How Ecommerce Marketers Can Successfully Compete With Amazon

Amazon is everywhere. The online shopping behemoth sells everything, delivers in days (or even hours, depending on where you live), and offers a peace of mind that new brands or unvetted competitors simply can’t match. But despite all these advantages—there are still some opportunities for ecommerce marketers to beat Amazon at their own game.

First, though, you need to know what you’re up against. Currently, Jeff Bezos’ brainchild owns 45% of the ecommerce market share. And barring any major shake-ups in the industry or regulatory crackdowns from the government, it’s unlikely that’ll change anytime soon. Even the other major names in retail, like Walmart and Target, struggle to shine within Amazon’s shadow.

Amazon is projected to own 50% of the ecommerce market share in 2021. That’s half of all online sales. (Source: Statista)

In order to successfully compete, you need to play to your strengths and lean into what makes your brand different. Here are some of the top strategies ecommerce marketers have used to carve out their own niche and get shoppers to choose their online store over Amazon.

3 Reasons Shoppers Choose Amazon (And How Your Brand Can Compete)

There are a few good reasons why Amazon has become so popular over the last decade. With products extending into virtually every category imaginable, competitive pricing, and guaranteed shipping options, most online shoppers have little reason to look anywhere else.

But while it may be impossible to match Amazon from a size and scale perspective, you can look at some of their top-selling points for inspiration to help differentiate your brand.

1. An unmatched selection of products

Bacon bandages. Game of Thrones coloring books. A 188” inflatable elephant. You can find just about anything on Amazon. But while this “one-stop-shop” approach is convenient, it also means shoppers aren’t getting the same level of quality or expertise they might be looking for. It’s like when you go to a diner and they have everything on the menu—you already know that it’ll probably not be the best place to order a lobster dinner.

Opportunity? Focus on brand and product education.

For all that Amazon does provide its sellers, it’s missing these two important things: 

• The ability to build and reinforce your brand as the place to shop for one particular type of product.
• The opportunity to educate shoppers on your category and the specific value proposition of your product. 

You can do both of those things with your own website and ecommerce landing pages. Building a relationship with your shoppers through your owned sales channels can earn their loyalty, show shoppers why you’re the best retailer for this category of products, and make them more likely to come back for more.

2. Fast, reliable shipping

Amazon Prime has spoiled us—and the rest of the shopping public—when it comes to shipping and delivery. Many a shopping cart have been abandoned upon learning of high shipping costs or long delivery times.

Opportunity? Focus on customer service—or join them.

Luckily, more and more fulfillment providers are offering fast shipping times. Deliverr just raised $40 million earlier this year to provide merchants with 2-day shipping at rates lower than Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

If that’s not feasible for your business model, you can also compete on customer service. Shopping on Amazon is impersonal, to say the least. Focus on providing fast, friendly service and every other aspect of customer retention to get a leg up on the ecommerce giant.

3. Competitive pricing

Economies of scale are no joke, and if there’s one thing Amazon has—it’s scale. 49% of internet users in the U.S. say they shop on Amazon because they have the best prices. But in reality, Amazon isn’t always the cheapest option—and you may have an opportunity to sweeten the deal for customers in other ways, too.

Opportunity? Focus on enticing discounts and promotions.

To compete with Amazon’s low prices, you need to offer enticing discounts on your ecommerce website and landing pages. When a customer feels like they’re getting a good deal, it increases the likelihood that they’ll convert. For some tips on how to use discounts and promos to bring in more online sales, check out some of the strategies ecommerce experts are using for Black Friday 2020.

3 Weaknesses of Amazon (Your Brand Can Capitalize On)

Amazon is masterful at getting users to convert. The website, mobile app, and single-click checkout process contribute to the company’s success. But there are some areas where Amazon doesn’t perform as well, and you can focus on these areas to provide a better shopping experience and convert more browsers into buyers.

1. Cluttered, distracting pages

Each link away from a page gives visitors an opportunity to leave or get distracted without making a purchase.

When you think about all the things that Amazon brings to the world, elegant design is not one of them. Remove friction from the buyer’s journey with a cleanly designed landing page engineered to usher shoppers through conversion, and you’ll increase the likelihood of making a sale.

