Disruptive LinkedIn ads: what are they and how can you leverage them?

What do we mean by ‘disruptive LinkedIn ads’?

It’s not only Disruptor or Challenger brands who can benefit from disruptive LinkedIn Ads. When we talk about this, we simply mean LinkedIn ads which disrupt their markets. These can be disruptive in several ways, depending on the creativity and approach of the campaign.

How can LinkedIn ads disrupt your market?

Here are some general tips and methods to help you create disruptive ad campaigns:

– Unconventional ad formats: LinkedIn offers various ad formats, including sponsored content, sponsored InMail, text ads, and dynamic ads. Ads can leverage unique ad formats or use them in unconventional ways to stand out from the competition. For example, using animated GIFs, videos, or interactive polls in sponsored content can catch users’ attention and disrupt the typical static content in their LinkedIn feeds.

– Provocative messaging: Disruptive LinkedIn Ads can use provocative and attention-grabbing messaging to challenge the status quo, provoke curiosity, or spark controversy. Bold statements, provocative questions, or controversial statements can disrupt the usual tone and style of LinkedIn ads and make users stop and engage with your content.

– Personalisation: By using personalisation to create a highly targeted and customised experience for users you can boost engagement and disrupt your market. This can include using personalised greetings, mentioning specific companies or job titles, or referencing recent interactions or connections on LinkedIn. Personalisation makes ads feel more relevant and engaging, disrupting the typical generic approach of advertising.

– Unexpected or humorous content: Using unexpected or humorous content to surprise and entertain users is a great way to grab user’s limited attention. This can include unconventional approaches that make users pause and engage with the ad. It’s always important to ensure that the humour is appropriate for the professional context of LinkedIn and aligns with your brand’s tone and values before posting.

– Profile takeovers or user-generated content: Social influencers are a key avenue to explore for success on social channels. Profile takeovers often lead to high engagement and eventual conversions. People trust people, and if the influencer is someone a user sees themselves in, they are likely to resonate with your ad. And it’s not only influencers – try a takeover with your employees or other stakeholders. This can create a sense of authenticity, humanise the brand, and disrupt the typical corporate messaging on LinkedIn. Using user-generated content within your ads is another way to appear authentic.

– Interactive ads: Implementing interactive elements in your LinkedIn ads can provide an immersive and engaging experience for users. These ads can include interactive features like quizzes, surveys, or mini-games that encourage user participation and interaction. By offering a unique and interactive ad experience, you can disrupt the traditional passive viewing of ads and capture users’ attention.

– Stunning visuals : Incorporating visually striking elements in your LinkedIn ads can captivate users and disrupt the visual monotony of the platform. Utilize high-quality images, compelling graphics, or visually appealing design elements to create ads that stand out and make an impact. Eye-catching visuals can draw users’ attention and make your ads more memorable.

– Compelling messaging : Crafting compelling and persuasive messaging in your LinkedIn ads can compel users to take action and disrupt the typical passive scrolling behaviour. Focus on communicating a clear value proposition, highlighting unique benefits, or presenting irresistible offers to create an emotional connection with your audience. By delivering a compelling message, you can disrupt the norm and generate higher engagement with your ads.

– Highly targeted ads : LinkedIn provides advanced targeting options that allow you to reach your desired audience with precision. Leveraging these targeting capabilities enables you to deliver highly relevant ads to the right people at the right time, disrupting the generic approach of mass advertising. Tailor your ads based on factors such as industry, job title, company size, or specific LinkedIn groups to ensure your message reaches the most receptive audience.

It’s important to note, all ads should align with your brand’s tone and values, be relevant to your target audience, and ultimately deliver the desired results in terms of engagement, conversions, or other campaign objectives. Even a disruptive or humorous ad needs to fit your brand and sell your story. If they appear to differ compared to all your other content, this can have the opposite effect and lead to users distrusting your brand and thinking it is inauthentic.

5 tips for creating LinkedIn ads:

1. Know your audience: LinkedIn is a professional network, so it’s important to understand who you are targeting and what motivates them. This will help you craft the right messaging and visuals for your ad.

2. Use eye-catching visuals: LinkedIn is a visual platform, so it’s important to use eye-catching images and videos to grab the attention of your target audience.

3. Make it personal: LinkedIn allows you to target specific individuals, so take advantage of this by making your ads personal and relevant to each recipient.

4. Use data-driven targeting: LinkedIn offers advanced targeting options based on demographic and professional data. Use this data to ensure your ads are being delivered to the right people.

5. Test and iterate: Like with any advertising platform, it’s important to test different ad variations and iterate based on performance.

Popular topics on LinkedIn

1. Career advice and job search tips: This is an obvious one, but people on LinkedIn are always looking for ways to advance their careers. Content that provides career advice, job search tips, and insights into hiring trends is highly relevant and tends to get a lot of engagement.

2. Industry specific news and insights: Content that provides news, analysis, and insights into trends and innovations tends to perform well, especially when it is shared with those in your industry.

3. Soft skills and personal development: Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, organisationand leadership tends to be in high demand as they are relevant to almost everyone on LinkedIn.

4. Business and technology trends: As well as your specific industry being a high value topic, general business and technology are topics have grown in popularity over the years along with technological advancements – and they continue to do so.

Next Chapter – helping you thrive on LinkedIn

If you need any further advice or are looking for a LinkedIn marketing agencyto help you with your LinkedIn campaign management, then feel free to get in touch with us today.