How Law Firms Can Get Started With LinkedIn Account Targeting

One of the three targeting tools from LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences is Account Targeting. It’s a powerful targeting option that is a perfect match for business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Account Targeting enables you to put together a directory of up to 300,000 businesses and create specially targeted advertisements for that specific list. It is an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy that can net large deals and deliver high ROI.

Related: LinkedIn Website Retargeting for Lawyers

About 92% of B2B marketers report that ABM is an essential technique. Also, 85% of the businesses that implement an ABM based strategy say that they have indeed experienced an increased ROI as a result (ITSMA). When you look at those numbers, it’s easy to see why ABM is gaining steam among business-to-business firms.

LinkedIn Account Targeting

Created to help marketers follow an account-based marketing technique, LinkedIn introduced the Company Targeting tool. It enables both Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail campaigns to be customized and structured to a list of targeted accounts. Account Targeting is a self-service ad platform that includes new advanced strategies relevant to Matched Audiences.

Marketers have always been able to target companies through LinkedIn Ads. However, there were limits, such as the restriction to target only 100 businesses per campaign. Moreover, each company name had to be typed in one by one. So, if you wanted to concentrate on the Fortune 500, you had to create five campaigns and enter 500 company names by hand. That’s a lot of time and effort.

With LinkedIn’s Account Targeting, you can just upload a list of 300,000 company names in .csv format and you’re good to go. To make the tool even better, you can use and incorporate the list with all of LinkedIn’s current filters. For marketers from any industry, that combination means in-depth focus and enhanced opportunities all throughout the marketing funnel.

How LinkedIn Account Targeting Works

An advertiser will first upload a list of potential target contacts or company names in CSV format. The site cross-references the list against its ecosystem, which has over eight million company pages. The platform then generates an account targeted list based on the cross-referenced matches. Ads can then be shown to this list as-is, or it can be further refined.

Taking the time to refine the initial list can be well worth the time and effort. It will allow you to make sure that your ads are laser targeted to the right organizations and the key people and decision-makers within those organizations.

How to Get Started With LinkedIn Account Targeting

As powerful as LinkedIn’s account targeting functions are, it doesn’t take much to get started. The hardest part is putting together your initial list of contacts or businesses. Once you’ve got that list, head to LinkedIn in your favorite browser and follow these steps:

• Log in to your LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
• Choose the correct account name.
• Locate the “Account Assets” tab.
• Click the dropdown menu.
• Choose “Matched Audiences.”
• Look for the “Uploaded List Audiences” tab and click “Upload a List.”
• Type in a file name.
• Upload your CSV File.
• Click “Next.”

That’s it. Once your list is uploaded, LinkedIn will match your list against theirs and provide you with a final list of accounts that you can target. You should be able to take it from there and refine the list further (or not) and start advertising.

Takeaway:

LinkedIn’s Account Targeting can help you achieve individualized messaging while minimizing waste. When used properly, law firm marketers are able to reach the key people who make purchasing decisions in target organizations faster than ever before.

When you boil it down, account targeting (or ABM) is a more effective form of marketing because it’s a more focused form of marketing. If you’re curious how other B2B law firms have already started running ABM campaigns on LinkedIn or if you’d like help getting started with your own campaigns, contact us today for help.

Updated and Republished from Mar. 17, 2020.