Editor’s Note: Want to make your landing page beautiful and high-converting? Learn the 7 Principles of Conversion-Centered Design to see how creating more focus on your landing page can help you increase sales.

2. Long, hard-to-read copy

For more insights on ecommerce landing pages, see the 2020 Conversion Benchmark Report.

One of the biggest takeaways from the 2020 Conversion Benchmark Report is that the best-converting ecommerce landing pages keep it short and sweet. The study shows that conversion rates typically increase with easier readability scores and decrease with higher word counts. So while pages on Amazon tend to go long (and get technical) sometimes, you can make shopping easier with a simple and user-friendly shopping experience.

3. Generic on-site pages

For the most part, every brand looks the same on Amazon—which means there’s not a lot of opportunity for differentiation. This is where your online storefront and ecommerce landing pages have a chance to shine. Compare the generic Amazon example for an electric toothbrush above to this Unbounce landing page example for a Goby toothbrush. Shoppers are more likely to remember your brand and hit that “Shop Now” button when you put products in the best possible spotlight.

Image courtesy of Goby. (Click to see the whole thing.)

How to Compete with Amazon at Every Stage of the Funnel [A Beginner’s Guide for Online Brands and Marketers]

Competing with Amazon takes brains, not brawn. You need a thorough understanding of the marketing funnel—awareness, consideration, decision, and post-sale—for any hope of growing your sales. Here are some more tips to consider as you move shoppers through the buying journey.

1. Build awareness at the top of funnel

You might make the best-performing running shoe on the planet, but if no one knows your brand exists you’ll never sell a pair. Build awareness by developing a strong brand and getting it in front of potential customers before they realize they need your product. 

Run a display ad campaign via Google Ads.

Unlike PPC ad campaigns, which appear based on keywords in search queries, display ads are targeted based on various combinations of demographic and psychographic segments. These can be great for grabbing the attention of potential shoppers. Google Shopping campaigns are also becoming a popular way to get in front of audiences early on in the process.

Leverage social media platforms.

The potential for audience targeting on social platforms is powerful, and the time users spend scrolling every day makes it worth the investment for you to show up there, too—either through paid advertising or organically. Social media is used to some degree in almost every stage of the funnel. Active online engagement, in the places your target audience dwells, can get your brand in front of your future customers. 

Earn awareness through word of mouth.

One of the best ways to make people aware of your products is to surprise and delight your current customers so much they tell all their friends and family about you. A little more complicated but doubly effective is through public relations. If your business has an interesting story to tell, you might be able to score some media coverage. 

Don’t count out local.

You’ll have an advantage in your own geographic area, especially if you have an active brick-and-mortar there. Leverage local advertising and PR to spread more awareness. If the target market is right for you, some local businesses have found success advertising on Nextdoor.

2. Target shoppers in the consideration stage

Amazon is a popular choice for many reasons, but pricing and shipping are at the top of the list. Your business needs to be able to offer other compelling opportunities that Amazon can’t match.

Educate your shoppers.

Content marketing isn’t just important for search engine optimization—it’s also one area of the funnel where Amazon doesn’t compete. This leaves a door open for you to develop brand trust and create a reputation as an industry leader. Solo Stove, for example, is a leading name in fire pits and camp stoves that has embraced this opportunity with a fun and informative blog, featuring topics their target audience wants to learn more about.

Distinguish your brand.

Think about your ideal customer and their goals and aspirations. Does your on-site branding reflect those aspirations? For instance, you might want to consider positioning your business as a high-end, bespoke shop as opposed to Amazon’s feel of a digital “big box store.” This Unbounce-built landing page example from waterdrop has a conversion rate over 50%—which makes it a prime example of how effective this strategy can be.

Image courtesy of waterdrop. (Click to see the whole thing.)

Run a PPC campaign.

Using a targeted Google PPC ad campaign can highlight your brand before customers find Amazon links in the search results, putting you front and center. A well-crafted ad that nails search intent can get your brand at the top of a search results page, letting potential shoppers know that you exist and are ready to meet their needs.

3. Make it easy to purchase at the bottom of funnel

Number of visitors to your site is just a vanity metric unless they’re also converting. The more you can do to turn leads into buyers, the more revenue you can drive to grow your brand.

