Learn how to create an effective LinkedIn InMail campaign that reaches your target group and increases conversions.
Anders Stokholm Jessen
LinkedIn is known as an expensive ad platform with few success stories. Here we share our own success AND show you how to create the same campaign. This is about InMails on LinkedIn.
InMails on LinkedIn are direct messages you can send to people you’re not connected with. This feature is only available for Premium members – AND as an ad format you can use for broader audiences.
With that clarified, let me explain how we’ve used InMails in our LinkedIn advertising and why I think it’s the most overlooked format – not just on LinkedIn but in digital marketing in general.
Advertising on LinkedIn can be challenging. In B2B, LinkedIn offers unique targeting options no other platform can match. No other social platform lets you target people by job role, industry, company, seniority, etc., plus LinkedIn has a massive user base.
However, true LinkedIn ad successes are rare – until now!
LinkedIn is a network for YOUR professional connections – something that’s often forgotten in advertising.
Many people use LinkedIn like Facebook: feed ads or LinkedIn’s version of right column ads – text at the top of the browser. LinkedIn themselves don’t even mention the possibility of using InMails for advertising.
That makes LinkedIn InMails overlooked, which is a pity!
As an advertiser, you compete with everyone for your audience’s attention. When you get a message (SMS, email, Messenger, or LinkedIn), you see the message and read at least some preview lines.
In other words: you have the recipient’s full attention!
That’s what makes this ad format so powerful! Your message gets much more attention than another ad in the feed.
I’m not talking about the kind of InMail that LinkedIn kings with Premium accounts can send. No, these are regular ads you set up in LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager and deliver directly to your target group.
Here’s an example:
We just ran a test campaign with sponsored messages on LinkedIn:
As you see, we didn’t offer a free ebook or a freebie. We would probably have gotten more clicks if we did.
The campaign targeted people who visited our website and are in some way decision-makers in their company’s marketing.
It’s pretty simple to create an InMail campaign, especially if you’re already advertising on LinkedIn. Follow the guide below to get started.
Before you begin, you need:
Here you name your campaign group, enter the total budget and choose the campaign period.
I’ve had issues with date selection in LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager where LinkedIn switches day and month automatically. So be careful with dates and have patience!
Currently, there are two campaign objectives that support InMails/Message Ads:
In this example, I want people to visit my website to read a case, so I choose Website Visits.
I want to reach all marketing managers, business managers, and communications managers (and similar roles) in the Central Jutland region. This is easily done in the audience tool, as you see below.
Tip! Check if your audience changes based on the profile’s language. LinkedIn’s default is English, but not everyone has changed to Danish. It can be good to choose English when setting up the campaign.
Now we’re at the crucial point – here you choose Message Ad as the ad format:
Enter your budget, campaign period, and bidding.
LinkedIn requires a daily budget of at least 60 DKK.
Not all your budget may be spent – this depends on if the audience logs into LinkedIn.
Add conversion tracking via your LinkedIn Insights Tag. This way, you’ll see if those shown your ad click through and convert.
Now it’s time to create the message your audience will get. Click Create new ad.
Name your ad and choose a sender.
The sender must be a personal profile. You can’t use the company profile as sender – and this is the big strength of this ad format. All other campaigns show your company as sender but here it can be a real person, creating a more personal connection for the recipient.
Tip! Make sure to have a short, attention-grabbing subject line. You likely don’t have a personal relationship with the recipient, so introduce yourself AND your message early in the text.
Once you’ve filled in the fields and uploaded a banner, click “Create” – and you’re live!
Most ad formats have downsides, but the only one I’ve found with InMails is you can’t see exactly which individuals received your message.
If you want to ensure certain people receive your message, you’ll need LinkedIn Premium and to send it manually as InMail – which is much more expensive and time-consuming. That’s why I recommend the above method if you want broader reach.
All campaigns must follow the consumer ombudsman’s rules on SPAM, especially around direct marketing.
On September 11, 2018 the ombudsman ruled:
The ombudsman found that InMails sent to users’ inboxes are considered electronic mail and for marketing purposes. The company therefore needed prior consent.
On July 21, 2020 a similar rule was made for LinkedIn’s new ad format Conversational Ads:
The ombudsman found that marketing via Conversation Ads was electronic mail and therefore covered by the spam ban. The company needed prior consent.
So it’s directly against the spam ban (marketing law §10, point 1) to use sponsored InMails and Conversational Ads on LinkedIn for marketing without prior permission.
What does this mean in practice?
It means you cannot contact recipients via these two methods unless you have their permission (just like newsletters).
You can, however, send sponsored InMails or Conversational Ads to recipients who’ve given consent, e.g. newsletter subscribers – if your terms state this (and they accepted).
Tip! Want to avoid Sponsored InMails and Conversational Ads on LinkedIn as a private person? You can opt out in your settings.
Do this at Settings and privacy → Communication → Messages
I hope this guide has inspired you to create your own InMail campaign on LinkedIn.
If you have questions or need help with LinkedIn advertising we’re here. Contact us here or call 71 99 34 74 – no strings attached.
If you want to get the most from your advertising I recommend these articles by my colleagues:
Good luck!
På WeMarket erbjuder vi företag en benchmark-rapport som jämför deras marknadsföringsinsatser med deras viktigaste konkurrenter. Du bestämmer vilka konkurrenter vi ska jämföra med.
Vi är specialiserade på att sälja fysiska varor online och att få webbutiker att växa – och nu kan du dra nytta av denna expertis, även om du inte redan är kund.
Det är helt gratis.
