LinkedIn Ads Show

NOTES Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert. Just hit 100 members so a shoutout to our awesome LI Ads fanatics for making it such an awesome community! Subscribe/Rate/Review Contact us with any questions, suggestions, or corrections! SUMMARY In this week's episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show, AJ Wilcox delivers a strong warning for B2B marketers: stop using LinkedIn Conversation Ads. After months of testing across multiple high-spend accounts, AJ reveals surprising evidence that Conversation Ads consistently generate significantly lower open rates than Message Ads—even when the audience, sender, subject line, and content are identical. He breaks down the data, shares LinkedIn's official explanations, explores possible causes behind the performance gap, and explains why the promised benefits of Conversation Ads may not outweigh the hidden costs. If you're running Sponsored Messaging campaigns on LinkedIn and want to maximize conversions while reducing wasted spend, this is an episode you won't want to miss. TRANSCRIPT For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 168

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: Our last deep-dive analysis on holiday traffic from 2022's holidays Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, or corrections! A great, no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review Summary: Should You Pause LinkedIn Ads Over the Holidays? In this episode of The LinkedIn Ads Show, AJ Wilcox dives into LinkedIn's recommendation to keep ads running during the holiday season, analyzing over $185,000 in ad spend to see if the advice holds up. Key Findings: Engagement rates dropped across all major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), indicating lower user activity. Click-through rates saw slight improvements but not enough to justify higher costs. Cost per lead increased significantly, making conversions more expensive. Thought leader ads and video ads performed better, especially in the period between Christmas and New Year's. Thanksgiving had the best overall performance, while New Year's saw the highest video engagement. Takeaways & Recommendations: Pause single image ads and conversation ads on holidays—they generally performed worse. Resume conversation ads immediately after holidays to capitalize on higher engagement. Keep video and thought leader ads running—they showed strong performance. Be mindful of bidding strategy—manual CPC bidding helped maintain cost efficiency. AJ's final verdict? Unless you're running video or thought leader ads, pausing your LinkedIn campaigns over the holidays is likely the smarter move. Want more insights? Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community at fanatics.b2linked.com. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 156

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: Evergreen LinkedIn Ads Account Benefits Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! In this episode of The LinkedIn Ads Show, host AJ Wilcox dives into strategies for nurturing cold audiences on LinkedIn to prepare them for meaningful engagement and high-conversion offers. If you've struggled with converting cold traffic into sales-ready leads, this episode walks you through how to build a multi-stage funnel using LinkedIn Ads retargeting features. Key Discussion Points: Why Cold Audiences Need Nurturing: Most cold audiences (95%) aren't ready to engage with sales reps or bottom-of-funnel offers. Nurturing involves multiple retargeting stages to move prospects down the funnel, warming them up to higher-friction calls to action. Building a Multi-Stage Funnel: Stage 1 (Cold Traffic): Use LinkedIn's native audience targeting to reach cold audiences who align with your ideal customer profile. Stage 2 (First Retargeting): Retarget website visitors, company page visitors, and ad engagers from Stage 1. Apply targeting "guardrails" like seniority, job function, or industry to refine the audience. Stage 3 (Hot Traffic): Retarget prospects from Stage 2 who have engaged meaningfully. These are primed for bottom-of-funnel offers like demos or sales calls. Best Practices for Funnel Organization: Use a campaign naming convention like S01, S02, S03 to clearly identify funnel stages in your account and ensure they're sorted alphabetically. Exclude retargeting audiences from the previous stage to avoid overlap and ensure prospects graduate down the funnel. Retargeting Audience Management: Create retargeting audiences based on specific engagements (e.g., video views, document interactions). Combine smaller audiences (e.g., website visitors + company page visitors) to ensure they hit the 300-member minimum for ads to serve. Budget Considerations: A multi-stage funnel works best with a monthly budget of $5,000 or more, though smaller budgets are possible with longer ramp-up times. Testing and Optimization: Run bottom-of-funnel offers in earlier stages as a test to gauge audience readiness. If Stage 3 doesn't yield high conversion rates, adjust ad messaging to clearly communicate value and reduce friction. Recent LinkedIn Updates: LinkedIn Wire Beta: Advertise as pre-roll videos on high-trust publisher content like Bloomberg and Forbes. Holiday Ad Tips: Lower competition during the holidays results in reduced CPCs and CPLs, making it an opportune time to run campaigns. Pro Tips: Take advantage of seasonal or holiday-themed campaigns for better engagement. Use organic posts from company representatives to complement paid ads, especially during events. Call to Action: Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to expert insights, courses, and weekly group calls with AJ. Subscribe to the podcast for weekly LinkedIn Ads tips, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts to help other marketers discover the show. Review and Connect: AJ welcomes listener questions, suggestions, and feedback via LinkedIn or email at podcast@B2Linked.com. Submit a voice recording to be featured in a future episode. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 154