Leverage a focused, engaging landing page.

If you’re running a specific campaign, using a highly focused, conversion-optimized landing page can help drive conversions. An advantage of a landing page is that it pares down unnecessary elements to keep the user’s attention on the most important elements: the product and the call to action.

Image courtesy of Ascent Footwear. (Click to see the whole thing.)

Editor’s Note: Learn how to make your landing page more engaging with data from the Conversion Benchmark Report. We used machine learning to analyze over 15,000 ecommerce landing pages and discovered which emotions and words tend to trigger more sales.

Display customer reviews for social proof.

Customers love reviews—in fact, a whopping 95% of shoppers read reviews before making a purchase. Amazon excels in the review space. All reviews are at the bottom of a product page, and many include images. To be a competitor, you need to feature reviews loudly and proudly.

Here’s how ColdCalm displays their reviews on their product page. It’s cleaner and more obvious than any Amazon page example.

Offer discounts and promotions.

Amazon does many things well, but discounts and promotions generally aren’t a part of the sales strategy. As such, running discounts and promotions is a great way to get a leg up on Amazon. Use your email list to regularly promote new or top-selling products and send promo codes when possible.

In creating discounts, consider using Amazon’s pricing as a base. See how much similar products are selling for on Amazon and try to aim slightly lower. When combined with a free shipping promo, you can ensure your customers get the experience they enjoy with Amazon while staying loyal to your products.

Here’s how TRIBE used their landing page to promote a special offer.

4. Get customers to buy again

Once you have customers on the hook, it’s essential to keep them coming back. A one-time purchase is good, but without a way to generate repeat sales, you could be losing out on a lot of revenue if they choose Amazon next time.

Run a referral program.

A referral program can be an excellent way to keep customers engaged and enthusiastic. This concept is essentially a win-win—it motivates customers to drive business to your brand while also rewarding them for being fans. These programs can be relatively easy to establish and often don’t require a significant upfront investment.

Over 90% of shoppers trust reviews from family and friends, which is why so many of the top subscription box services use referral programs to grow their business. Customers love incentives, so offering a discount in exchange can be a great motivator.

Subscription boxes like GoodFood offer free meals in exchange for referrals.

Keep engaging with return customers through email marketing.

Stay in contact with your shopper base via email marketing to remind them of your presence and keep them feeling connected to you. Amazon is an expert at this, with email communications coming regularly enough to keep up customer engagement, but not too often to be annoying.

You can put your own spin on email to announce new product launches, offer promotions, and surface up other content your audience might find useful. Unlike acquisition channels like PPC or social media, nobody owns your email list except for you—which means you have a direct line of communication to shoppers already interested in your product.

Brands like Vessi combine email marketing with landing pages to get more sales.

Establish responsive customer service.

Just because customers can’t meet you face-to-face doesn’t mean they won’t have questions that need to be answered. Amazon isn’t always known for customer support, so this is a space where you can outshine the competition.

Here are some of the top ways to provide excellent customer service:

• Offer simple and direct ways for customers to ask questions, including email and chat
• Always aim for fast response rates and turnaround times on customer requests
• Train customer service agents to politely handle queries of all kinds

You Have All the Tools You Need to Compete

In a market where Amazon is consistently the front-runner, staying competitive isn’t easy. Still, it’s important to remember that it’s more about playing the game than fighting to be the ultimate victor.

Because with the right marketing plan and ecommerce platform, any brand can attract a strong customer base—despite Amazon, not instead of Amazon. Get started today by building your first ecommerce landing page, or check out the 2020 Conversion Benchmark Report to get more inside scoops and industry insights.

from Unbounce https://ift.tt/3p0eyQL

Black Friday Isn’t Dead. Here’s How to Win More Online Sales in 2020

When you think of Black Friday, you might think of getting trampled at Walmart trying to snag a half-price TV or the latest toy phenom for your kids. (“Baby Yoda purchase, you must.”) This year is a bit different though—COVID-19 has upended the economy and new social distancing measures have changed the in-person shopping experience.

Some experts say the writing is already on the wall: Black Friday, the most important shopping day of the year, is either dying or already dead. Nobody wants a crowd of people rushing around their store in 2020, and small businesses already feeling the pinch from months of lower sales volumes aren’t gonna be able to offer the same level of discounts.

