LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences targeting allows businesses to reach known “warm” audiences on the platform. It enables businesses to retarget these audience in three primary ways: website cookie list retargeting, contact retargeting, and account list retargeting. Businesses can target their ads to specific audiences based on email addresses, website visitors, and account lists, making it easier to reach the right people at the right time with the right message.
But that’s not all. Matched Audiences also allows businesses to retarget in-platform activity on LinkedIn to build engagement audiences for retargeting video views, single image ads, lead gen forms, and even your LinkedIn company page. This functionality enables businesses to build a full-funnel approach on LinkedIn, ensuring that they engage with their audience at every stage of the buyer journey.
This makes Matched Audiences an incredibly effective and has a significant impact on the ROI of campaigns by narrowing down your ideal customer profile of LinkedIn members.
Whether you’re new to LinkedIn advertising or a seasoned pro, this post will provide valuable insights into leveraging Matched Audiences to reach your business goals. By the end of this blog post, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of Matched Audiences and how to use them effectively to drive results for your business.
What Is The Matched Audiences Feature?
LinkedIn Matched Audience is a marketing feature that allows businesses to target their advertising campaigns to a specific audience based on their own customer data. This audience is created by uploading a list of email addresses, company names, or LinkedIn account IDs of individuals or businesses that are relevant to the advertising campaign.
Once the audience is uploaded, LinkedIn matches the data to its own database to create a custom audience segment. This segment can be targeted with Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, or Display Ads on LinkedIn.
There are three types of LinkedIn Matched Audience targeting:
1. Website Retargeting:
This allows businesses to target LinkedIn users who have visited their websites in the past.
2. Account Targeting:
This allows businesses to target LinkedIn users who work at specific companies that are important to their advertising campaign.
3. Contact Targeting:
This allows businesses to target LinkedIn users based on their email addresses, which they have obtained from their own customer database.
4. Engagement-based retargeting:
Based on in-platform activity, such as single image ad engagement, video ad views, lead form opens/submits, company page engagement, and LinkedIn event RSVPs.
Why Does Your Business Matched Audiences?
Using Matched Audiences on LinkedIn provides several benefits to businesses that are looking to reach their ideal audience and improve their ROI. Here are some reasons why your business should consider using Matched Audiences:
Increased Relevance:
With Matched Audiences, businesses can target their ads to specific audiences based on their email addresses, website visitors, and account lists. This targeting ensures that your ads are shown to people who are more likely to be interested in your business, making your ads more relevant and increasing the chances of conversion.
Improved ROI:
By targeting specific audiences, Matched Audiences can help businesses reduce ad spend wastage and improve their ROI. This results in more cost-effective and efficient use of advertising budgets.
Full-Funnel Approach:
Matched Audiences also enables businesses to retarget in-platform activity on LinkedIn, including engagement audiences of video views, single image ads, lead gen forms, and even LinkedIn company pages. This functionality helps businesses build a full-funnel approach on LinkedIn, ensuring that they engage with their audience at every stage of the buyer journey.
Customisation:
Matched Audiences provides businesses with the flexibility to create custom audiences based on their specific needs, allowing them to target their ads more precisely. This level of customization helps businesses create more targeted and effective campaigns.
Precision Targeting:
With LinkedIn Matched Audience targeting, businesses can target specific individuals or companies based on their own customer data. This precision targeting ensures that the advertising campaign reaches the right audience, which can lead to higher conversion rates and a better return on investment.
Personalised Adverts
LinkedIn Matched Audience targeting allows businesses to create customized messaging and ads for their target audience. This can increase the relevance of the ad and improve the chances of conversion.
Cost-Effective:
By targeting a specific audience, businesses can avoid wasting money on advertising to people who are not interested in their products or services. This can make advertising campaigns more cost-effective and efficient.
Retargeting:
LinkedIn Matched Audience targeting also allows businesses to retarget users who have previously engaged with their brand. This can increase the chances of conversion by reminding users about the brand and its products or services.
In summary, Matched Audiences is a powerful targeting tool that can provide several benefits to businesses, including increased relevance, improved ROI, a full-funnel approach, and customization. By leveraging Matched Audiences effectively, businesses can achieve their advertising goals and grow their business on LinkedIn.