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: LinkedIn Ads Sponsored Messaging update for the EU Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! Show Notes: Episode Summary: In this episode, AJ Wilcox dives deep into one of the most frustrating issues for LinkedIn advertisers: campaigns that just won't deliver or spend as expected. AJ walks listeners through his tried-and-true troubleshooting steps, offering actionable insights to get LinkedIn Ads campaigns back on track. Key Discussion Points: Why Campaigns May Not Deliver: AJ explains potential causes, from inactive campaigns to low bidding issues, that might be limiting ad visibility and spend. Detailed Troubleshooting Steps: He provides a step-by-step guide for advertisers to diagnose issues, covering everything from campaign and ad activity to billing checks, small or inactive audiences, and relevancy score. Bidding Strategies: Insights into how manual bidding and maximum delivery bidding can impact campaign delivery, plus tips on knowing when to increase bids. Glitches and Quick Fixes: AJ discusses how occasional LinkedIn platform glitches can hinder ad delivery and how duplicating campaigns can often resolve these issues. Audience Size and Activity: Why small or infrequent audiences on LinkedIn may result in slow ad delivery and how to set realistic expectations. LinkedIn Ads Support: When to reach out to LinkedIn support if troubleshooting steps fail, and tips for contacting them effectively. AJ shares practical solutions to optimize LinkedIn ad delivery, save on costs, and ensure that their campaigns spend efficiently. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 152

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: FouAnalytics provides the best intelligence I've found on spam/bot traffic Dr Fou's LinkedIn where he publishes awesome deep-dives into traffic quality B2Linked LAN Whitelist B2Linked LAN Blacklist Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! Show Notes: Episode Summary: In this episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show, host AJ Wilcox dives into a topic that many advertisers have been frustrated with: the quality of LinkedIn Audience Network (LAN) traffic. While LAN traffic has a reputation for being poor quality, AJ shares the breakthrough strategies he used to significantly improve traffic quality and get results worth paying for. If you've been avoiding LAN due to low-quality clicks and bot traffic, this episode is a must-listen! Key Discussion Points: What is the LinkedIn Audience Network (LAN) and Why Does It Matter? AJ explains the role of LAN in reaching LinkedIn's high-quality audience beyond the platform itself, and the common issues marketers face with traffic quality from this network. Understanding Bot Traffic and Its Impact: Discover the prevalence of bot traffic on LAN and why it can skew your results. AJ shares insights from working with Dr. Augustine Fou, a renowned expert in ad fraud and analytics, and how tools like FooAnalytics can help diagnose and understand traffic quality issues. Before and After Case Study: Learn about a real-life case study where AJ implemented a strict allow list on a client's campaigns and saw significant improvements in traffic quality. Before applying the allow list, 63% of the traffic was identified as bot or problematic. After implementing the allow list, the ratio of good to bad traffic improved to over 100%. How to Implement Allow and Block Lists for Better Traffic: AJ details the process of creating and using allow and block lists to improve traffic quality. He provides his own curated lists, which include high-quality publishers like Forbes, The New York Times, and Business Insider, and explains why allow lists are generally more effective than block lists. Breaking Down the Results: While traffic costs increased after applying the allow list, the quality of traffic improved significantly. AJ explains why this happened and what it means for optimizing LinkedIn Audience Network campaigns. Why Bots Click on LinkedIn Ads and What You Can Do About It: AJ reveals the reasons behind bot clicks, including creative validators and low-quality apps that simulate clicks. Understanding these factors can help you make better decisions about your LAN strategy. Step-by-Step Guide to Applying Allow and Block Lists: A detailed walkthrough on how to upload and apply allow or block lists in your LinkedIn Ads Campaign Manager to immediately improve traffic quality. Resources and Tools to Measure Traffic Quality: AJ shares links to FouAnalytics and his curated allow and block lists so you can implement these strategies in your own campaigns. This episode provides in-depth, actionable strategies to turn LinkedIn Audience Network traffic into a valuable resource. Learn how to optimize your campaigns and start seeing the high-quality traffic results you've been hoping for! Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 150

