In today’s online world, there are several ways that businesses can market their products and services. If your business is focused on B2B sales, chances are you have already started to experiment with some of the wonders that LinkedIn has to offer.
That being said, with all the different ad types available, it can be challenging to know exactly which one would work best for your company. This article will examine spotlight ads to help you determine whether it is something you should implement for your business.
What Are Spotlight LinkedIn Ads?
Spotlight ads are part of the dynamic ads campaign format type and share many similarities to LinkedIn’s popular text ads. They are more personalised to each member as they are tailored to the user’s LinkedIn profile data — job title, profile photo and company name.
Spotlight ads will show the user’s profile picture and their name making it feel more relevant to the viewer. The personalisation factor that these ads have helps to create a more engaging experience and could ultimately lead to more conversions taking place.
In a nutshell, spotlight ads are a great way to create a more engaging and relevant advertising experience for users that does not feel intrusive. When someone clicks on these ads, they are usually taken to a website, landing page, a company page on LinkedIn or a page to download useful content like an ebook.
Here is a quick look at the specs of a LinkedIn spotlight ad:
An ad headline (50 characters)
Company image (Company logo with a size smaller than 2 megabytes)
Company name (25 characters)
Optional background image (ideally around 300×250)
Optional ad description (70 characters)
A website URL
A call to action
When Should You Use Spotlight Ads?
LinkedIn Spotlight ads are excellent for driving brand awareness as they quickly grab users’ attention. Therefore it is best to use these ads to increase awareness or to drive traffic to your website or landing page. They are also great for retargeting campaigns thanks to their personalised nature.
Here are a few different use cases where LinkedIn spotlight ads could prove beneficial:
To increase website traffic.
When a business wants to promote high-value content like an ebook, whitepapers or webinars.
A company wants to get users to a landing page where the intent is to collect leads from a specific audience. If you are after in-platform lead generation, then it is better to go with a different LinkedIn ad type that supports this directly.
A business wants to increase brand awareness.
A company wants to re-engage users who have interacted with the brand in the past (Retargeting).
A business wants to hire new talent and promote the job listing.
One thing to note about spotlight ads is that while they are great, it is better to use them with other ad types in your marketing strategy instead of solely relying on them. The truth is that the chances are low that they alone will revolutionise your marketing efforts.
However, when used in conjunction with other stronger ad types, they can provide valuable support that can enhance overall campaign effectiveness and help achieve a more well-rounded marketing strategy. Think of it this way, they should be a part of your strategy and not the strategy itself.
If you are still unsure when to use spotlight ads or whether it is a good fit for your business, reach out to us to book a consultation. Snowball Creations is a paid media agency with expertise in crafting tailored advertising solutions to ensure you get the most out of your ad spend. Contact us today and let us point you in the right direction.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Spotlight Ads
LinkedIn Spotlight ads offer a unique way for businesses to engage with their targeted audience via tailored and dynamic content. Due to these ads leveraging LinkedIn user data, they deliver a personalised experience that can significantly boost awareness.
However, like with any ad platform, these dynamic ad types come with their own set of advantages and drawbacks. Below, we’ll take a quick look at some of the key benefits and potential drawbacks to help you decide if spotlight ads are the right fit for your business’s marketing goals.
Let’s start with the positives first:
They are personalised to your target audience making them feel more relevant to the viewer.
They work exceptionally well for retargeting campaigns.
It can be an effective way to increase brand awareness while also driving traffic to a website or landing page.
They can quickly generate a high number of impressions — take note that impressions do not necessarily transfer over to clicks.
Depending on your campaign objective, you will have multiple bidding strategies to choose from.
Now for the negatives:
Spotlight ads only work on desktop devices. Considering that 60% of LinkedIn’s traffic comes from mobile devices, this could be a major downside for many businesses.
Compared to other ad types, spotlight ads generally have a lower click-through rate (CTR). So while they are effective at increasing brand awareness, they could see a low amount of clicks. However, there are many factors that can contribute to this.
Same as with the CTR, when compared to other ad types, this dynamic ads’ cost per click (CPC) can be more expensive.
How to Set Up LinkedIn Spotlight Ads
Setting up a spotlight ad is rather a straightforward process. Below is a quick look at the steps you could follow.
Step 1: Log in to your LinkedIn Ad Campaign Manager and click “Create Campaign”. Next, you will need to enter your campaign name and select the objective.
Step 2: After choosing the objective, you are ready to select the audience targeting options you prefer.
Step 3: The next step is to select the Spotlight ad format type. If that is all done you can enter your marketing budget and select your bidding options. You can go with maximum cost per impression (CPM) or maximum cost per click (CPC). Generally speaking, it is better to use CPC as this will mean you are only charged when someone clicks on the ad. Which works well with this type of ad.
Step 4: This step is all about conversion tracking. While it is optional, it is one to definitely consider if it fits with the campaign objective — e.g. lead generation. When finished click “next” and create the ad.
Step 5: Here you can enter your ad copy, a headline, a company name/image, a call to action (CTA) and the destination URL. You could also add a custom background image but this is not recommended. Doing so will remove the user’s profile photo and the ad description which takes away the main component of what a spotlight ad is all about.
Step 6: After you have clicked save, you can now launch the ad and the campaign will become active.
Making Spotlight Ads a Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Spotlight ads are a great option if a brand is looking to increase its overall awareness. It’s also a solid choice if they are considering running a remarketing campaign to target users who have been on their website but did not convert. Remember to keep in mind that while this dynamic ad format type can bring great success for a business, it should not be the entire strategy.
It is better to use spotlight ads alongside other ad formats to have a more well-rounded marketing strategy. If you are looking to take your LinkedIn ad campaigns to the next level, fill in the contact form below and let our experts guide your hand to drive real results.