How To Make The Most Of Matched Audiences To Generate Leads & Sales
LinkedIn Matched Audiences is a powerful retargeting tool that enables businesses to target users who have already interacted with their brand. There are three types of retargeting options available on LinkedIn: website cookie list retargeting, contact retargeting, and company list retargeting.
LinkedIn’s Matches Audiences tool has the potential to achieve great results for your future marketing campaigns, but only when you employ the right strategies. The best way to get it right is to consider the three main targeting tools separately, which we now cover.
How Does Matched Audiences Work?
LinkedIn provides a range of third-party methods of uploading your own data to build audiences, including:
1. Contact lists:
Targeting individual people. Create audience lists based on your email address lists or by connecting your contact management platform.
2. Company lists:
Targeting anyone who works for a particular organisation. Utilise LinkedIn’s data to run account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns
3. Insight Tag-based retargeting:
Reaching anyone who visited select pages on your website.
4. Engagement-based retargeting:
Based on in-platform activity, such as single image ad engagement, video ad views, lead form opens/submits, company page engagement, and LinkedIn event RSVPs.
To use LinkedIn Matched Audiences, businesses must first upload their company or contact list to LinkedIn. This can be done manually or through an automation partner. To upload a company or contact list manually, businesses can follow these steps:
1. Click on the “Account Assets” tab on LinkedIn and select “Matched Audiences.”
2. Select “Create a Matched Audience” and choose the type of audience you want to create (website retargeting, contact targeting, or account targeting).
3. Upload your company or contact list in CSV format.
4. LinkedIn will match the uploaded list to their user database, and businesses can start targeting those users with ads.
Website Targeting (Remarketing Cookies)
Website cookie list retargeting allows businesses to target users who have visited their website. This means that businesses can show ads to users who have visited specific pages on their website, added items to their cart, or abandoned their cart. Website cookie list retargeting is a highly effective advertising technique as it targets users who have already shown interest in the brand and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Most first-time visitors to your website aren’t ready to purchase, which is why guiding them on the path to conversion is one of the most significant parts of running a successful digital marketing campaign. With website targeting, you can segment your audience depending on the pages they visit before building tailored ads and emails, which should lead to increased conversions.
To do this, you’ll want to follow the steps below:
- Add a LinkedIn Insight Tag to your website domain.
- Use the Create A Website Audience tool to define audiences based on the pages that they visit.
After doing this, you must wait for web users and people with LinkedIn accounts to visit the appropriate pages on your site. As this happens, Matched Audiences will collect the data and (once the audience size surpasses 300) the email campaign you’ve created can be automatically launched by clicking Launch from the panel.
How to Create a Website Retargeting Campaign
1. Installing the Tag
To use LinkedIn website retargeting, businesses must install a LinkedIn Insight Tag on their website. This tag tracks website visitors and allows businesses to create targeted advertising campaigns based on their website behaviour. To install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on a website, businesses must follow these steps:
a. Create a new Insight Tag under the “Account Assets” tab on LinkedIn.
b. Copy the Insight Tag code.
c. Paste the Insight Tag code on the website’s header section.
d. Verify that the Insight Tag is installed correctly.
2. Creating the Audience
After the Insight Tag is installed, businesses can create a website retargeting campaign by following these steps:
a. Click on the “Account Assets” tab on LinkedIn and select “Matched Audiences.”
b. Select “Create a Matched Audience” and choose “Website Retargeting.”
c. Select the website pages that you want to track and define the audience rules.
d. Save the audience and create a targeted advertising campaign.
How To Use Contact Targeting
Contact targeting focuses on reaching decision makers. In fact, you can target up to 300,000 companies in a campaign. The targeting allows you to send ads exclusively to the companies you wish to work with and target and drive greater sales conversion rates by hitting the right people time and time again.
Contact retargeting enables businesses to target users who are already on their email list. This means that businesses can show ads to users who have already signed up for their newsletter or have interacted with the brand through email. Contact retargeting is a highly effective advertising technique as it targets users who have already shown interest in the brand and increases the likelihood of conversion.
