Discover tips for creating an effective LinkedIn InMail campaign that reaches your target audience directly and increases your chances of conversion.
Anders Stokholm Jessen
LinkedIn is known as an expensive advertising platform with few success stories. Here, we share one of our own successes AND show you how to run the same campaign. This is all about InMails on LinkedIn.
InMails on LinkedIn are direct messages you can send to people you are not connected with. This feature is only available to Premium members on LinkedIn – AND as an advertising format you can use to broadly target your audience.
With that clarified, let me tell you how we have used InMails in our advertising on LinkedIn and why I believe it is THE most overlooked advertising format on LinkedIn, and perhaps in online marketing in general.
Advertising on LinkedIn can be challenging. In the B2B sphere, LinkedIn offers unique targeting options unmatched by other platforms. No other social media lets you target people by job function, industry, company, seniority, etc., while also providing such a massive user base as LinkedIn does.
On the flip side, true LinkedIn advertising success stories are few and far between – until now!
LinkedIn is a social network for YOUR professional connections – and this is often forgotten when it comes to advertising.
Far too many use LinkedIn the same way they use Facebook: with ads placed in the news feed or as LinkedIn’s version of right-hand side ads – text at the top of the browser. LinkedIn itself does not even mention the possibility of using InMails for advertising.
As a result, LinkedIn InMails are overlooked, and that is a real shame!
As an advertiser, you are competing with everyone else for your audience’s attention. When you receive a message (whether by SMS, email, Messenger, or LinkedIn), you see the message and at least read a few lines in the preview.
In other words: you have the recipient’s full attention!
That is what makes this ad format so powerful! Your message receives much more attention than yet another ad in the news feed.
I am not talking about the kind of InMail messages that the kings of LinkedIn with Premium accounts can send. No, these are regular ads you set up in LinkedIn’s campaign manager and which are delivered directly to your target audience.
Here is an example:
We have just completed a test campaign with sponsored messages on LinkedIn:
As you can see in the example above, we did not offer a free e-book or any other freebie. That would undoubtedly have resulted in more clicks after opening than in this example.
Our campaign was delivered to people who had visited our website and who, in one way or another, are decision-makers regarding marketing initiatives for their company.
Luckily, setting up an InMail campaign is relatively straightforward, especially if you are already familiar with advertising on LinkedIn. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you get started.
Before you begin, you will need:
Above, you name your campaign group, set an overall budget, and select the campaign period.
I have experienced major issues with selecting dates in LinkedIn’s campaign manager, where LinkedIn automatically switches the day and month. So pay attention to the date you choose and be patient!
Currently, there are two campaign objectives in the manager that support InMails/Message Ads:
In this example, I would like people to visit my website to read about a case study. Therefore, I select Website visits.
I want to reach all marketing directors, commercial directors, or heads of communications (and similar roles) in the Central Jutland region. These criteria/parameters are easily added in the targeting tool, as you can see below.
Tip! Check whether your target audience changes depending on profile language. LinkedIn’s default is English as the profile language, and not everyone has changed it to Danish. Therefore, it may be a good idea to select English as the profile language in your campaign setup.
Now we come to the crucial part – the aspect that is different from other ads you may have set up on LinkedIn. Now you need to select Message Ad as the ad format:
Next, specify your budget, campaign period, and bid.
LinkedIn requires a minimum budget of DKK 60 per day.
It is not guaranteed that the entire budget will be spent. It depends on whether your target audience logs into LinkedIn.
It can be beneficial to add conversion tracking via your LinkedIn Insights Tag. This allows you to monitor whether those who receive your ad then click through and convert on your website.
Now it is time to create your ad. This is the message that your target audience will receive. Simply click Create new ad.
Then, name your ad and select the sender.
The sender must be a personal profile. It cannot be your company profile – and this is where the great strength of this ad format lies. All other campaigns will have your company as the sender. With this format, you can have a personal sender, giving you a better chance to create a personal connection with your target audience.
Tip! Make sure you have a short, attention-grabbing subject line. Since you do not necessarily have a direct relationship with the person you are writing to, introduce yourself AND your message early in the text.
Once you have filled in the fields and uploaded an image/banner, click “Create” and you are ready to go!
Most ad formats have their drawbacks, but the only downside I have experienced with InMails is that you cannot see exactly which individuals have received your message ad.
If you want to be certain that you are delivering your message to specific people, you will need a LinkedIn Premium membership and to send InMails directly to those individuals.
This is a much more expensive and time-consuming process, so if you want to reach a wider audience, I strongly recommend using the method described in this post.
It is, of course, crucial that all your campaigns comply with the Consumer Ombudsman’s rules on SPAM, in this case especially those regarding direct marketing.
On 11 September 2018, the Consumer Ombudsman ruled that:
The Consumer Ombudsman found that InMails sent to a user’s inbox are considered electronic mail and were for marketing purposes. The company therefore needed prior consent.
On 21 July 2020, the Consumer Ombudsman also ruled on LinkedIn’s new ad format, Conversational Ads:
The Consumer Ombudsman found that marketing sent via Conversation Ads is considered electronic mail and therefore covered by the spam ban. The company therefore needed prior consent to send marketing via Conversation Ads.
Based on the above rulings, it is therefore directly against the spam ban (section 10, subsection 1 of the Marketing Act) to use Sponsored InMails or Conversational Ads on LinkedIn for marketing without prior consent.
What does this mean in practice?
It means that unless you have obtained the recipient’s permission (just like with traditional newsletters), you are not allowed to contact the recipient via these two advertising options on LinkedIn.
However, you may send Sponsored InMails and Conversational Ads to individuals from whom you have received consent for direct marketing – for example, your newsletter subscribers, as long as this is stated in your terms and conditions (which they have accepted).
Tip! If you, as a private individual, do not wish to receive Sponsored InMails or Conversational Ads on LinkedIn, you can opt out of them in your settings.
You do this under Settings and Privacy → Communications → Messages
I hope this guide has inspired you to set up your own InMail campaign on LinkedIn.
If you have any questions or need help with your LinkedIn advertising, we are always here to help. Contact us here or call us on 71 99 34 74 – completely without obligation.
If you would also like to make sure you are getting the most from your ads, I recommend reading these excellent articles from my colleagues:
Best of luck!
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