Marketers are reportedly shifting advertising budgets away from platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and spending more on LinkedIn ads.
According to a programmatic advertising survey conducted by DigiDay, 42% of media buyers plan to increase their ad spending on LinkedIn.
Around 47% plan to keep their LinkedIn ad budgets the same and 11% said they would decrease spending.
DigiDay’s survey data is based on 290 media buyers who already utilize LinkedIn.
One of the reasons why marketers may be increasing their LinkedIn ad budgets is because the ads are more expensive to buy.
LinkedIn video ads, for example, can be 6 to 8 times more expensive than a video ad on Facebook.
A unique benefit of LinkedIn ads, arguably justifying the added cost, is the ability to target business professionals.
For example, advertisers can target LinkedIn users who work at a large company with over 10,000 employees.
In contrast, Facebook does not allow advertisers to target people by their job title or place of employment.
LinkedIn ads are said to drive more quality leads, while ads on Facebook and Twitter are better for reach and awareness.
Foursquare, a company that spends more of its advertising budget on LinkedIn, says every five figures spent generates six figures in return.
Marketers also praise LinkedIn’s internal ads team, while Facebook’s team is said to be “frustrating.”
New LinkedIn Ad Targeting On the Way
Sources tell DigiDay that LinkedIn is working on a solution for targeting “lookalike audiences.”
This would allow marketers to target potential customers who are similar to a company’s existing customers.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Facebook offers a similar targeting capability on its ad platform.
Most recently, LinkedIn introduced interest targeting, which lets marketers target users based on their professional interests.
