertiser, searcher, and Google:Â
- Advertisers are rewarded with lower costs when having higher quality scores
- People searching for answers on Google will now find more relevant informationÂ
- Because people find relevant information they use Google again in the futureÂ
Before Quality Score was introduced Google was filled with tons of irrelevant ads leading to a poor experience for searchers and ultimately less people using Google in the future.Â
(In my opinion) Quality Score was one of the most important features released that transformed Google into the most dominant search engine in the world.Â
The secret to improving Quality Score is relevance.
How is Quality Score Calculated?
Ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR are the three variables that go into calculating your Quality Score. Depending on how relevant each is to your keywords youâll have a final score between 1-10 (1 being the lowest relevance, and 10 being the highest).Â
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Ad Relevance
A metric that determines how relevant your keywords are to your ad copy.Â
Above average signifies great relevance, below average signifies room for improvement, below average signifies poor keyword and ad copy relevance.Â
Ad relevance is 100% in your control and below average ad relevance is usually the result of poor ad group structure resulting from too many keywords and/or few variations of ad copy.Â
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Landing Page Experience
A metric that determines how relevant your keywords, ads, and post click experience matches the search intent of the user.Â
Itâs not just about having your keywords on the page, it also takes into consideration page load speeds, page structure (ex: H1, H2s, H3s), and mobile optimization.Â
Above average signifies a great landing page experience, average signifies room for improvement, and below average signifies poor post click experience.Â
Expected CTR
A metric that determines the likelihood of someone clicking on your ads once seen in the Google search results.Â
In my experience auditing Google Ads accounts this is the #1 most common variable that drags down quality score for most accounts since itâs the least in your control.Â
This is Googleâs perception based on historical and predicted performance on how well you believe your ad will be engaged with.Â
Above average signifies a highly engaging ad, average signifies room for improvement, and below average signifies poor ad engagement.Â
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How to audit your Quality Score?
Once you understand the basics of quality score that it is a factor of relevance and three components that determine whether youâre a 1-10 the next logical question becomes:
Whatâs impacting my quality score performance?
Hereâs how to run a Google Ads quality score to find whatâs impacting your performance.Â
[EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO]
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Step 1 - Download a keyword reportÂ
Within your Google Ads manager navigate to the keywords section within your account:
Campaigns > Keywords (press G + K for a keyboard shortcut)
Modify your keyword columns to include:
- Quality Score
- Ad Relevance
- Landing Page Experience
- Expected CTR
Once completed download your keywords into a CSV.
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Step 2 - Summarize your keywords into a pivot table
Pivot tables are great for summarizing large amounts of data.Â
Within Excel navigate to Insert > PivotTable to summarize your keyword report.Â
Once complete format your table as follows:
- Rows = Quality Score
- Values = Count of Keywords
- Filter = Quality score 1-10 (exclude â)Â
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Step 3 - Drill down to understand Quality Score performance
With your table setup now you can easily see overall quality score performance and drill down into specific elements such as ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR.Â
Switch your rows to drill down into each element of quality score to diagnose performance:Â
- Ad Relevance; rows = Ad Relevance, values = count of keywords
- Landing Page Experience; rows = Landing Page Experience, values = count of keywords
- Expected CTR; rows = Expected CTR, values = count of keywords
How to improve your Quality Score?
After completing your Google Ads Quality Score audit it should be pretty clear which factor of QS is hurting your performance? (ex: ad relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR).
Hereâs some recommendations on how to improve each QS factor:Â
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Improving Ad Relevance
Below average ad relevance is a symptom of poor ad group structure.Â
If you have below average ad relevance, fear not! Because this is 100% in your control.