Online shopping though? That’s a completely different story.

This Black Friday will be the largest yet for e-commerce. Mark my words.— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) September 2, 2020

For ecommerce and DTC brands, Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 are poised to be bigger and more competitive than ever before. Not only have online shopping sales doubled during the pandemic, research from Google shows that 69% of holiday shoppers will be doing more shopping online this year. Plus, a whopping 77% of people say they will be browsing for more gift ideas on the internet instead of in-store. Turns out, folks are happy to stay home in their turkey stretch pants and see what’s available, rather than line up outside in the freezing cold at 5 AM and hope they get a doorbuster deal.

Every year, online sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday break new records. 2020 looks to be no exception. (Source: Statista)

This is a major opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses that are already set up to sell online. Shoppers will be actively looking for deals in categories like clothing, health, beauty, food, electronics, and subscription services—and they won’t just be looking on Amazon, either. This year, more people are showing an openness to try new brands, experiment with new products, and make an effort to shop local.

While big name stores get the largest piece of the revenue pie, there’s still a lot of opportunity for small and medium sized businesses. (Source: Is Black Friday Dead?)

But you can’t just put out a simple discount and hope online shoppers take notice. To get the most out of this Black Friday weekend (which is coming up fast, btw!), you need to set up meaningful deals that are worthwhile for your customers, craft compelling messaging to stand out from the competition, and use psychological triggers to get more clicks. This article is the perfect read for marketers who are still working on their strategy for the big weekend, or still mulling over which deal they want to promote. Use these tips from the leading ecommerce experts to develop your game plan and boost your online sales.

Looking for more tips? Check out how to create smarter ecommerce landing pages for the holidays, including expert advice on how to write copy for gift-givers and use the holiday rush to your advantage.

8 Expert Tips to Win More Online Sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

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1. Set Up Clear Communication on Deals

Like pumpkin spice lattes, every year the Black Friday deals tend to start a little bit earlier. This year is no exception, with brands like Home Depot, Walmart, and Macy’s having already announced their sales would be starting as early as October (well over a month before the actual calendar date).

For some companies, Black Friday is just a state of mind.

Ben Jabbawy, Founder and CEO of Privy, says that while this puts less pressure on the Black Friday weekend itself, it also creates a new challenge for marketers. Online shoppers will be less likely to make a purchase if they think a better deal is still coming down the pipe.

What was all concentrated on one day will now spread out and continue to grow. Because of that, I think the consumer is going to be more numb and confused about Black Friday. If everyone’s emailing their customers earlier this year to try to get the wallet share—as a consumer, I’m like, well, should I wait? Or should I buy now?

Ben suggests the best way to reassure your customers is to be upfront and clear with your communication. Having a popup or sticky bar show up on your website can help you neatly explain what deals will be available, and when they expire.

My common advice is just don’t make the customer think. Immediately greet all traffic in the holiday season with a notification or a screen takeover. Reduce friction and just make it clear what you’re doing up front. Clear communication.

The flash sale popup template is perfect for letting visitors know about what deals are available. You can easily customize it in just a few clicks to match your brand and offer.

2. Use Dollars Off, Not Percentages

Discounts are the most common perk associated with online shopping during Black Friday weekend. (Well, that and cans of unicorn meat. Yum.) It’s not uncommon to see brands offer site-wide discounts like “40% OFF ALL PURCHASES” or global coupon codes that visitors can apply at checkout.

But Patrick Campbell, CEO of Profitwell, says that in order for your discount to hit the sweet spot it needs to be framed so customers can visualize how much cash they’re actually saving. This is especially important during COVID-19, when so many people are being more prudent with their purchasing.

With discounts, the instinct is to do a percentage off. But it’s almost always better to use a physical dollar amount off (or a buy one, get one free) instead. Percentages tend to work worse unless you’re doing a really high amount, like 70% off. The reason is the human brain… I can very quickly and very concretely imagine a hundred dollars. Whereas a percentage is harder.

