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Strategy

Benchmarks for LinkedIn ad costs

Understanding prices on the top social platform for B2B lead generation

How much does it cost to advertise on LinkedIn? Every business and every campaign is different, but we can also make useful generalizations about Linkedin ad costs and set some benchmarks. So let’s discuss how LinkedIn ad prices work and what you can expect. We will answer the question “What bidding options are available for LinkedIn ads?” And talk about how to control your LinkedIn ad spend.

Base prices for CPC bidding on Linkedin Ads

There are three bidding methods for LinkedIn ads. We will talk about the other two shortly, but for now let’s focus on cost-per-click (CPC) bidding. The minimum CPC bid is $2. So you can be sure your campaign will cost at least $2 per click you manage to land. And that is the minimum. Average CPC is a little over $5. That cost may seem high, but you can generate very well-qualified leads with LinkedIn ads. You will want to make sure you send them to a landing page that converts.

Bidding methods on LinkedIn Ads – Per Impression – CPM

In addition to CPC, where you are paying for very direct results in the form of web traffic, you may want to consider two other options. Cost per send and cost-per-impression (in thousands, hence CPM where the M indicates 1,000 ) campaigns get your message out in front of a lot of people. They might not click, but you can start to build broad latent awareness in a target audience at a low cost and get name recognition that will inspire trust later. (According to neuroscience, brains are crazy like that!) 

 

Bidding methods on LinkedIn Ads – Cost Per Send – CPS

 
Finally, instead of bidding on ads placed in your target audience’s feed, you can send “Inmail” directly to Linkedin users. Sponsored Inmail campaigns can be very effective and they only cost an average of $0.80 per send, less than half the cost of CPC ads. On the other hand, a click is a guaranteed result. So you will want very attention-grabbing and persuasive emails to get the most out of that ad spend.

How does Linkedin determine ad costs?

There are three factors that determine your ad cost.
  • Target audienceThe higher the demand for your target audience, the higher the cost. A great audience for your product or service may be worth the extra money.
  • Ad relevanceLinkedin charges a lower price for ads when your target audience seems to be interested. Be relevant and pay less! Spending on great copywriting and images can more than pay for itself by saving you money on your ad costs.
  • Your bidFinally, your bid affects costs by setting a maximum. Bid low and you might not get much volume but you can be sure not to pay too much. Bid higher if you want to get all the views you can out of the desired audience. 
 

How to control your ad spending on LinkedIn

You can limit your total spend in three ways:
  1. Set a total budget. Use this option if you want to run a campaign for a set period of time without exceeding a specific limit.
  2. Set a daily budget. Use this option for an ongoing campaign. You can stop it at any time, but until you stop it, your spending will approach your daily limit but not exceed it.
  3. Set bids. Use this option to set the maximum you want to pay for a result, whether it is a click, 1,000 impressions, or sending an InMail. Your total successful bids will not exceed your daily or total budget limit, whichever you have set.

Test your LinkedIn ads to control costs

To get the best results for your money, you need to test your ads. Even if your first try is great, there is probably room for improvement. Every day is an opportunity to learn more about what works and refine your approach. We always run A/B tests.  

Do an excellent job with your Linkedin ad copy, images and targeting, or get help

LinkedIn ads work, but they cost a lot of money. And you will get much better results with excellent effort than merely good or mediocre ad assets and targeting. LinkedIn cares about their user experience and they will reward you for excellence with lower ad prices if they see your ads are relevant. So make sure to create great assets and use smart targeting and relentlessly test and refine your approach. We can help with that if you want to explore the limits of possibility. We have experts waiting to assist you with targeting and ad assets.
 

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DISCOVER THE EXCELLENCE
ViralOctopus
Editor
... Learn more
YOU MIGHT LIKE
LinkedIn Ad Management Made Easy – Our Quick Start Guide to Advertising on LinkedIn
By ViralOctopus
Learn more
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Learn more
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