12 Things I Hate About Linkedin Ads
The revenue that LinkedIn gets from ads is pitiful. In fact, their marketing solutions contribute just about 20% to their revenue. Considering that they have over 347 million members on the site, it is quite low. In contrast, Facebook makes over $4 billion in revenue. Here are the reasons as prepared by Tony Guo (http://www.linkedin.com/in/tyguo/) why ad revenue at LinkedIn is low and why I hate LinkedIn Ads.
1. Remarketing does Not Exist
Remarketing is one of the gems of today’s online marketing. However, LinkedIn has not caught up to the concept. It was something that was introduced over six years ago. You can remarket on Google Display Network, Facebook, and even Twitter. However, that is not existent on LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn for ads feels like a major throwback to the past when consumer tracking was still evolving.
2. You Cannot Use Custom Lists
On twitter and Facebook, you can create custom lists that allow you target specific groups of people. However, that is not possible on LinkedIn. It is ridiculous since being able to create custom lists of people you can target is one of the joys of social media.
3. They Do not have A lead collection Feature
LinkedIn has actually regressed in this area. They used to have a feature for collecting leads that they later removed. If you want to capture leads, the company recommends that you use your landing page. However, that is just one more reason to hate the network.
4. Goal Based Pricing Does Not Exist
If you use Twitter Ads, you will love the Goal-Based Pricing feature. Depending on the campaign you are running, twitter will only charge you for goal completion. However, LinkedIn does not believe in that. It shows that the company has no faith in the products that it offers customers.
5. You Have to Log in Multiple Times
When you log in to LinkedIn and select Advertising, you will have to log in again. That can be quite irritating if you run a small business and you have little time to spare. Even banks do not require their clients to log in as many times as the LinkedIn site does.
6. Limited Campaign Level Functionality
Marketers using LinkedIn Ads will only have three options at the campaign level. They can either turn off their campaigns, select a campaign to drill or hide a campaign. If you want more functionality such as the ability to change the daily campaign budget, you will not find any help.
7. It takes a lot of Effort to Duplicate A Campaign
Trying to duplicate a campaign on LinkedIn is a lot of work. However, if you use other types of Ad tools such as the one provided by Google, it a process that should only take you a few minutes. While you can duplicate on LinkedIn, finding the camping can take you forever. When you try to do that, you will have to scroll through all your campaigns until you find the one you want. There is simply no workaround to it.
8. There is No Bulk Editing Feature
Although it took Facebook a while to come around to it, they did eventually implement bulk editing. However, LinkedIn still seems uninterested in the feature. If they want to make money from serious social marketers, they need to introduce the feature. Otherwise, they may never take full advantage of the users on their site.
9. No Video Ads
That is insane; videos are one of the greatest ways to target people effectively. Numerous studies have shown that video ads help with brand affinity and recall. With all these positive data swirling around, it is unlikely that LinkedIn has not heard of it. However, they have thus far made little effort to utilize it. That is both sad and a major reason why I hate LinkedIn Ads. At this rate, they will never compete with sites like Facebook.
10. They do Not have Quality Score
On sites like Google, marketers are rewarded when they make an effort to create high-quality ads. However, that has almost no significance for LinkedIn ads. ON other sites, marketers are shown relevancy scores. It allows them to optimize their ads in a way that helps them spread their message with ease. However, for budding advertisers, it means that they do not have to worry about penalties for creating poor ads.
11. Account Promotion is Outdated
On Facebook, you can promote your company’s page and let people follow. However, that is not possible with LinkedIn. Getting people to follow you on this site is almost impossible. Besides that, if you open a page, your engagement options are quite limited. It is as if LinkedIn is deliberately working against itself in its efforts to make a huge profit.
12. High Prices
Running an Ad on LinkedIn is quite expensive. When compared to other sites such as Facebook, it makes the use of the site for ads unprofitable for most people. On the site, you should expect to pay about a$12 for every 1,000 impressions. Besides that, you will need a minimum daily budget of $10 if you choose to use LinkedIn.