Are you wondering whether LinkedIn is a viable platform for advertising your business? The short answer is yes, but the approach you take can vary. In this article, we’ll explore three key methods to advertise your business on LinkedIn: paid ads, organic outreach, and a unique strategy for connecting with people you’ve never met before that actually works better than you might think. Let’s dive in!
1. Paid Advertising on LinkedIn: Pros and Cons
Paid advertising on LinkedIn offers a range of benefits and challenges. On the positive side, the key advantage of paid ads is the ability to test, tweak, and optimise your campaigns rapidly. You can experiment with different ad formats, targeting, and creative to improve your sales funnel and get faster results.
However, there’s a significant downside—paid ads on LinkedIn are expensive. In fact, LinkedIn, along with YouTube, tends to be among the priciest platforms for paid advertising when compared to Facebook. If you’re on a tight budget, you may want to begin by testing your ads on Facebook and then gradually scale up to LinkedIn once you have a better understanding of your audience and what’s working.
How to Set Up LinkedIn Ads
Setting up LinkedIn ads is straightforward, but it requires some attention to detail. Once you’re on the LinkedIn Ads page (called Marketing Solutions), you’ll find a variety of resources and a range of options to help you target the right audience. You can set specific objectives, explore different ad formats, and dive into analytics to track performance.
LinkedIn’s targeting options allow you to reach people based on their location, job role, and even their specific interests. It’s a great tool for highly targeted campaigns, but be prepared to manage the costs.
2. Organic Outreach: The Power of Personal Connection
While paid ads can be effective, you don’t have to rely on them entirely. One of the most effective methods I’ve used on LinkedIn involves organic outreach. This approach is all about building relationships and reaching out to potential clients or collaborators without relying on paid ads.
Finding Your Target Audience
LinkedIn has powerful search tools, and one of the most effective ways to reach the right people is through LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This tool allows you to filter leads by company type, role, recent activity, and other relevant criteria. It helps you build a highly targeted list of potential clients or partners.
While many people use LinkedIn’s search function just to spam potential leads with promotional messages, I recommend a more thoughtful approach. Instead of immediately sending a promotional message about your business, try starting with a compliment.
The Compliment Approach
Here’s the game-changing strategy: Reach out with a sincere compliment. For example, if you’re targeting coaches, you could say something like, “I really appreciate the work you’re doing. I see the impact you’re making with your coaching, and it’s truly inspiring. Keep up the great work!”
The results can be surprisingly powerful. Many people will reply to you, and even more will visit your profile to learn more about you. A few may even reach out to set up a conversation, which could lead to new opportunities or partnerships.
This approach works because you’re not immediately selling to them. You’re showing appreciation for their work, which naturally sparks curiosity and creates a connection.
3. A Twist on Outreach: How It Can Work Even Better
The key to organic outreach is genuinely adding value and building relationships. Rather than pushing your message to people who may not be interested, focus on engaging with people who are already aligned with your values and business goals. This way, your outreach feels authentic, and you’ll be much more likely to start meaningful conversations.
Conclusion: Take Action on LinkedIn Today
If you’re looking to advertise on LinkedIn, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Paid ads can provide quick feedback and rapid testing, but they come at a high cost. Organic outreach, on the other hand, can be a more cost-effective way to build relationships and grow your network. By combining both strategies—and adding your own personal touch—you can build a strong presence on LinkedIn.
If you want to learn more about effective marketing strategies, I’ve created a powerful YouTube funnel strategy for lead generation that I highly recommend checking out. It’s a great follow-up to this article, and I’m sure you’ll find it valuable.
Let’s start using LinkedIn the smart way, building real connections that drive results!