This example from Belk shows how confusing it can be to shoppers when you offer a percentage off instead of an actual dollar amount. Not only am I unsure how much money I’m saving here, but I’m also unclear how to even claim this offer on their website. (It says “Get coupon” in the top banner, but then “Doorbuster prices so low you don’t need a coupon!” below. You’re tearing me apart, Belk!)

65% off + an extra 50% off select brands. So I’m getting… 115% off? Geeze, math is hard.

Compare this to a deal where the savings are crystal-clear, like this one from a Black Friday landing page for YogaDownload built using Unbounce. You see the price you’re going to pay for each product, then the original price crossed out, and then the actual savings in the CTA buttons. No confusion here—which also means no reason to click away.

Much better. It almost makes me want to take up yoga.

3. Offer Free Gifts or Bundles

It might be challenging for small businesses to match the steep discounts large retailers are offering this year. So rather than try to beat them in a race to the bottom, there are other types of promotions you might want to consider to attract customers.

Patrick Campbel says free gifts and bundles are often more attractive to shoppers—especially if you’re running a subscription service where you’re trying to hook people into trying more over a longer period of time.

Think about bundling stuff more than just using the sledgehammer of a discount. If you’re a subscription toothbrush company and you offer an extra tube of toothpaste, those customers retain at a 15-20% higher rate. That means their subscriptions are basically around for an extra month or two compared to your other types of customers. They’re more ingrained within your brand and they’re using more of your products, which gives you more surface area to sell them more.

A free gift can be a great way to entice shoppers to sign up for your subscription service. (Source: BoxyCharm)

This strategy has also worked like gangbusters for food and nutrition companies. Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands, says bundling can be a really effective way to increase your average order value (AOV) while also getting customers to try a broader range of products.

In 2017, we created this great value deal for Hint Water that was basically nine cases of water for $99. So instead of an AOV of maybe two or three cases, we were able to hit much higher revenue goals. And because we bundled pre-selected flavors, we were able to introduce new flavors to the customer as well.

A high-value bundle can be refreshing for shoppers. (Source: Hint Water)

4. Make a Personal Connection with Customers

COVID-19 has changed the world in so many large ways that we’re still coming to terms with many of its effects. Millions of people have lost their jobs, and over 150,000 small businesses have closed since the beginning of the pandemic. For many entrepreneurs, this means it’s going to be very difficult to offer discounts or free items over the Black Friday weekend.

But that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Vivian Kaye, Founder and CEO of KinkyCurlyYaki, says there are other ways to show your appreciation for shoppers during these difficult times.

COVID has made everyone feel lonely and isolated. Try doing things that make your customer really feel like you’re paying attention and you did this just for them. Remind them that you are also a human being—you are not Amazon. Customers will remember those personal touches, like a handwritten note you include with their package.

This is something the Vanness Pen Shop does on the regular when they ship out orders, and their customers absolutely take notice. If you’re able to interact in ways the impersonal big box stores will never be able to match, you’ll be able to build stronger long-term relationships with shoppers.

It might seem simple, but a handwritten message can go a long way during a global pandemic.

5. Don’t Overextend Your Offers

While it can be tempting to run your Black Friday promo from October all the way to the end of December, it’s probably not the best look for your brand. Not only does this create less urgency for the deal, it can also reflect poorly on your offer if you keep “extending” the sale. Val Geisler, CEO of Fix My Churn, pointed out on Twitter what happens when you repeatedly try to push the same deal to shoppers.

How To Become A Discount Brand In 10 Emails Or Less: pic.twitter.com/xeialSKfdc— Val Geisler (@lovevalgeisler) February 18, 2020

So how do you maximize your sales throughout the holiday season without annoying your customers or diluting your brand? Nik Sharma suggests mixing up different deals and products on different days of the weekend to keep shoppers curious and interested.

I always say go for high AOV on Black Friday, go for something that drives volume on Cyber Monday, and give back to the community on Giving Tuesday. You don’t want to always have the same thing, otherwise, people aren’t going to be inclined to come back.”

6. Create a Unique Campaign Message

Everybody loves a great deal. But there are going to be hundreds of thousands of discounts competing for attention on Black Friday weekend. How does your small business get the word out and stand apart from the competition?

