Launched in the fall of 2022, LinkedIn document ads started as a new ad type to target LinkedIn users with content focused on those already interested in a product or service and mid-way through the funnel. It’s my current favorite ad type based on the results I’m seeing, especially when added to other LinkedIn ad options.
As with all LinkedIn advertising, this ad type can target industry, company size, and pull in third-party data from your CRM or ABM tool. You can even include (or exclude) people by title, years of experience and much more, allowing advertisers to tailor the LinkedIn document ads to their specific audience.
If you haven’t tried or if you haven’t used LinkedIn ads for a while, take another look. Document Ads have some advantages that other ad types don’t and from what I’ve experienced, produce better quality leads than other ad types.
In fact, LinkedIn has found:
- LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms have a 5x completion rate compared to offsite conversions.
and
- Document ads have a 47% higher lead gen form completion rate over single image ads asking the audience to download a document.
What Are LinkedIn Document Ads?
LinkedIn document ads allow advertisers to promote downloads of gated documents right in the LinkedIn feed. Without ever leaving the platform, LinkedIn members (whom you specifically target) can download and read the content you’re sharing.
You have the option to fully share your content to build awareness, but for lead generation – where I’ve seen success – you’ll want to gate your document (as you would on your website) which populates a lead gen form users must fill out to download your entire piece of content. (This content can be short eBooks, case studies, whitepapers or guides depending on what is more appealing to your target audience).
These ads are visible while your target audience member is scrolling through, and users don’t have to leave LinkedIn to consume your content, making it that much easier to entice a click.
How to Use LinkedIn Document Ads
First, you’ll upload your PDF file, making sure it fits the required specifications, then fill in ad copy, choose your campaign objective, target audience and budget, and launch the ad. Once it’s running, you’ll have plenty of reporting right in your dashboard to help evaluate the ad’s performance.
As the advertiser, you can allow a preview of as many pages of your document as you want, but we’ve found 2-4 pages to be the sweet spot. Also, as you would with a gated guide on your website, include a summary what users will learn or a compelling reason to read your content, and show off your expertise. Make sure the content you’re gatekeeping is worth the price of admission (ie an email).
*Note that you’ll only be able to add a lead gen form to your document ad if you select “lead generation” as the campaign objective. The other campaign objectives of awareness and engagement can be tracked through reach, CTRs and engagement rates.
Every click is charged, but because it’s highly targeted, this brand recognition is likely worth your ad spend. You’ll also be able to track cost per lead as conversions begin to come in. As for budgeting, choosing a manual cost per click is the most efficient and typically the least expensive way to go.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Document Ads
It does take some finesse to create a document ad that will appeal to your audience. Try these best practices next time you create a new LinkedIn document ad:
Test It Out – Try out 2 ads with the same creative, but different preview lengths (2 vs. 4 pages) and see which one performs better. Or try variations of the ad copy. Either way, you’ll be able to see the data of each ad and compare and update to optimize performance.
Divide and Conquer – For different audiences (whether industries or roles) divide up your ads and get specific with your targeting. This means that if you have different guides for each of the top industries you serve, you’ll likely do better setting up different campaigns to target each industry’s audience with more relevant content.
Funnel Placement – Think about reaching the middle of the funnel. Provide ad copy and content within your documents to appeal to someone who is at that point in their research.
Catch Attention – Use a case-study style intro like, “Company Y increased ROI 45% using our product”. Or, state that your report has data from “over 250 B2B SaaS customers.”
SMEs Matter – An e-book may be too long, but a quick guide that can help, with a subject-matter expert? That’s gold. In this case, you might highlight the author or credentials.
Content and Length – Like we said before, offer something worthwhile. LinkedIn requires the document to be more than one page, and you should publish something of value, not a top-10 list.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Take the content you’re already producing and tailor it for LinkedIn’s document ads. It’s more efficient, and you likely already have a good idea of which content is popular.
And finally, per Linkedin’s Tips and Tricks, they recommend:
- Keeping the file size under 100mb
- Minimizing the number of PDF layers
- Keeping the doc length to under 10 pages
- Using images, bullets, and graphics
And don’t forget: the way you create your form should follow the same rules as the forms you’d put on your site: Only ask for the bare minimum of what you need for follow-up, like a name and work email.
Make the most of what you already have, and improve your effort-to-impact ratio. Using LinkedIn’s document ads can help you attract new customers using historically successful content from an email campaign. Or, you can create a document for the LinkedIn ad and also send it to your existing email list. That one piece of long-form research or content can be used on multiple platforms to broaden your reach.
Conclusion
Ultimately, you’ll have to see what works for your brand, with trial and error and making data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns and ads. One of our B2B SaaS clients began document ads a few months ago, and saw their click-through-rate nearly double, a quadrupled engagement rate, and a much lower cost-per-click. Even smaller companies can test it out with one document and $1k for a few weeks. In the end, providing valuable information to your target audience is a win-win.
