LinkedIn boosts ad targeting through its ‘Audience Network’

You might soon see sponsored content in your inbox, thanks to LinkedIn’s latest initiative.

On Wednesday, the platform announced that marketers can now buy ads that use LinkedIn’s demographic data and post them on third-party apps and websites.

Adweek reported:

The move is part of LinkedIn’s new native ad network LinkedIn Audience Network that will place advertisers’ sponsored posts into ad inventory found in third-party publishers and apps. LinkedIn is working with a handful of ad-tech companies including Google’s DoubleClick ad exchange, Rubicon Project, MoPub, Sharethrough and Microsoft properties like MSN and Outlook.

The network targets LinkedIn members who have recently used the platform. After logging in to LinkedIn, you might notice native advertising on other websites you visit and apps you open, such as MyFitnessPal, Outlook and MSN.com.

LinkedIn’s promoted messages also include images, which can increase viewer interest and clicks.

“I think images are key for any native ad unit, so we make sure that we show the image alongside the ad type to give a much better sense on what the ad is about,” LinkedIn Marketing Solution’s group project manager, Divye Raj Khilnani, told Adweek.

Though brand managers can choose the publishing outlets on which their content appears, you cannot set additional targeting options beyond those you specify for LinkedIn campaigns. All advertisers will have access to performance reports, which include impressions and engagements on the ads you run.

The platform is also working to make sure its list of publishers is attractive to its advertising partners, in the hope of avoiding the pitfalls Google has faced.

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AdExchanger.com reported:

To ensure traffic quality, LinkedIn curated a whitelist of desktop publishers it deemed brand-safe. For mobile apps, LinkedIn is working with its exchange partners to block certain ad ID categories – like dating and gaming – which aren’t relevant to its B2B audience.

So far, marketers who have used the service in its test phase are seeing more interest and engagement.

VentureBeat reported:

LinkedIn said 6,000 advertisers participated in the Audience Network program during its beta phase, seeing, on average, an increase of three to 13 percent in unique impressions served, with an up to 80 percent increase in unique clicks.

“This means that advertisers running campaigns in the Audience Network are reaching new people they hadn’t yet engaged on one of LinkedIn’s owned and operated properties,” noted Khilnani.

The move is another step on LinkedIn’s path to entice marketers and wrest advertising revenue from other platforms, including Facebook and Google.

VentureBeat reported:

Facebook has offered its own Audience Network for a few years already, as has Google with its very own Display Network, and both represent a significant chunk of the companies’ respective ad revenues. Indeed, why limit your revenue to ads viewed on your own properties when consumers typically spend most of their online time elsewhere?

“The LinkedIn Audience Network is designed to increase your marketing footprint beyond the LinkedIn platform so you can extend your campaign’s reach, deliver on your budget more easily, and get your content in front of the right people, wherever they are,” continued Khilnani.

What do you think of the LinkedIn initiative, PR Daily readers?

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