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: LinkedIn's help article about Website Actions Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! Show Notes: Episode Summary: In this week's episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show, host AJ Wilcox introduces LinkedIn's groundbreaking new feature—Website Actions—which simplifies conversion tracking and retargeting. Unlike Google or Meta, LinkedIn makes setting up conversions incredibly easy without the need for coding. AJ breaks down how this feature works, its benefits for marketers, and some challenges to be aware of. Key Discussion Points: Website Actions Overview: Learn how LinkedIn's new feature helps track conversions by monitoring button clicks and page visits on your website, all without needing any coding skills. Why Website Actions is Groundbreaking: Unlike other platforms where you need developer assistance or complex setups, LinkedIn allows you to track button presses directly within Campaign Manager, making conversion tracking straightforward and marketer-friendly. Setting Up Website Actions for Conversions: AJ walks through the step-by-step process of setting up Website Actions to track conversions and create retargeting audiences, as well as tips for optimizing these features. Limitations and Workarounds: While Website Actions is powerful, AJ also highlights some of the bugs and limitations, such as delayed updates on page changes and reliance on cookies for retargeting. Retargeting with Website Actions: Discover how to create retargeting audiences based on specific button clicks or page visits, and learn why this feature could be a game changer for LinkedIn Ads. Wishlist for Improvements: AJ discusses potential future enhancements that could make Website Actions even more useful, like the ability to manually refresh updates or view pages as LinkedIn sees them. Additional Updates: Axiom Audiences: AJ shares exciting news about LinkedIn making Axiom audiences more accessible, allowing advertisers to use advanced targeting criteria such as household income or property value. Speaking at Inbound Conference: AJ gives a brief update about his recent speaking engagement at the Inbound Conference. Listener Review Spotlight: AJ shares a 5-star review from a listener in Italy who credits the podcast with helping them achieve significant results in LinkedIn Ads. This episode is packed with actionable insights, and is beneficial to any B2B marketer looking to enhance their LinkedIn Ads performance with the latest tools and techniques. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 148

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: Chandler Quintin's episode on how to get incredible LinkedIn video ad performance How LinkedIn defends against bot traffic on the LinkedIn Audience Network Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! Show Notes: Episode Summary: Key Takeaways: This episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show, hosted by AJ Wilcox, delves into the ongoing debate among B2B marketers about whether LinkedIn Ads is truly a Tier 1 advertising platform. AJ discusses the platform's strengths and areas needing improvement to solidify LinkedIn's place among the top advertising platforms like Google and Meta. Key Discussion Points: Platform Tier Classification: AJ defines Tier 1 platforms as essential tools that B2B marketers must master, such as Google and Meta, due to their comprehensive features and widespread use. LinkedIn is currently on the cusp between Tier 1 and Tier 2, with many key features missing or needing enhancement to reach true Tier 1 status. Platform Generosity: AJ introduces the concept of "platform generosity," explaining that early-stage platforms like Google and Facebook succeeded by offering low costs and high value, attracting widespread use. LinkedIn, in contrast, started with higher costs and lacked the generous features that help new advertisers achieve success, which could hinder its growth and perception as a top-tier platform. Feature Wishlist for LinkedIn Ads: Device Targeting: The ability to target ads based on the device type (mobile vs. desktop) is crucial for optimizing campaigns but is currently missing. Time Zone Flexibility: AJ argues for the ability to change campaign time zones and schedule ads according to the user's local time, improving budget efficiency and targeting accuracy. Hourly Reporting and Scheduling: LinkedIn should provide more granular hourly reporting and allow for ad scheduling based on when the audience is most active, enhancing campaign effectiveness. Daily Budget Control: LinkedIn often overspends on daily budgets, particularly with maximum delivery bidding, which feels like a "cash grab." More precise control is needed to avoid overspending. Improved Audience Matching: Enhancements like targeting by LinkedIn profile URLs could significantly improve the match rates for uploaded contact lists. Custom Calculated Columns: AJ suggests allowing advertisers to create custom calculated metrics within Campaign Manager, eliminating the need for manual calculations in Excel. Ad Type Transparency: LinkedIn should make it easier to identify the ad type within exported reports, helping advertisers better analyze campaign performance. Expanded Objectives for Thought Leader Ads: AJ advocates for adding more objectives to Thought Leader Ads, including website visits and lead generation, to increase their utility. Simplified Duplication and Management of Conversation Ads: The current process for creating and duplicating Conversation Ads is cumbersome; LinkedIn could streamline this to make it more user-friendly. Additional Feedback and Community Suggestions: AJ shares feedback from the LinkedIn Ads community, including suggestions for better dynamic UTM tracking, a more user-friendly Campaign Manager interface, and dark mode compatibility. Conclusion: This episode provides a comprehensive evaluation of LinkedIn Ads, highlighting both its potential and the areas where it falls short. For LinkedIn Ads to move firmly into Tier 1 status, it must address these shortcomings, offering advertisers more control, transparency, and tools to optimize their campaigns effectively. By implementing the suggested features and improvements, LinkedIn could significantly enhance its value proposition, attracting more advertisers and solidifying its place as a critical platform for B2B marketers. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 146

