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What’s new and exciting in the world of LinkedIn?

You’re about to find out.

The undisputed LinkedIn marketing expert, founder of LinkedIn ad agency B2Linked, and host of the LinkedIn Ads Show podcast, AJ Wilcox, joined me on a new episode of Lights Camera Live.

We talked about what’s changed since A Beginner's Guide to LinkedIn Ads, including new LinkedIn features and what he’s excited about for LinkedIn in 2021.

Here’s what’s new.

What new features did LinkedIn release in 2020?

Since AJ was last on Lights Camera Live, LinkedIn has released stories, live streaming to events, chat, and polling functionality.

But, one of the most exciting features of 2020 was the ability to retarget your audience, including people who have:

• Watched a certain number of your videos

• Opened one of your lead forms or submitted it

• Visited your company page

• Shown interest in your events

This is huge if you want to build an audience you can reach out to later.

Additionally, if you’re like me, you don’t want to give out all of your personal information to every single connection request. 

I told AJ I wished there was an easier way to connect with people without giving away my email address, and he informed me of a secret settings hack.

In LinkedIn settings, there is the ability to change the “Connect With Me” button to a “Follow Me” button instead. 

This update is perfect if you want to make sure people want to actually connect with you and not just pitch a sale. When AJ updated his settings, he started getting hundreds of followers a week.

How cool is that?

What new LinkedIn features does AJ want to see in 2021?

Before COVID-19, AJ would travel to San Francisco once a quarter and have meetings with the LinkedIn product team to give feedback.

For future LinkedIn roll-outs, AJ would love to see features that include retargeting your LinkedIn profile engagement, and people who have visited your personal profile or engaged with your posts.

People often want to engage with you on your personal profile and not your company page, so the ability to do so would be excellent for those who use LinkedIn to connect with others in their industry.

Additionally, AJ noted that LinkedIn ads are currently based in UTC, so if you live on the East or West coast, the “new day” for your ads begin at 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening. 

By the time people wake up and get to the office, the budget for your ads is gone. He would love to see the ability to time your LinkedIn ads as you wish.

How to create a LinkedIn ads strategy

Creating a strategy for LinkedIn ads is a little different than Facebook ads because your audience is different.

Facebook focuses more on long-form copy, but on LinkedIn, people are in a hurry. When they sign in, they’re on a mission, and they don’t always have the time to read a long-winded post.

The messaging on both can be similar, but remember that your audience on LinkedIn has a different mindset. People use LinkedIn to focus on their business, career, and employees. Facebook is more about scrolling through the timeline and connecting with your family and friends.

LinkedIn pay-per-click is also 3-5 times the cost of Facebook. But, the targeting is better, and your audience is more qualified. Since it is more expensive, it is a higher risk, but worth it.

Three elements make up a social ad campaign:

• A: Audience

• M: Message

• O: Offer

LinkedIn has fantastic audience retargeting, which is why you want to pay for LinkedIn ads. 

Your message is the ad format you choose. What are you going to tell your audience with your copy or the imagery used?

Finally, offer: what is your call to action? This is the essential piece of your ad campaign. What are you asking your audience or offering them to get them to engage with you?

Bring your audience in with content like a webinar, Ebook, guide, or checklist. Don’t go right in for the kill with an ad saying, “This is what we do. Click here to talk to a sales rep.”

How can you learn more about LinkedIn ads?

AJ’s LinkedIn learning course on LinkedIn ads is the number one place to go to learn more about LinkedIn advertising strategies.

To get a preview of what the course entails, you can watch the first few videos for free. AJ is also updating the course in the next two to three months, so it will have a ton of new content and information.

AJ also shares information on his podcast, the LinkedIn Ads Show. Every episode covers a different topic to help you understand LinkedIn ads.

Finally, AJ offered one last piece of advice to anyone hoping to scale their business in 2021: You need to be okay with letting go.

Prepare yourself to be a little distanced from your topic once you bring other people onto your team. Delegating work saves you time and allows you to grow your business.

How do you plan to use LinkedIn to succeed in 2021?

Let me know in the comments what features you’re most excited about.

Thank you to Restream for sponsoring Lights, Camera, Live!

If you haven’t heard, Restream allows you to broadcast live video to 30+ social networks at the same time.

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