LinkedIn recently announced they are making changes to their sponsored messaging formats. These changes come alongside a new look Inbox, which will have a “Focussed” tab and “Other” tab. The new Inbox presents your most relevant messages, and ads, in the “Focussed” tab.
Sun-setting of Message Ads and new ad formats
The biggest change will be the sunsetting of Message Ads. These are being replaced with Conversation Ads, and the new Conversation Starter Ads, which are due to launch in Q2 2023. Conversation Starter Ads will appear within a fixed placement in the “Focussed” tab. These ads will encourage users to click to initiate a Conversation, and hence engage with the Conversation Ad itself.
In Q1 2023 Click to Message ads will also be available, which will be ads delivered in the newsfeed that invite users to start a Conversation with a brand.
New formats give greater user control
I think we can assume these changes have come with user control and privacy in mind. It’s been almost a year since LinkedIn suspended the use of Message Ads in EU countries and so it seems there may finally be some resolution to the challenges LinkedIn have had, and I would expect these new formats changes to be a part of that solution. Message Ads were delivered directly into the users LinkedIn Inbox and perhaps have been seen as intrusive. Having said that, if you’re targeting is right and you have engaging content, you should be serving relevant content to the audience!
By moving to Conversation Starter Ads, I think LinkedIn are offering a less intrusive format, and giving the user greater perceived control as they can decide whether they want to see the full messaging in the form of the Conversation Ad itself. The user also has that option to indicate their level of interest in each ad.
New format testing predictions
We’ve seen success with both Message Ads and Conversation Ads, so I am looking forward to testing the Conversation Starter ads when they launch. I’d expect there to be a drop in the initial engagement and predict a lower engagement rate for Conversation Starter Ads compared to open rate for Message Ads. However, I’d expect there to be a stronger conversion rate from engagements, as there is likely to be a higher level of intent from the users who engage with the Conversation Starter Ad.
Click to Message ads offer a great opportunity to get conversations going with scale of delivery offered through the Newsfeed. It means advertisers don’t need to be reliant on users accessing the inbox to get a conversation started.
If you need help with LinkedIn advertising, get in touch with us. We’d love to discuss how we can help you deliver cost efficient quality leads for your business as we recently have for Sentispec!
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| Author | Amisha Rathod |
| Channel | Media |