LinkedIn steps up their ad game with Matched Audiences

LinkedIn recently rolled out their latest ad tool and we couldn’t be more excited.

Matched Audiences is LinkedIn’s latest tool in ad targeting. It compares to the Facebook and Twitter models but has the potential to break ground in your B2B strategy.

Matched audiences offers three new targeting options:

Website Retargeting

LinkedIn has finally integrated retargeting. Now, you can stay top-of-mind with users who have visited your website by appearing as sponsored content in their LinkedIn news feed or inbox.

Contact Targeting

With Matched Audiences, you can now target specific email addresses and contact lists.

Account Targeting

Trying to infiltrate a company for some serious leads? With Account Targeting you can target people based on the company they work for.

Before launch, LinkedIn ran a six-month test program of over 2,000 campaigns. Results showed a 30-37% increase in click-through rates across each of these options.

Not only can you use these new targeting features together, but you can match them with the original targeting definitions like age, gender, and location. Be careful, though, over-specifying your target market can come off as a tad creepy.

You can also use Matched Audiences to specify who not to target. Imagine you’re promoting a staff party and you want to reach the whole company – except for upper management. You could use Account Targeting to remind everyone you work with and Contact Targeting to leave out your supervisors – party time!

Strike while the iron’s hot

While it’s true that LinkedIn’s user base is smaller than Facebook’s, consider your audience’s mindset. Can your ad copy compete with the baby photos and vacation updates that dominate Facebook feeds?

The reason LinkedIn ads have the potential to dominate B2B marketing is because the target audience is being reached while they’re in work mode. LinkedIn is the virtual cross-company water cooler and the exact place to network and generate B2B leads.

This is a great move by LinkedIn to stay competitive with other social ad platforms. We’re excited to get started with Matched Audiences.