In the previous article, Reaching Your Exact Audience Using LinkedIn’s Comprehensive Demographic Targeting (Part 1), we gave an overview of the targeting types available for LinkedIn. In a few examples, we showed how you can focus in on a very specific set of Job Titles and Functions, and filter even further by specifying Company Size to reach the exact target you desire. Today we take a different approach to reaching a similar group of Advertising Professionals as we targeted in the first article.
Segmenting using Skills Targeting
LinkedIn uses many different types of targeting options designed to allow you to target your advertising to focused groups. In our previous article, we attempted to reach people based on Job Title and Category. Much like Job Title, the Skills targeting option allows you to type in some general skills and drill down into related skills to build out a comprehensive list. The skills selected serve as list of skills held by people to whom you want your ads shown. For example, we entered the term “Advertising” and were presented a list of more specific skills such as Direct Response, Creative Strategy, Brand Advertising and Mobile Marketing offered as additional suggestions.
As with any good advertising campaign, segment your audience into focused groups around distinct skill sets. For example, Segment advertising into Mobile and Print campaigns, rather than merging all advertising professionals into a single group. Clearly ads and landing page combinations created to serve these groups contain different benefits. Separation keeps the targeting and messages as focused as possible. We show in the screen shot terms we might use for the Mobile campaign. Alternately, for the Print campaign select terms like Press Checks, Direct Mail Pieces and Traditional Media.
Using the “Consider adding:” suggestions in LinkedIn provides ideas on how you might better or more narrowly focus your campaigns. As you add in additional skills, LinkedIn updates the total number of LinkedIn members that fall into that category. Keep the member total number in mind as too small of a number limits exposure and hampers the ability to test your offer. Alternatively, too large of a number could means your skills are not focused enough, and you should split into smaller more focused groups to highlight differences in performance. Also, keep in mind adding additional targeting like Company Name or Industry, drop member numbers significantly. Keep targeting more broad until you add any limitations. After adding additional segmenting, check to see if your audience size meets your needs.
Segmenting using Company Name or Industry
We created a few campaigns using skills around Mobile and Print advertisers. Now, we segment these campaigns even further by adding in Company Names or Industry types. Assume we are trying to reach print advertising professionals in the healthcare industry. Take the existing print campaign and add on an industry selection of “Health, Wellness and Fitness” and “Hospitals & Health Care”. Adding on these segments will lower your total member numbers as it limits the targeting to only people from these segments that match your previously created skills lists. Using the combination of Industry and Skill targeting allows you to tailor your ads and landing pages to cover the specific benefits your products or services provide to that industry. If appropriate, highlight clients or projects in that industry as a way of showing experience and success with like clients.
The second approach works by actually picking Company names. Much like with Skills selection, LinkedIN offers you company names that are in the same industry as your first selection. In our example, we started by entering Humana as the first company and received suggestions for similar companies like United Healthcare, Aetna and WellPoint. Selecting specific companies dramatically drops you member numbers, if the numbers get too low, widen your skill listing or keep adding companies until you reach a manageable member list.
The Skills and Company combination provides an additional way to reach professionals with your advertising. Combined with Job Title and Job Function options, LinkedIn offers multiple ways to approach your target audience. In the next installment of our series on LinkedIn advertising, we focus on Group targeting, and recommend some other combinations of segments to approach your targets from all angles and give yourself the best opportunity for success.