This is where it helps to have a compelling message for your campaign. Jeremy Cai, CEO of Italic, says that if you’re able to say something unique and connect it back to your company values, you’ll be able to create a deeper connection with shoppers. It’s a strategy that has worked incredibly well in the clothing and apparel industries…

Cut through the noise with a compelling message that’s unique to your brand. Our team always references the ad Patagonia ran in the New York Times a few years back on Black Friday: it featured a Patagonia jacket and the headline ‘DON’T BUY THIS JACKET.’ The ad wasn’t successful in its intended purpose—(sales rose 30% following the campaign)—but it raised awareness of a serious problem, excess consumerism, and reinforced Patagonia’s standing as a values-driven brand.

Not the usual message on Black Friday.

7. Launch an Exclusive or Timed Product

Another tactic that has worked well (especially for clothing and apparel companies) has been to drop exclusive products during the Black Friday weekend in lieu of a discount. As Ben Jabbawy explains, a limited-time offer creates a sense of urgency for shoppers who fear missing out.

There’s probably nothing better than an exclusive product launch. We’ve seen brands like Allbirds do this in the past where you know that they’re building hype leading up to it, they’re teasing out their new colors or their new material weeks ahead of the product launch. And they’re letting you know specifically that they’re launching a new product on this day and that this is likely the only day that you can get it. That’s actually a great hook.

You don’t necessarily have to go all Beyoncé and keep your launch a surprise, either. Build up the suspense with a pre-launch landing page where customers can enter their email address ahead of time to be first in line for the new product.

Allbirds doesn’t offer discounts on Black Friday—instead, they release limited-edition styles and colors.

8. Create Focus on the Deal

The ideal customer on Black Friday weekend will give you their full attention. They’re immediately interested in your offer, and they’re waiting cash in hand—ready to place an order.

That’s something that almost never happens. In fact, most shoppers during this holiday weekend are as distracted as a teenager texting their BFF (Black Friday Fam) at the dinner table. There’s so much going on, so many emails coming in from different brands, and so much noise for them to filter out. You’re lucky if you get a few minutes of their attention, let alone enough time for a click-through.

This is why Nik Sharma says the number one way to get more online sales during this weekend is to use a landing page with zero distractions.

On Black Friday, people want to shop around. Help narrow down their opportunities by building landing pages for your offer. That way, you’re not worried about people getting derailed from the page or checking out other pieces of the site. Put everything they need on that one page and you’ll increase your conversion rate.

But how much difference can a landing page actually make? Nik says directing traffic from your email list, social media ads, or PPC ads to a landing page instead of a website can have a huge impact on your final sales numbers.

If you look at an on-site conversion rate, you might be hovering between 1-4% on average. But if you look at a landing page click-through to a cart… we’ve seen anywhere from 18-25% end up right in the cart from getting to the page.

Get Ready for an Unprecedented Black Friday Weekend

No matter what happens this Black Friday weekend, one thing is for sure: it’s going to be very different. More shoppers will be staying at home and doing their shopping online, which means marketers have to be ready with their most competitive deals, compelling messaging, and optimized landing pages. (Also, you’re going to need coffee. Lots of coffee.)

Check out our ecommerce lookbook for more campaign inspiration, read more about how to create smarter landing pages for the holidays, or get started now with your free 14-day trial of Unbounce and over 100+ high-converting landing page templates.

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The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Advertising on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become a premium location for advertising, particularly if you’re looking to sell a B2B or SaaS product. The platform has more than 675 million users, which means your LinkedIn ads can reach as much as 12% of the world’s population. And what’s more, you’ll be getting your offer in front of a self-selected audience in a professional context—not 16-year-olds who wanna see their friends do the Toosie Slide.

Bottom line: If it’s not already a part of your marketing plan, LinkedIn is super fertile ground to seed some of your ad budget—but it can be a harsh and expensive channel if you don’t do things right. To make LinkedIn advertising worth your while, you’ve gotta understand the basics. That’s where a guide like this one can help.

Let’s take a look at the steps you’ll need to take to successfully advertise on LinkedIn.

Why Should You Advertise on LinkedIn?

You might think your money is better spent running a Google Ads campaign or on promoted Facebook posts, but LinkedIn offers a special kind of opportunity. The feed hasn’t been overrun by digital marketers and people don’t yet harbor the same suspicion of LinkedIn ads. That means the platform tends to be pretty effective and cost-efficient for advertisers.