To use LinkedIn contact targeting, businesses must upload their email list to LinkedIn. LinkedIn will match the email list to their user database and enable businesses to target those users with ads.
To do this, you must:
- Create a CSV file by using a one-column spreadsheet focused on company names on the platform.
- Sign into the Campaign Manager and select Matched Audiences.
- Use the Upload List feature from the Uploaded Audiences tab.
This allows you to automatically collate the info from your CSV file (of up to 20MB) before launching a campaign that reaches contacts that are connected to the companies you’ve listed.
How To Use Company (Account) Targeting
Company list retargeting enables businesses to target specific companies or decision-makers within those companies. This means that businesses can show ads to users who work at specific companies or who hold specific job titles. Account list retargeting is a highly effective advertising technique as it targets users who are most likely to make purchasing decisions and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Company targeting is the most similar option to the ideas you may have seen on Facebook et al. However, the results will be far greater due to the features mentioned above. It allows you to build relevant audiences before delivering the best content for increased conversion rates.
To do this, you should follow these steps:
- Upload your email list using a one-column spreadsheet.
- Set up an integration, which automatically collects data from HubSpot, Eloqua, Marketo, and other platforms you’re using.
Once the Matched Audiences platform is populated with the necessary data, you can separate audiences and run the desired email campaigns based on various metrics including location, industry type, etc. This will allow you to ensure that each person in your contact list receives relevant ads only.
Setting up LinkedIn Company Targeting
To use LinkedIn company targeting, businesses must upload their account list to LinkedIn. LinkedIn will match the account/company list to their user database and enable businesses to target users who work at those companies or who hold specific job titles.
To set up LinkedIn company targeting, businesses must follow these steps:
a. Click on the “Account Assets” tab on LinkedIn and select “Matched Audiences.”
b. Select “Create a Matched Audience” and choose “Account Targeting.”
c. Upload the company list in CSV format.
d. LinkedIn will match the company list to their user database and enable businesses to target users who work at those companies or who hold specific job titles.
Use Integrations likes CRM's
Businesses can also upload their company or contact list through an automation partner or data integration. This method automates the process of matching users in the uploaded list to LinkedIn’s user database and ensures that the list is always up to date. LinkedIn has several automation partners and data integrations that businesses can use to upload their company or contact list, including CRM integrations, contact management platform integrations, and other useful data integrations.
Businesses can also automate the process of uploading their email list to LinkedIn by using automation partners and data integrations. LinkedIn has several automation partners and data integrations that businesses can use to upload their email list, including CRM integrations, contact management platform integrations, and other useful data integrations.
1. CRM Integrations
Businesses can integrate their customer relationship management (CRM) software with LinkedIn to automatically sync their company or contact list. LinkedIn has partnerships with several CRM providers, including Hubspot, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics. By integrating their CRM software with LinkedIn, businesses can ensure that their audience lists are always up to date and relevant.
2. Contact Management Platform Integrations
LinkedIn also has partnerships with several contact management platforms, including Marketo, Eloqua, and Pardot. These platforms allow businesses to automatically sync their contact lists with LinkedIn and create targeted advertising campaigns based on those lists.
3. Other Useful Data Integrations
LinkedIn also has partnerships with several data integration providers, including LiveRamp, Bombora, and Oracle Data Cloud. These providers allow businesses to upload their company or contact list to LinkedIn and create targeted advertising campaigns based on that list.
More of LinkedIn’s Marketing Features
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms is a tool that enables businesses to collect leads directly from LinkedIn. Lead Gen Forms can be customised to capture specific information and enable businesses to follow up with potential customers directly from LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Events
LinkedIn Events is a tool that enables businesses to create and promote events on LinkedIn. This tool can be used to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and engage with potential customers.
LinkedIn and GDPR
LinkedIn is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and provides businesses with tools and resources to ensure that their advertising campaigns are GDPR-compliant.
LinkedIn Matched Audiences’ Best Practices & Tips
Find Your Target Accounts
Before creating a LinkedIn Matched Audience campaign, businesses must first identify their target accounts. This can be done by analysing their existing customer base, identifying companies that fit their ideal customer profile, and researching the market to identify potential prospects.
