Decrease LinkedIn ad costs by doing this

Read this tactic on the CXL blog.

Decrease LinkedIn ad CPC by switching from click to impression objectives

• The company: B2B LinkedIn ads agency Tuned Social, working on behalf of a tech company.

• The goal: Decrease the CPC of LinkedIn ads that have a website visit objective.

• The tactic: Switch ads with a CTR of more than 1% to impression-based bidding.

• The result: 55% decrease in CPC, and 30% increase in conversions.

What's the fast marketing tactic?

The tech company was running CPC (cost per click) campaigns on LinkedIn, with a goal to drive website visits. These campaigns had a CTR (click-through rate) that ranged between 0.8% and 1.5%.

When analyzing these website visit campaigns, Tuned Social saw that the campaigns with a CTR of more than 1% had a CPM (cost per million view) that was 2 to 3 times higher than the suggested bidding range for impression-based campaigns.

The team calculated that, if they switched the campaigns to impression-based bidding while maintaining a CTR of above 1%, they would be buying impressions for much less, and would therefore have a much cheaper CPC.

They started by bidding at 75% of LinkedIn’s suggested range for best results, which was still much cheaper than the CPM at the time.

What was the result?

By switching to impression-based bidding, and without any changes to the creatives, the campaigns that previously had a CTR of 1% or more now saw:

• 55% decrease in CPC.
• 30% increase in conversions (the CPC decrease doesn't directly translate to the conversion increase due to the slight decrease in intent of impression-based bidding).

However, over time, the CTR started to decrease, as LinkedIn optimizes the campaigns towards impressions. This meant that, in some of the cases close to a 1% CTR, a switch back to CPC bidding was necessary.

Why does it work?

With high CTRs, you'll generally get a much cheaper CPC, as well as a greater volume, if you use impression-based objectives. This is because you are only paying for impressions, and not for the high number of clicks you’re receiving. 

In short, the higher the CTR is above 1%, the better this tactic performs.

Want to become an expert in LinkedIn ads? Take the Advanced LinkedIn Ads course.

Meet the specialist behind this tactic

Rob Muldoon is the Founder of Tuned Social, a B2B LinkedIn ads agency. Prior to that, he worked for almost 8 years at LinkedIn itself.

Would you like more tactics like this?

SHARE

Know a marketer who’d like this tactic?

Forward this email to them.

SUBSCRIBE

First time here?

Subscribe to get these emails weekly.

SUBMIT

Want to share your tactic? 

Submit it here.

What's CXL again?  In addition to sharing tactics that work today via this newsletter, we also bring you advanced marketing training.

Get deep skills in growth, customer acquisition, CRO, and more with experts in their fields via our on-demand video courses.

CXL, 901 S Mo Pac Expy, Suite 150, Barton Oaks Plaza One, Austin TX 78746

Follow us on LinkedIn

Unsubscribe from future emails like these.