Are Linkedin Ads Too Expensive?

This is a question that we get asked quite a bit.

The first thing people notice when running LinkedIn ads is that they are way more expensive compared to Facebook or Google ads. That’s when people start to weigh the costs of LinkedIn ads against those of Google search or Facebook and wonder if LinkedIn ads are worth the extra cost.

But is it fair to just compare ad platforms based on CPC and CPL?

Are there other factors that should be considered that might make running Linkedin ads far more attractive?

Let’s take a closer look at Linkedin Ads vs. Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads.

Why LinkedIn Ads Beat Facebook Ads

First, let’s tackle the myth that Facebook produces leads at a lower cost than Linkedin.

LinkedIn paid ads have a more expensive cost-per-lead because you’re paying for quality, so it is worth the higher price tag. You might get clicks and leads from Facebook at a lower price, but out of the, say, 20 leads that you get from Facebook, how many of those actually show up on a call with you? What’s the show-up rate of those leads to an actual booked meeting? And then what’s the quality of those meetings, and do you get any value out of those meetings? If they do actually show up, what’s the close rate of those meetings?

These are the questions you have to ask and answer to get to the true heart of the debate.

LinkedIn’s lead quality, lead show-up rate to booked meetings, close rates of those meetings, transaction size as well as lifetime value of those deals frequently beat what you’d receive from Facebook since it’s much more hyper-targeted, and leads often have greater buying power.

So, from that point of view, the leads, the booked meetings, and the deal sizes are worth more and I would be willing to pay a lot more for a lead or a meeting source from LinkedIn than I would from Facebook because of the quality.

Because Facebook is a consumer platform, it has consumer data and the history of how they interact with ads and purchases. It’s good at targeting consumers, but it’s bad at identifying business leaders or decision-makers at B2B-type companies who have decision-making status.

It makes a lot more sense to target ads toward professionals on LinkedIn, given that users’ company size, industry, and job titles are publicly available information on that platform.

Why LinkedIn Ads Beat Google Ads

Another roadblock we face in convincing people to give LinkedIn a try is that LinkedIn is also expensive in comparison to Google ads. This is mostly because Google is the first marketing channel most businesses explore and is capturing bottom of funnel demand.

In addition, you can obtain high-quality leads by picking up on searches that reveal the purpose behind the search for that keyword. We find that keywords like “LinkedIn Ads Agency,” “LinkedIn Marketing,” and “LinkedIn Ads Management Service” generate the most interest and, ultimately, the most sales leads from Google.

It’s typically a good sign that the traffic is worth investing in if someone actively seeks the exact service you offer. Also, since you aren’t trying to convince them that the problem exists, the leads you get will be at the very bottom of the sales funnel. With targeted advertising, you can reach people actively looking for a solution to a problem (like “LinkedIn ads management service for my software company”) and are, therefore, more likely to buy from you. Google ads would be a reliable place to begin your advertising campaign for most startups.

But the primary distinction between LinkedIn ads and the other options is that with LinkedIn ads, you begin by “cold targeting” or displaying ads to those who aren’t actively looking for your solution and haven’t actually requested it. There is no evidence that they actually need it, despite what their demographic criteria would suggest.

Google Searches target people at the bottom of the funnel. LinkedIn starts targeting people at the top of the funnel. So it’s already an unfair comparison because it’s just a different marketing strategy targeting prospects at different stages of their buying journey.

So, when most people consider LinkedIn ads too expensive, they simply begin using them without creating a strategy for their advertising campaign. They test LinkedIn cold ads before making a decision.

“The cost per click is too high, and the cost per lead is too high,” they say. ” And yes, we got some conversions, and they were good quality, but we’re losing money,” and they don’t realize that LinkedIn ads are so different than Google Search. Running cold LinkedIn advertisements alone will not get you anywhere. The only way to make LinkedIn advertisements work for you is to use their retargeting layer.

And the amazing thing about LinkedIn retargeting is that the LinkedIn Insights tag can see the traffic to your website from any source. So if someone is running successful Facebook ads, or if they’re running successful Google Search ads, LinkedIn can see that traffic, qualify it (because we can use all of those filters), and retarget these people on LinkedIn for the next 90-180 days and show them the other ads that are being run on different platforms. This is how LinkedIn retargeting helps supercharge the ROI from your Google ads.

So that’s one superpower that LinkedIn has that the other platforms don’t. Tapping into improving the ROI of your other channels is how LinkedIn becomes a really effective channel by itself and a great addition to your overall marketing ecosystem.

The Hidden Superpower of LinkedIn Retargeting Strategy

As already established, the real value of LinkedIn ads is how it works with your other channels.

Companies need to stop thinking about these different ad channels in a silo. Even the question of “LinkedIn Ads or Google Ads” or “LinkedIn Ads or Facebook Ads” is wrong, and it shouldn’t be an “either-or” scenario. Retargeting is a good place to start if you’re considering integrating LinkedIn ads into your ecosystem. Simply install the LinkedIn Insights tag on your website, build the retargeting audiences, and wait for them to collect if you have high-quality traffic that converts on your landing page.

And then, once you get some easy wins by getting more conversions out of the traffic you already have, then you should start to dabble with and grow your cold LinkedIn campaigns and start to get on the radar of new people. This can be accomplished by getting more conversions from the traffic you already have. And by that time, you should have a solid LinkedIn retargeting strategy up and running so that when you do get new visitors, you have a solid system to retarget them and turn them into customers.

Use LinkedIn Ads Today to Get Quality Leads

Are LinkedIn ads too expensive? Yes, when you look at the service level, numbers, and leads, that’s what most people think.

But when you look at the quality and the deal sizes, and when you go deeper into those numbers, you see the real value for the money you pay. With LinkedIn’s excellent retargeting strategy, you can combine the performance from other platforms and get new customers. This added benefit makes LinkedIn ads a cut above the rest.

Schedule a demo call with the Impactable team today to get your business in front of new customers with LinkedIn ads!