Show Resources: Here were the resources we covered in the episode: Best practices to getting the highest match rate from LinkedIn list uploads: Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's YouTube Channel Join LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for access to all our courses Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review! Show Notes: Episode Summary In this episode of The LinkedIn Ads Show, host AJ Wilcox shares his comprehensive playbook for promoting your presence at in-person events like trade shows and conferences using LinkedIn Ads. If you're looking to make a significant impact at your next event, this episode provides actionable insights on how to effectively target attendees, choose the right ad formats, and optimize your promotion strategy. Key Discussion Points: Targeting Event Attendees: List Targeting: Use contact lists or company lists of attendees to reach them directly. If you don't have a list, use LinkedIn's native targeting to reach professionals in the city where the event is being held. Geographic Targeting: Target the city of the event using LinkedIn's recent or permanent geography feature to reach attendees and professionals temporarily in the area. Choosing the Right Ad Formats: Conversation Ads and Click-to-Message Ads: These offer a personalized, VIP invitation feel, perfect for inviting attendees to special events or meetups. Thought Leader Ads: Promote posts from company representatives about attending the event. These ads tend to achieve higher engagement rates than standard company posts. Single Image Sponsored Content: Ideal for driving traffic to your landing page, as you only pay for clicks that lead to your website. Text Ads: A cost-effective way to keep your brand top of mind, especially for desktop users. What to Promote: Promote special events, presentations, or booth activities, such as product demos, giveaways, or exclusive meetups. Unique draws like F1 simulators or free drinks can increase traffic to your booth. Timing Your Promotions: Pre-Event: Advertise in the weeks leading up to the event to get on attendees' calendars. Use personal invites and offer benefits to encourage meetings. During the Event: Target attendees and professionals in the city with your ads. Consider using a mix of list targeting and native targeting. Post-Event: Retarget individuals who interacted with your ads during the event to keep them engaged with your brand. Bonus: Organic Promotion Tips: Encourage company representatives to post about attending the event, including any special offers or activities. Post a wrap-up after the event, acknowledging key takeaways and tagging attendees or speakers to increase shares and engagement. Recent LinkedIn Updates: Changes to how LinkedIn counts impressions and clicks for video ads, now excluding actions taken before the video starts playing. Updates to sponsored messaging metrics, separating them from impressions and clicks in Campaign Manager. Call to Action: Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for in-depth courses, expert advice, and weekly group calls. Subscribe to the podcast for more insights, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts to share your feedback and experiences. Review and Connect: Listeners are invited to connect with AJ on LinkedIn or via email at podcast@b2linked.com. AJ encourages sharing reviews, questions, and suggestions to be featured on the show. Listeners will learn how to leverage LinkedIn Ads for successful event promotions, ensuring your brand stands out and maximizes its impact at your next conference or trade show. Show Transcript: For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 144