LinkedIn is best suited to B2B products or services because you’re reaching people in a professional atmosphere. Where Facebook users are browsing to pass the time or catch up with friends, users that see your LinkedIn ads are already in a mindset to take action on behalf of their business. If you hit ’em with the right offer, there’s a way better chance they convert here than on Instagram or Twitter.

One more great thing about LinkedIn: You can advertise to almost any segment you can dream up. Target people by their company, years of experience, industry, education, title, age—whatever. You can ensure your advertisements are only seen by the users who are most likely to want what you’re sellin’.

Sounds great, right? Well, how about we get started with our first LinkedIn advertising campaign?

Running Your First LinkedIn Advertising Campaign

Step 1: Get a LinkedIn Advertising Account

You’ve probably already got a LinkedIn account, but if not, go ahead and create one. It just takes a minute or two and it’s totally free.

Next, head to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager. You’ll have a chance to link your account to your company’s business page, plus choose the currency you want to run your advertising campaigns with.

Step 2: Create Your New Campaign

If you’re a new user, LinkedIn should automatically put you into the campaign creation flow. Otherwise, from the Campaign Manager dashboard, click “Create Campaign.” You wanna end up here:

One of the most important parts of creating a new campaign is ensuring that the name is super descriptive. As you build your LinkedIn ad portfolio, you’ll find that consistent name formatting is key to organizing your campaigns and measuring their success.

Consider including some of the following info in your campaign title to help you identify it more easily later on:

• Reference to the marketing campaign title
• Business line or product description
• Type of campaign (e.g., webinar, ebook)
• Geographic location you’re targeting
• Date range when the campaign’ll run

For example, you might use a naming convention along the lines of PRODUCT_CAMPAIGNTYPE_GEOGRAPHY. Whatever you decide, make sure to establish a formula from the get-go so you can stay organized and execute the most successful campaigns possible.

Step 3: Set Your Campaign Objective

Right away, LinkedIn will ask you to choose the objective of your new advertising campaign. There are three categories:

• Awareness: You want to create a campaign that improves the recognition or opinion of your brand.
• Consideration: Your campaign goal is to drive visits to your website, engagement on your posts, or views of a particular video.
• Conversions: You’re hoping to generate leads, get job applicants, or have people perform an action on your website.

Your chosen objective will influence the rest of your campaign, so make sure it accurately reflects what you wanna achieve. That said, you can always come back and change your goals depending on the outcome of your campaign.

If you’re a performance marketer (or just someone who doesn’t wanna blow a budget without measurable action), I’d suggest choosing one of the objectives under “Conversions.”

Step 4: Establish Your Targeting Criteria

LinkedIn lets you choose from more than 20 different audience attribute categories, including location, language, education, skills, and so much more.

Accurate targeting is absolutely crucial to the success of your campaign, so think hard about how to best reach your ideal audience. On the other hand, you don’t want your targeting parameters to be too strict—then, you could seriously limit how many people your ads hit.

For example, if I was an American startup selling a software tool for healthcare providers, I’d limit my audience down to product managers (“Job Title”) at healthcare companies with less than 100 employees (“Employee Count”) in the United States (“Location”). It’s specific, but my ads should still be seen by a good number of people.

Here’s another one. Let’s say I run a marketing agency that’s looking for new clients. I’d consider targeting CEOs and VPs of Marketing (“Job Title”) at technology companies (“Industry”) in San Francisco, New York, and Boston (“Location”). That way, I’d be reaching decision-makers at companies that’re likely to have venture capital funding. (And money to spend on my agency!)

You can also enable “Audience Expansion” so that your ads reach other people with similar attributes. (Sorta like an easy-button version of setting up Facebook lookalike audiences.) Or, you could add a “Matched Audience” and generate a target population just by uploading a list of your website visitors or email subscribers.

Step 5: Choose the Type of Ads You’ll Run

You need to pick which type of LinkedIn ads you’ll be running. There’s are a few different kinds (with corresponding ad formats), and the one you use will largely depend on your business needs.

