What if you could make your LinkedIn ads feel more personal, spend less money, and guarantee that your audience would see them? That’s where LinkedIn message ads come in, and in this article, we’ll show you how to add message ads to your B2B marketing strategy and generate more leads.
What Are LinkedIn Message Ads?
LinkedIn message ads are ads that come from a personal LinkedIn account. They resemble direct messages from personal accounts, and they land in the recipient’s inbox. A message ad consists of a text message and your logo, but you could also add an image.
When running these ads, you can select the sender of the message. We recommend that you choose someone at the top of your organization, such as the founder or a marketing leader. Make sure that the sender is also relevant to the message and offer.
For example, a message coming from the CML (Chief Marketing Lead) makes sense if you’re selling to marketing agencies or marketing leaders.
These ads are sponsored and paid for from the ad account but appear as personal messages.
They overcome the limitations of sending personal messages, offering better targeting options. You also cannot send messages to people outside the account’s network. Now, you’re able to pinpoint your target audience and have your message look and feel more personal when it lands in their inbox.
Difference between LinkedIn Message Ads and Conversation Ads
LinkedIn message ads and conversation ads are very similar, so you might be confused. LinkedIn sponsored message ads are plain text and typically cheaper. These look less like ads and aren’t as interactive as conversation ads.
LinkedIn conversation ads allow for multiple-choice paths and options, making them more interactive but also more expensive. Your choices appear as buttons under the text part of your message, and your recipient gets a different reply depending on what they click on, just like a chatbot.
We compared a LinkedIn message ad example and a conversation ad below:
Benefits of Using LinkedIn Message Ads
Some reasons for using LinkedIn direct message ads are:
- Personalization: These ads look less like ads and feel as a real person reached out.
- Not very expensive: Because this ad type is not overly used, LinkedIn message ads are comparatively less expensive than other formats.
- Identifying prospects is easier: These ads provide more data on profile views, aiding in identifying potential prospects. If the people are looking at your profile as you run the ad, you can see who viewed your profile and then use the data and feedback to increase awareness for your personal brand.
- Guaranteed delivery: Message ads offer the targeting power of LinkedIn and guaranteed delivery. The chances people will see your message are higher because these ads are only sent when people are online.
Drawbacks of LinkedIn message ads
Some limitations of message ads are:
- Varying prices: The pricing varies depending on who you’re targeting. For example, If you’re targeting a small group of C-level professionals – it’s hard to get to their inbox so you pay more.
- More restrictions: You’re competing with other people to get to the inbox; you can’t saturate them – it’s a single extra touch – and additionally, you can’t try multiple messages at a time because you only have one unique attempt to reach your audience, so your message has to be strategic.
- Not a standalone strategy or solution: You can’t rely only on your messaging ads. It should be a part of the ecosystem.
- Your message might reach a different inbox: LinkedIn filters inboxes, so your ad might land in a different inbox, such as the “Other” inbox or a spam inbox. This could make your ad feel and look like spam, and diminish the personal factor that makes it unique.
LinkedIn Message Ads Best Practices
Lastly, let’s cover how to make your message ads perform well. Some best practices are to:
1. Use them for retargeting
Increase your audience’s familiarity with your company! If people have some idea of who you are, the chances they open your email are higher. It’s not a great first touch, so I recommend that you use it as a warm touch and not for cold outreach. Not sure how frequently you should send your ads? See why 5-9 touches is the best ad frequency.
2. Personalize your message with a specific custom list
The more specific the list, the better your messaging will be. For example, a list of event attendees from your most recent LinkedIn event or online event – curate your message for that specific audience.
3. Choose the sender strategically
Curating who the message comes from is important. The sender should be relevant to the audience and the message you’re sending. For example, a message ad from your CMO is best for marketing experts, not sales representatives or coding experts.
4. Position yourself as an expert, and don’t be salesy
Don’t make your message ads a sales pitch. Keep it brief and straightforward. Position your message as an expert resource so that prospects recognize that you can solve their need at that time.
By changing a you-centric call to action with a buyer-centric call to engagement, you increase your chances of a reply and build a foundation for your social selling strategy.
Our experience shows that switching between these approaches can lead to a 5x increase in reply rates for regular LinkedIn outreach.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn message ads present a unique opportunity for businesses to connect with their target audience in a more personal and cost-effective manner. These ads offer several advantages, including personalization, affordability, improved prospect identification, and guaranteed delivery when recipients are online.
Ready to leverage the potential of LinkedIn message ads for your business? The Impactable team is here to help you incorporate message ads into your strategy effectively. Reach out to us today to start making your marketing efforts more engaging and impactful.
