Let me guess – you’re in marketing, are very busy, and now need to improve the response that you are getting from LinkedIn text ads. 

And that’s probably on top of all the writing and content creation that you need to do for other social media platforms, websites, apps, eBooks, and so on. 

So to make things a little easier, here is a short list of recommendations and LinkedIn ads best practices. Hopefully, they will help you get quickly on your way to producing the most suitable texts for optimizing engagement. Hint: We’ve saved the best one for the end.

1. Don’t Recycle Content

The first rule of LinkedIn ad copywriting is that it must be unique. LinkedIn ad copy character limits are more generous than Facebook, for example (more on this in a moment). The LinkedIn audience is generally older and not looking for entertainment; they are there to do business. Moreover, LinkedIn ads are usually CPC (you will pay for every click), so you must reduce unqualified clicks by using very clear copy that only attracts the relevant audience. This is in contrast to Facebook’s CPM system, where you are paying to have your ad seen by the maximum number of people, and not clicks. 

Following Linkedin ads best practices means you should never copy and paste your ad text from other platforms to LinkedIn because these platforms have different rules and audience expectations. Instead, create new stuff specifically for the LinkedIn platform.  

However, you should still try to create a connection between your other marketing material and your LinkedIn copy. Some correlation with website texts and with content on other social media sites will reinforce what the audience has already read on your LinkedIn account. In addition, this improves your branding and makes your messaging consistent.

2. Do Your Best Above the Fold

Of the 600 characters for LinkedIn ad copy length, you get 150 characters initially displayed on the ad screen, and then a “see more” button (note that clicking “see more” does not count for CPC purposes). Busy readers often do not want to see more, unless those first 150 characters really appeal to them. Putting your most interesting copy at the beginning of the ad is highly advisable. 

You should grab the reader’s attention immediately. There are many ways to accomplish this, for example, by applying a copywriting formula. However, the best way to lead off is by answering the most basic question – “what’s in it for me?” – with a simple answer. A good answer for this question will also minimize the number of unqualified leads, and in turn make the most of what you pay to LinkedIn for advertising. 

Make sure to insert a CTA above the fold as well. LinkedIn has a fixed set of CTAs from which to choose, and it is essential to match above the fold text with the CTA. For example, if the ad text is meant to get people to download content, you should describe the content and its benefits right at the beginning of the ad, and then choose the “Download” CTA. You can then use the rest of the ad to discuss your product. Additionally, if suitable, including hashtags and URLs can be effective here. It’s also important to make the ad generally appealing in a visual sense. This means a relevant and interesting image to go along with your text, which can increase engagement by 200%. Keep in mind that you might want your visuals to stand out from the blue and white theme used by LinkedIn. Plus, emojis can catch a visitor’s attention, if you can find something that fits your brand.

3. Create a Phenomenal Headline

LinkedIn’s character limit for headlines is 70, and anything longer than that will be cut off, with no button to enable seeing the rest. This looks unprofessional, and is also a waste of what might otherwise be an eye-catching blurb. 

Not enough can be said about headlines (but you can get started learning about them here). They are basically the doorway to the rest of the ad – if they aren’t appealing, you can forget about everything else. Some general tips about writing a good headline are:

• Write the ad text first
• Do one of the following: explain the main benefit of the product for the user, create an image of how the product will make the user feel, or generate curiosity with facts, figures, or a question (for example, “How can you build the best LinkedIn text ads?”)
• Build several versions and try them out on your team to avoid your own bias and eliminate mistakes
• Test and repeat with existing versions, then continue the process with new versions

4. Use Interesting Formats and Figures Below the Fold

For the text that appears after the first 150 words, you can get creative so as to generate more interest.  

Using numbers is a way to attract attention because they appear differently from the rest of the text, while they are also great at putting a quantitative spin on marketing copy that appeals to the type of audience that looks for facts. 

Another tip to encourage conversion, particularly if you are using a CTA, is to create a sense of urgency. Discounts for LinkedIn users and/or limited time offers, stock-out warnings, and price increases for upcoming versions are some of the ways to accomplish this (but don’t use such promotions too often, because this erodes trust). 

Applying an interesting format can also work. The use of bullet points, lists, short sentences, and emphatic punctuation all serve to make below-the-fold LinkedIn ad text into something different than the usual block of text that the audience sees. 

However, be cautious. Too many emojis, capital letters, and punctuation marks will cause your ad to be rejected. For instance, LinkedIn allows one exclamation point and one emoji per ad, while serial capitalization of words is not allowed. For more information, see their advertising policy page.

5. Write in the Appropriate Style

In terms of format, LinkedIn users prefer what you would expect from a business-oriented audience. Short and simple messaging works best for the first 150 characters, so save your run-on sentences for later on in the ad copy.  

However, in terms of tone, the common conception of LinkedIn writing is that it should be more formal and serious than what is used for other social media. To reiterate, the LinkedIn audience is not looking for entertainment.

However, that doesn’t mean being bland. For some products, using an exciting writing style fits with the brand positioning. Similarly, the audience for such a product might be more attracted to the kind of language used on Facebook or Instagram. 

Getting noticed is a major hurdle when it comes to advertising on any platform, and LinkedIn is no exception. The trick is to understand your audience and the style that they like. If you are viewing LinkedIn ads that seem stuffy and conservative, perhaps they are targeted at an audience that is different from yours. To get a feel for the best style, check out the strongest brands in your industry to see what they are doing with their LinkedIn advertising spots.

6. Find the Right Words with Anyword

As we’ve seen, writing the best possible LinkedIn ad copy requires knowing the rules, while finding the most appealing style can require experimentation and an accurate idea of what your audience likes. But there’s a way to shorten your learning curve without sacrificing quality. 

Anyword’s AI copywriting platform has a specific LinkedIn ad copy feature (among other social media services). Instead of winding your way through all the tips and tricks for LinkedIn ad texts and headlines, simply rely on Anyword – it’s already loaded with the specifications demanded by the platform. 

And, on top of that, Anyword leverages a Big Data collection of millions of ads to determine what type of copy appeals to what kind of audience. If your audience is conservative, Anyword will build text in the appropriate style; if it’s young and looking for language that’s in vogue, Anyword can do that too. Anyword grades all copy with a numerical score according to predicted performance that reflects how much it will interest your users.  

Perhaps best of all, Anyword’s LinkedIn ad copy feature gets everything done in seconds. Here’s your part:

• Type in a project name, paste a landing page URL, and pick your industry 
• Tell Anyword if you want it to rewrite existing copy or make something new (according to writing styles such as “Hard Sell” and “5th Grader” among others)

After a few moments, you’ll get several versions graded according to their conversion potential, along with a graph showing what kind of response you can expect from different age and gender groups. You can also get Anyword to create the all-important headline for your ad, which can be written according to different styles based on the ever-increasing options appearing on the page menu.   

Sound simple? It can be – or you can delve further into Anyword’s capabilities. It will integrate your keywords, automatically test and revise copy versions, mimic a chosen writing style, and that’s just for starters. 

So if you’re like many busy marketers out there who simply don’t have the time to invest in mastering this – Anyword is your friend. Try the 7-day, no commitment trial, and get a taste of LinkedIn ad copy served up on a silver platter.

Additional Resources

Webinar: How to write B2B copy that converts

The Complete Guide to Building Customer Personas