Hereâs some tips to improve your ad relevance:Â
- Add more headline variations to your responsive search ads to include the keywords within your ad groups.Â
- Keep your ad groups tightly grouped with thematic keywords, for the keywords that canât fit the theme consider putting it into its own group with relevant copy. Â
- Consolidate your active keywords and remove below average ad relevance variations that are not receiving any worthwhile impressions or clicks.Â
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Improving Landing Page ExperienceÂ
Below average landing page experience is a symptom of poor post click experience.Â
If youâve been neglecting your landing pages this is where itâs going to bite you.Â
Hereâs some tips to improve landing page experience:Â
- Include your primary keyword in your headline 1 to match search intent and your ad copy.Â
- Run your landing page through PageSpeed Insights to find how you can improve the mobile and desktop experience.Â
- Follow on page SEO best practices and have proper headline, and content formatting. Remember Google will crawl your landing pages so make sure itâs technically sound.Â
- Install a session recording tool to see how users behave on your landing page, the insights here are invaluable at understanding gaps.Â
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Improving Expected CTRÂ
This is Googleâs perception on how likely your ads will be clicked.Â
Unfortunately this aspect of Quality Score is the least in your control but that doesnât mean there isnât anything you can do to improve it.Â
Hereâs some tips to improve your expected clickthrough rate:Â
- Use as many ad extensions as possible (ex: sitelink, image, structured snippet, etc). Ad extensions provide more info to the searcher and make your ads larger.Â
- Test new RSA ad copy on a monthly basis to consistently try and improve your ad clickthrough rate performance on an ongoing basis.Â
- Monitor your account clickthrough rate trends month over month to combat negative trends. You can set up an automated rule within Google Ads to be notified automatically via email.Â
- Audit your search terms report and build your negative keyword lists. Block irrelevant impressions of your ads so that you can actually drive clicks.Â
- Experiment with dynamic keyword insertion to see if it positively affects your ad CTR.
Quality Score FAQ
How long does it take to improve your quality score?Â
Technically every time your keyword enters an auction quality score is recalculated to determine placement of your ad in relation to your competitors.Â
However in my experience it usually takes a month to see significant changes in your overall score.Â
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Should you worry about low quality scores?Â
Yes, low quality scores should cause concerns but it shouldnât be your initial priority. The first goal should be to drive relevant traffic and convert users.Â
If youâre not currently accomplishing this then stressing about quality score is pointless as itâs really only a factor of reducing your costs and improving visibility.Â
If youâre not already converting the visibility you do have, getting more of it wonât help.Â
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What is a good quality score?Â
A good quality score will fluctuate depending on your keyword strategy but overall Iâd recommend having 70% of enabled keywords in your account with a score > 7.Â
Just know this is highly circumstantial and if youâre running a competitive keyword strategy you will have lower quality scores by default given the difficulty of including your competitors in your ads.Â
Hope you found this article helpful! đĽ
Check out our video tutorial linked if you want a visual walkthrough.Â
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Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
How To Use The Google Ads Editor In 2024: Bulk Upload Campaigns, Ads & Keywords
Thereâs nothing worse than making bulk changes natively in Google Ads.Â
If youâre ready to save hours bulk uploading campaigns, ads, and keywords.Â
Mastering the Google Ads Editor is essential.Â
Letâs cover everything you need to know đ
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- What is the Google Ads Editor?
- How to get started with the Google Ads Editor?
- How to bulk upload campaigns, keywords, and ads with the Google Ads Editor
â
â
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60-second crash course on the Google Ads Editor
What is the Google Ads Editor?
Itâs a free tool that you can install to update your campaigns offline including altering campaign settings, adjusting keyword bids, and creating new campaigns, ads, and ad groups.Â
Any serious Google advertiser uses the editor to save hours performing tedious tasks.Â
Make sure you download the latest version of the editor to follow along in this article.Â
How to get started with the Google Ads Editor?
After installation add your Google Ads account within the Account Manager and download all campaigns so you have the most recent version of your account.Â
The Google Ads Editor follows the same account structure:
Account > Campaign > Ad Group > Keyword > Ads
Highly recommend using the Hide Empty Types filter to reduce irrelevant options visible.Â
How to bulk upload campaigns, keywords, and ads with the Google Ads Editor
The easiest way to bulk upload campaigns into the editor is using a google sheet template.Â
This template should have the following fields fields available (at minimum):Â
- CampaignÂ
- Ad Group
- Keyword
Get a copy the example template below here <<
Once you have your template copy youâre ready to get started.Â
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Step 1: configure your campaign import template
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Fill in your import template with all the relevant campaign names, ad group, keywords, and ads.Â
Do not modify the column headers as these are meant to match the editors default fields.Â
Feel free to fill in whichever fields you find most relevant.Â
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Step 2: Upload your campaign import template
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Once youâve completed setting up your campaign import template with all your relevant details itâs time to import your campaigns into the editor.Â
Navigate to Account > Import > Paste Text to begin the import process:
Once complete copy all of the column headers and rows you filled in in your import template and paste them into the import from text window:
Donât worry about the blank âNot importingâ columns this is due to the formatting of the import template I provided, instead review the fields that are filled in the column headers.Â
Make sure everything is looking accurate according to what you want to import.Â
Once complete click Process to import the campaigns, keywords, and ads.Â
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Step 3: Configure your campaign settings and publish
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After reviewing your changes make sure to select Keep in order to retain them.Â
Now you should have all of your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads that you filled into your import template visible within the Google Ads Editor.Â
The final step is to configure your campaign and publish your changes. â
Highlight each of your new campaigns at the sametime to apply the same campaign settings across of all them at once đ
Review all available campaign settings and uncheck the Display Network for search.
