LinkedIn Ads: 9 Steps to Target 1 Million Nigerian Professionals

LinkedIn has become hot social network amongst Nigerian job seekers, professionals, companies and entrepreneurs. The basic mindset of every user on this site is job-hunting, talent-hunting, prospecting for new clients, searching for quality answers and networking with like-minded professionals on LinkedIn. This is what makes LinkedIn very unique and different from facebook or twitter.

SEE ALSO: 8 Killer LinkedIn Marketing Tips For The Newbie

The following Nigerian industries that can be found on this site includes; telecommunications, transportation, aviation, logistics, consulting, Tech, audit, banking, marketing, advertising, manufacturing, internet, oil & gas, engineering, etc.

So why should you advertise on this platform? Well, unlike facebook ads which doesn’t display properly on smartphones for now, your target audience on LinkedIn can easily view your ads on both their computer and on smartphones. If you are looking for a sure-fire platform to promote your products or services and capture targeted leads in Nigeria, then LinkedIn ads is for you.

The good news is that the last time I tried advertising on LinkedIn I discovered that Nigeria has finally been to its list of African countries (note: It was just South Africa and Egypt). I was satisfied with the results I got at the end of the ads campaign.

So let’s get started with 9 steps to place your products or services offering in front of over 1 million Nigerian professionals using LinkedIn ads.

Understanding LinkedIn ads platform:

LinkedIn has different advertising tools

• Company Profile Ads
• Jobs Ads
• LinkedIn Text Ads
• LinkedIn Display Ads

I will concentrate on the text ads which is cheaper at $2.00 per click.

1. Register for LinkedIn ads: You can register at www.linkedin.com/ads with as low as USD$5.00 using your dollar MasterCard or Visa card given to you by your Nigerian Bank. The good news is that, LinkedIn gives every first-time advertiser on its platform, $50 dollar ads credit free of charge to advertise on their platform. But you have to use it within 365 days (1 year). So you have about $55 dollars ad credit in your billing account to try your hands in LinkedIn advertising.Here’s how to apply your LinkedIn Ads Coupon:

   So let’s go ahead and create your first LinkedIn ads.

1. 2.      Write 3 or more advert copy for your LinkedIn ad

• Heading = 25 characters
• Body = 100 characters
• Landing Page URL = www.mywebsite.com/landingpage

1. 3.      Choose your target audience by the following categories:

• Continent – Africa
• Country – Nigeria
• Job Title
• Age
• Sex
• Occupation
• Job Industry

1. 4.      Copy and paste your written advert in the copy and submit.

1. Create multiple ads for A/B testing: This method will show you which of your ads copy performed better than the rest. So simply click on the “create similar ads” to create 3 advert copies different from the one you originally submitted. You could tweak the headline or body of your ad copy.

1. 6.      Choose your Advert budget (CPC/CPM): I would advise that you choose cost per click, so you only pay per number of clicks. Then choose your budget per day or lifetime. LinkedIn minimum ad budget is $2.00 per click and $10.00 per day, which is on a high side compared to Google AdWords and facebook ads. But it’s okay. Then choose your ads duration depending on your ad budget.

1. 7.      Choose to collect Leads: this is a great feature I love about LinkedIn. By choosing to collect leads, you can know more about your targeted Nigerian leads who clicked on “allow Caroline to contact you”. Once your target Nigerian audience clicks on the leads feature, it gives you the permission to collect their contact names, email addresses and phone numbers for follow-up via inmail, email or phone calls.

1. 8.      Wait for approval by LinkedIn: once you have saved and submitted your LinkedIn ads, you will have to wait for up to 30 minutes for an email notification by LinkedIn that your ad has been approved. What happens if LinkedIn did not approve your ads? It could be due to the fact that you used LinkedIn’s name in your ads. So, you must never use LinkedIn’s name in your text ads unless you are promoting your LinkedIn company page.

1. 9.      Monitor your ads performance: LinkedIn sends your ads performance via email or you can view it on your analytics dashboard. You get to see which ad copy did better than the rest. How many clicks, impressions and leads each ad copy generated will be shown on your analytics dashboard. You could decide to activate or deactivate your ads during the campaign by clicking switch on or off.

Your Turn

What other LinkedIn tools do you use in capturing clients? Let us know in the comments below.