Build Your Audience
Once the target accounts have been identified, businesses must build their audience by uploading their company or contact list to LinkedIn or by using automation partners and data integrations. It’s important to ensure that the audience list is relevant and up to date to ensure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
Don’t Hyper-Target Your Audience
While it’s essential to target the right audience, businesses must be careful not to hyper-target their audience. Hyper-targeting can limit the reach of the advertising campaign and reduce the effectiveness of the targeting options.
A/B Tests Your Audiences and Campaigns
To ensure the effectiveness of the LinkedIn Matched Audience campaign, businesses must perform A/B testing on their audiences and campaigns. This can be done by testing different messaging, images, and targeting options to identify the most effective combination.
Audience Targeting Add-on
LinkedIn also offers an audience targeting add-on that enables businesses to target users based on their company size, industry, and other criteria. This add-on can be used in conjunction with LinkedIn Matched Audiences to create highly targeted advertising campaigns.
LinkedIn Matched Audiences’ Minimum Audience Size
LinkedIn has a minimum audience size requirement for Matched Audiences campaigns. For website retargeting and company/account targeting, the minimum audience size is 300 users, while for contact targeting, the minimum audience size is 1,000 users..
How to Find Your Target Audience on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for businesses to find their target audience. The platform provides numerous targeting options, including job title, company size, industry, and location. Businesses can use LinkedIn’s Audience Insights tool to gain insight into their target audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviours.
LinkedIn Targeting Options
LinkedIn provides several targeting options, including demographic targeting, interest targeting, and account-based targeting. Demographic targeting allows businesses to target users based on characteristics such as job title, company size, and industry. Interest targeting enables businesses to target users based on their interests and behaviours, such as groups they belong to or content they have engaged with. Account-based targeting allows businesses to target specific companies or decision-makers within those companies.
LinkedIn Audience Insights
LinkedIn Audience Insights is a tool that provides businesses with information on their target audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviours. This tool allows businesses to understand their audience better and create targeted advertising campaigns that resonate with them.
LinkedIn Lookalike Audiences
LinkedIn Lookalike Audiences is a powerful marketing tool that allows businesses to expand their reach and target potential customers who share similar characteristics to their existing lists (contacts, companies, website cookies) By analysing the data from a company’s current customer list, website visitors, and other relevant sources, LinkedIn’s algorithm can identify patterns and similarities among users and create a list of new prospects with similar characteristics.
Using this list, businesses can create targeted advertising campaigns that reach a wider audience while still remaining relevant to their existing customer base. By targeting users who share similar interests, job titles, and behaviors with their current customers, businesses can increase the likelihood of converting these new prospects into paying customers.
One key advantage of LinkedIn Lookalike Audiences is that it allows businesses to identify potential customers who may not have been aware of their brand previously. This can be especially useful for companies looking to expand into new markets or target specific niches within their industry.
Overall, LinkedIn Lookalike Audiences is a valuable tool for any business looking to expand their reach and attract new customers. By using data-driven insights to identify potential prospects who share similar characteristics to their existing audience, businesses can create more effective and targeted advertising campaigns that drive real results.
The Final Word
LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences tool is undoubtedly one of the most powerful on the market while the layout and metric tracking features are user-friendly too. When used well, it can take the success of your email marketing endeavours to a whole new level, especially when the content of the emails themselves is of the desired standard. To learn more about LinkedIn Ads, Check our blog post How to Set up LinkedIn Ads Campaigns
LinkedIn Matched Audiences is a powerful tool that enables businesses to retarget their audience and increase the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. By using LinkedIn’s retargeting options, such as website cookie list retargeting, contact retargeting, and company list retargeting, businesses can reach their audience with relevant messages at the right time. By following the best practices and tips provided in this post, businesses can maximise their ROI on LinkedIn Matched Audiences and get the most out of their LinkedIn advertising campaigns.
If you still need help understanding the platform or require a team of professionals to manage your audience matching techniques for optimum results, give a call today.