If you donât want your campaigns to spend when published, change the status to Paused.
Once your campaigns are ready to be published into your live Google Ads account.
Select Post > Post Changes > Selected CampaignsÂ
Thatâs it! đyouâve just saved hours and created campaigns in bulk.
Hope you found this article helpful, see you in the next one!
â
Resources for mastering B2B advertising
If youâre serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion.Â
âHereâs 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:
â Â 100% free access.
â Â Taught by vetted industry experts.
â Â Have workbooks, resources, and templates.
â Â Less than 10 minutes per lesson.
We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:
- Â Scale their ideas
- Level up their careers
- Make a positive impact
Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.
Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it đ)
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10 Tips for Free Competitor Research Using Ad Libraries
With so many different tools available for competitor research it can be a bit overwhelming.Â
Iâve lived and breathed paid ads over the past eight years, and in this article Iâm going to share with you 10 tips on how to conduct competitor research for free using ad libraries.Â
Grab a notebook and letâs dive in!
â
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Tip #1: Familiarise yourself with all the available ad libraries
- Tip #2: Leverage time and location filters
- Tip #3: Estimate platform demand by volume of creatives
- Tip #4: Build a swipe folder of ad inspiration
- Tip #5: Research brands in adjacent industriesÂ
- Tip #6: Build a matrix to document your competitorsâ movements
- Tip #7: Build a checklist to uncover strategic insights
- Tip #8: Review the ad formats being usedÂ
- Tip #9: Clickthrough to review landing pages in use
- Tip #10: Review your competitorsâ UTM string
Tip #1: Familiarise yourself with all the available ad libraries
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The first step is to know what options you have available.
Here are the primary ad libraries available for the top 3 ad platforms:Â
LinkedIn Ad Library
Meta Ads Library
Google Ads Transparency Center
Within each library you can study creatives for your competitors and relevant brands.Â
Using them on a quarterly basis to spy on your competitors is a key habit to develop.Â
Tip #2: Leverage time and location filters
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You can filter by time and location within each ad library to understand:Â
- Which markets are my competitors investing in?
- How many creative variations are my competitors testing?
- Are they testing localised campaigns outside of english?
You wonât know exactly how much your competitors are investing but you can use the volume of ads as a proxy to estimate the level of investment, and interest for a given market.Â
If you spot certain markets where youâre finding organic traction AND you see your competitors have gone through the commitment of localising these regions,these are great signals for you to consider running a pilot campaign.Â
Tip #3: Estimate platform demand by volume of creatives
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We touched on using the volume of as a proxy to estimate the level of investment for a market.
The same logic applies to also understanding the demand for a specific ad platform.Â
Letâs use a hypothetical example, imagine you see the following for your competitor:
- LinkedIn Ads = 20 active ad variations in the past month
- Meta Ads = 10 active ad variations in the past month
- Google Ads = 5 active ad variations in the past month
Based on the volume of ads you can assume LinkedIn could be their primary platform followed by Meta, and finally Google. Look up your competitors and take note of their volume of ads by platform.
Youâll never know with 100% certainty but itâs a good approximation for at least the effort they are expending on each channel, if not their level of success.
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Pro tip: get buy-in from leadership to test new ad platforms by showing them how active your competitors are within those channels, this creates FOMO which is quite powerful.Â
Tip #4: Build a swipe folder of ad inspiration
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A swipe folder is a simple collection of screenshots of ads, landing pages, and offers that stand out.
