LinkedIn Ads are notorious for being expensive. With a minimum budget of $10 per day, it often takes at least $3000 monthly to yield high conversion rates. LinkedIn can feel like the VIP lounge of social media ads, so why is it becoming more expensive over time? And how can you make sure you’re not overspending? Let us break it down.
Why LinkedIn Ads are Getting Pricier
Linkedin Ads: Frequency Caps
Back in 2018, LinkedIn used to have a frequency cap on sponsored content, so users would only see your ads once every 48 hours. In 2020, they increased this to five times, with four or five creatives per campaign. The frequency was changed to seven in 48 hours, with a recommended six to seven creatives per campaign. This is a significant reason why costs are soaring – you need more creatives per campaign, and those with large budgets are buying the limited number of impressions, putting pressure on everyone else to compete – resulting in a bidding war.
What you can do: Focus on quality over quantity. You don’t always need seven versions of the same ad unless you have the budget to keep up with the top dogs.
Linkedin Ads: Default Bidding
LinkedIns default bidding system, Maximum Delivery, guarantees LinkedIn will do whatever it takes to get your ad seen. However, they also get to decide how much of your budget gets spent in the process. The least expensive option, Manual CPC Bidding, is sneakily hidden. Buried in the settings, it often goes overlooked so you’re more likely to choose the pricier route.
What you can do: Choose manual bidding – control how much you pay per click and spend your budget on what matters – actions and conversions, not just views.
Linkedin Ads: natural growth
More advertisers are coming to the platform, meaning fewer ad spots are available – basic supply and demand. Unfortunately, LinkedIn’s user growth hasn’t kept up with the growth of advertisers, so ad impressions are becoming more expensive.
What you can do: optimize your targeting, focus specifically on your audience, and not waste impressions on the wrong crowd.
Linkedin Ads: document ads
LinkedIn lets you run Document Ads where a click isn’t just a regular click. It could mean swiping to the next slide or hitting ‘see more’, it all counts as engagement. If your Document Ads are engaging, you’ll keep costs down because you get more impressions and clicks per dollar.
What you can do: Make your Document Ads super engaging. Use exciting headlines, eye-catching visuals, and concise messages to keep people interacting.
Linkedin Ads: thought-leader ads
These are LinkedIn’s latest ad format, and they perform really well. They perform so well in fact, that they’re pushing up the cost of standard ad formats.
What you can do: Turn your best organic posts into Thought Leader ads to increase your engagement and keep costs low!
How to Lower Your LinkedIn Ad Costs without Sacrificing Performance
- Set Clear Goals – Do you want more traffic, better engagement, or higher conversions? Whatever your objective is, make sure it guides your campaign strategy.
- Nail your Targeting – Use LinkedIn’s powerful targeting options to hit your ideal audience. The more specific the better, and don’t forget to test micro-segmentation to refine even further.
- Leverage Analytics – LinkedIn offers tools including clicks, impressions, and engagement, as well as a new campaign metric called dwell time, released in June to measure how much time users spend looking at a specific ad. These tools can be a good measure of user interest and can be used to target ads and design more effective campaigns.
- Avoid Max Delivery Bidding – As we said earlier, go manual! You’ll have more control and get much more out of your budget.
- Disable LinkedIn’s Default Settings – Turn off audience expansion and audience network. Don’t waste your money on impressions outside your target audience or third-party sites.
- Sponsored Messaging – These inbox ads are low-cost high-impact, and because they stay in the inbox, users can convert at a later time at no extra cost to you.
Linkedin Ads: the bottom line
Yes, LinkedIn Ads are expensive—but they don’t have to drain your budget. You can make the most of this powerful platform with the right strategies without blowing your ad spend. It’s all about being innovative, targeted, and adaptable.
