LinkedIn retargeting strategies - how to win at B2B advertising
In mass consumer markets it is very important to apply retargeting strategies towards users who have visited a website but have not made a "conversion". The same occurs in business sales markets, also called B2B (business to business).
In business markets some products have a long sales cycle where leads are initially generated. It is very important to subsequently interact with these potential customers once they have shown interest in your products. This tracking process can help you optimize your conversion funnel and get your users to convert.
Due to its professional content approach, LinkedIn offers its B2B advertisers the tools to interact with those users in the corporate segment, who have shown interest in a brand but have not converted. So in this article I will show you how to guide your prospects towards a purchase with the following retargeting strategies on LinkedIn.
Retargeting at an early stage of the conversion funnel
The ways of obtaining prospects on LinkedIn through a contact form are a great way to interact with people who have visited your website in the past. This information can be easily dumped into a CRM. Due to the type of content and audience of the platform, the forms of obtaining prospects in LinkedIn generate a better CPL (Cost Per Lead / Prospect) and a better CVR (Conversion Ratio or Conversion Rate), than those forms completed on the site advertiser's website.
The process of obtaining leads through forms can be achieved in the following ways:
Promoted content: This is the ad format that has shown the best retargeting results in B2B markets, as it is displayed naturally in the user's news section, both in video, still image or carousel format.
Sponsored posts: This is a direct message in the user's LinkedIn mailbox.
Mailbox ads allow advertisers to constantly communicate to users the value of the product or service they are trying to sell. At this point it is important that to obtain contact information for your audience you give them something in return that adds value. For example, running free demos or providing really useful content in the form of summaries or white papers can help you get a prospect in contact and then guide them through their buying process.
Retargeting in a mid-stage of the conversion funnel
Accompanying your prospects is extremely important especially for companies with long sales cycles. This is why retargeting is so valuable to prospects who are in the middle of the conversion funnel. These strategies allow you to appear regularly in front of your prospect, with relevant content that informs them about your value proposition and the benefits of working with your company. At this point you can impact users with whom you have probably already interacted so you do not need to obtain their data at this stage. It is more important to show current customer testimonials, white papers, blog posts, infographics, and videos.
Depending on the size of your list of prospects, you can divide your audience into different groups and show different content for the purchase stage each one is in. For example, you can create different segments for large prospects who are close to converting, prospects who have backed out of their decision, and prospects who have just started interacting with your sales team.
A good content strategy is essential when working with companies that have long sales cycles. Try different types of actions in the news section, for the different stages of the conversion funnel of your prospects.
Keep in mind that compared to other social networks, LinkedIn is expensive, so taking into account only the metrics of this platform will not give you a complete picture of your performance. Make sure to evaluate all the information in your CRM to see how your LinkedIn prospects progress through the conversion funnel.
In conclusion, LinkedIn lends itself well to content consumption, which is an important step in the B2B sales process. Make sure you offer something of value and align your content with the right stages of your audience's buying journey. Create a variety of content pieces and messages and prepare to evaluate your CPC by measuring the progress of your prospects in your CRM. Keep in mind that there is no magic pill for retargeting success on LinkedIn, but when used strategically it can be an efficient lever to move users through the conversion funnel.