As youâre going through the ad libraries take note of the ads that catch your attention from competitors, relevant brands, and from scrolling through social platforms. Â
Inspiration comes from all sources and by building this swipe folder you can:
- Better communicate and share guidance with your creative team
- Avoid reinventing the wheel with tested concepts
- Reduce the time to produce new creatives
This can be as simple as a folder in a Google Drive, it doesnât need to be complicated.
If you want to be organised about it you can also group ads by concept, such as:
- Social Proof
- Thought Leadership
- Product Marketing
The most important piece to takeaway from this is you have some sort of folder to refer to.Â
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Pro tip: create a shared slack channel for people across teams to upload examples of great ads they come across to crowdsource inspiration.Â
Tip #5: Research brands in adjacent industriesÂ
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Oftentimes your competitors might be behind the ball when it comes to advertising.Â
In these instances researching them wonât be very helpful or worthwhile.Â
Instead what you can do is research brands in adjacent industries, for example:
- eCommerceÂ
- E-learning
- RetailÂ
You can take what works in other industries and adjust it to fit in yours.Â
Creativity is often taking what works from one sphere and applying it to another.Â
Tip #6: Build a matrix to document your competitorsâ movements
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If you want to take your competitorsâ research to the next level, build a documented matrix.Â
This can be as simple as:
- Competitor Namesome text
- Month/Year
- Channel
- Ad Count
It will take a bit of work to put this together but the primary benefit is you can now monitor your competitorsâ activity by ad platform on a quarterly basis.Â
Hereâs a simple example of what this can look like in Google Sheets:Â
Pro tip: if youâre looking for a role in paid media, do a competitor research analysis on the brand youâre applying for. It's a great way to differentiate yourself against other candidates.Â
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Tip #7: Build a checklist to uncover strategic insights
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When reviewing your competitorsâ ads in the library youâll want to think deeper than just the surface level of the styles and examples of ads in front of you to uncover strategic insights.Â
Create a simple checklist to remind yourself to think about:Â
- Are the ads running to gated or ungated content?
- Is there a mixture of content that focuses on demand creation or capture?
- What stage of the funnel are their ads focused on? (ex: ToFu, BoFu)
- What mixture of offers are they testing? (ex: Conferences, Webinars)Â
- Are they driving to a landing page or lead form?Â
Compare the insights you uncover against your current approach.
If you notice 3 of your competitors are promoting events and youâre not then itâs worth testing.Â
Tip #8: Review the ad formats being usedÂ
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This was touched on slightly before but it deserves to be in its own tip.Â
As youâre reviewing competitors in the library take notes of the ad formats being used.Â
For example, when it comes to LinkedIn are they testing:Â
- ImageÂ
- Video
- Spotlight
- Carousel
- Document
- Conversation
If you notice a large volume of a certain ad format itâs safe to say it must be working.Â
Compare the formats they are using against your own to inspire future experiments.Â
For videos take special note of aspect ratio, short vs long form, and other nuances like humour.Â
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Pro tip:assign your competitor research tasks to an intern or junior person as pulling these insights is quite time-consuming and can be done by an entry level team member.
Tip #9: Clickthrough to review landing pages in use
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The remarkable thing about these libraries is that you can click through on the ad and view the landing pages your competitors are using. This insight is not otherwise easily discoverable.Â
This all of sudden opens up a lot of homework for you to perform landing page teardowns.Â
- What are the calls to action on the landing page?
- How is the page structured compared to yours?
- Do they have better social proof than you?
Now suddenly your swipe folder can be filled with print screens of their entire landing pages.Â
Which can be shared with your team to test new page variations.Â
Pro tip:
If youâre using Google Chrome you can use the extension called GoFullPage to take screenshots of entire pages with the click of a button.Â
Tip #10: Review your competitorsâ UTM string
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To close out on our final tip, I wanted to share a more advanced approach.
When youâre clicking through to the landing page of your competitorsâ ads take note of the UTM string in place to potentially uncover insights on how theyâve set up their campaigns.Â
By reviewing the URL structure I might gather the following information:
- Network = g | theyâre advertising on Google Search
- Device = c | theyâre running ads on Desktop devices
- Keyword = crm software | theyâre bidding on crm software
- Matchtype = e | theyâre using exact matchÂ
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Hope you found this article helpful! đ
Connect with me on LinkedIn and letâs keep the conversation going.Â
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