LinkedIn Extends Its Ads Offering: A New Era for B2B Marketers

Jan Schmitz

Jun 5, 2024 • 3 min read

Introduction

LinkedIn has unveiled a series of new advertising offerings aimed at empowering B2B marketers to expand their influence across buying groups. This move comes in response to the challenges faced by marketers over the past year, including tighter budgets and increased pressure to demonstrate ROI. According to LinkedIn's 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark, nearly 9 in 10 marketers are optimistic about their ability to drive revenue in the coming year. To support this optimism, LinkedIn is introducing innovative tools designed to build relationships and foster "collective confidence" among buyer groups.

The Wire Program: Leveraging Video Content

With 75% of U.S. adults spending up to two hours daily watching short-form video content, LinkedIn is testing a new initiative called the Wire Program. This program allows B2B marketers to promote in-stream video ads alongside trusted publisher content. Video uploads on LinkedIn have increased by 45% year-over-year, making this an opportune moment for brands to engage with their audience through video.

Key Features:

Promote In-Stream Video Ads: Run ads alongside content from reputable publishers like Barron’s, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Forbes, and more.
High Engagement: Reach buyers who are increasingly consuming digital video.
Brand Safety: Ensure your ads run in a brand-safe environment with a 99% safety rating.

Expanded AI Capabilities: Accelerate Your Campaigns

Last October, LinkedIn began testing its Accelerate program, which has shown promising results. Advertisers using Accelerate have created campaigns 15% more efficiently and achieved a 52% lower cost per action compared to traditional campaigns. Building on this success, LinkedIn is introducing new functionalities:

Enhanced Features:

Microsoft Designer Integration: Draft engaging creatives tailored to your brand needs.
Refined Targeting: Exclude companies and third-party lists for more precise targeting.
AI Marketing Assistant: Get guidance on campaign creation and optimization.

Building Your Brand with Sponsored Video Content

Staying top-of-mind is crucial as only 5% of B2B buyers are actively looking for new purchases at any given time. The Wire Program helps you align your brand’s message with publisher content that resonates with buyers.

Benefits:

Digital Video Dominance: U.S. viewers spend significantly more time with digital video than traditional TV.
Memory Recall Support: Aligning your message with trusted publishers enhances memory recall when it’s time to buy.
Self-Service Ad Management: Use Campaign Manager to run self-service in-stream video ads on LinkedIn.

Reaching B2B Buying Groups Faster with AI

AI is becoming an integral part of the workplace, helping users save time (90%), focus on important work (85%), and be more creative (84%). To help you achieve your campaign goals efficiently, LinkedIn is expanding its AI capabilities within Accelerate:

New Functionalities:

AI-Drafted Copy: Leverage AI-generated copy for compelling ad creatives.
Data Integration: Combine your data with platform data for better targeting.
Conversational Assistance: Use the AI marketing assistant for insights and recommendations.

Success Stories

The effectiveness of these new offerings is already evident. For instance, Calendly saw a significant improvement in lead conversion performance using Accelerate Campaigns:

“Accelerate Campaigns far surpassed the lead conversion performance we saw from even our best performing manual audiences for Calendly. The Lead Form Completion rate increased over 3X and delivered a 66% cheaper cost per lead (CPL). The higher conversion rates and more efficient CPLs really convinced me this works.” — Sean Johnston, VP, Advertising, Closed Loop

Connecting With Buyers Through Collective Confidence

LinkedIn understands that successful advertising campaigns depend on reaching the right audience and sparking meaningful conversations. Over the past year, they introduced various formats like Live Event Ads and Thought Leader Ads alongside innovative tools like Accelerate.

Future Prospects:

Today's announcements mark another step forward in helping you reach and engage buyers not just on LinkedIn but across their network of publishers as well.

Conclusion

LinkedIn's expanded advertising offerings provide B2B marketers with powerful tools to build relationships and drive revenue effectively. From leveraging video content through the Wire Program to utilizing advanced AI capabilities within Accelerate, these innovations are set to transform how brands connect with their audience.

Stay tuned as LinkedIn continues to roll out these features globally in the coming months—ushering in a new era of efficiency and effectiveness for B2B marketing campaigns.

By embracing these new tools from LinkedIn, B2B marketers can look forward to a future where building collective confidence among buyer groups leads directly to measurable success.

You read more about LinkedIn's latest ad updates here.