• Sponsored Content: These are really just promoted LinkedIn posts. They can perform either as native news feed ads or as lead gen forms. If you’re looking to focus on your engagement metrics, this type of ad is a pretty good bet. (Choose “Single Image Ad,” “Carousel Image Ad,” or “Video Ad.”)
• Direct Sponsored Content: Like sponsored content, except that they’re not published on your business’s LinkedIn page feed. This means you can tailor your messaging to specific audiences and test different iterations without cloggin’ up your own page. (Choose “Single Image Ad,” “Carousel Image Ad,” or “Video Ad.”)
• Sponsored InMail: This delivers a message straight to the inboxes of LinkedIn users. (And if you’ve been on the platform for any amount of time, you’ve probably received some yourself.) One thing to note: people can opt out of these messages, so your reach can be limited. (Choose “Conversation Ad.”)
• Text Ads: These advertisements appear in the right rail or top banner of LinkedIn’s desktop view. They include a short headline, subhead, and small square image. (Choose “Text Ad.”)
• Dynamic Ads: Also appear on the right rail, but these ads have the ability to directly target users with personalized content. (Choose “Spotlight Ad” or “Follower Ad.”)

It might seem overwhelming to choose between all these options, but if you try one and decide it’s not working like you’d hoped, you can always switch to another.

My recommendation? I’ve found that sponsored InMail messages are the most cost-effective, as they let you connect directly with target prospects in a more personalized way. On the other hand, regular sponsored content is the most expensive on a cost-per-lead basis, since people need to click on your ad and then click through to your website. That’s a lot of friction between a user and your desired action.

Step 6: Determine Your Campaign Budget & Schedule

You can set a lifetime budget, a daily budget, or a combination of the two for your LinkedIn campaign. With a lifetime budget, your campaign will keep running until you’ve spent your allotted amount. A daily budget will limit your advertising spend to a certain amount each day.

Next is bidding. Depending on the campaign objective you selected at the top, your “Optimization Goal” will be automatically set to maximize impressions, clicks, or leads. You’ll also have the option to set a “Bidding Strategy,” although LinkedIn can automatically manage your bidding to help maximize your budget.

Once you’ve handled the financials, you can choose to run your campaign continuously or set a start and end date. Of course, you can always cancel your LinkedIn advertising campaign early if you feel like it’s not getting results.

And with that, there’s just one thing left to do before you launch.

Step 7: Build a Campaign-Specific Landing Page

If you’ve done any advertising on social media, you already know how important it is to have a dedicated landing page for each campaign. Landing pages help you reinforce the messaging of the ad that visitors just clicked, letting ’em know they’re in the right place and increasing their likelihood to convert.

But the performance of your page can have a big impact on the overall success of your campaign. Based on an analysis from Unbounce’s Conversion Benchmark Report, the average landing page conversion rate is just under 10%, but lots of pages convert way better. How do you make sure you’ve got one of those?

All of the landing page best practices apply on LinkedIn, too—but there are some specific things you’ll want to consider when creating pages for this platform:

• You’re reaching your audience in a professional context, so think about the way you frame your offer. Try using more formal language, results-oriented messaging, and cite real business examples where you can.
• LinkedIn is great for B2B advertising—but as with all things B2B, decisions take time. The people who see your ads will probably want to do some research as they consider your offer. Make it easy for them with lead magnets like white papers and webinars that’ll accelerate their journey through the funnel.
• Use loads of proof points. If you have customer testimonials or press logos you can include, use them. Any savvy potential buyer will want to know that your product or service is trusted in the industry.

And if you’re looking for an easier way to create landing pages for your LinkedIn campaigns, check out Unbounce’s library of 100+ templates and get started fast.

You’re Ready to Launch Your LinkedIn Advertising Campaign

And that’s it! You’ve created your ads, defined your targeting criteria, set your budget and schedule, and tied it all together with a high-converting landing page. Now you’re ready to let ‘er rip.

Once you’ve launched your campaign, LinkedIn lets you measure campaign performance by tracking things like impressions, clicks, and social actions. Using that data, you can optimize as you go. Refine your messaging, edit your targeting, try new ad formats—keep experimenting and figure out what works best for you.

Trust me—you’ll be a LinkedIn advertising expert in no time.

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