LinkedIn Audience Segmentation: Complete Guide 2024

LinkedIn audience segmentation helps businesses target the right professionals on the world's largest professional network. Here's what you need to know:

• Segment users by job titles, company size, industry, and more

• Tailor content to specific groups for better engagement

• Use LinkedIn's 2024 targeting tools: Accelerate campaigns, improved metrics, collaborative articles

Key segmentation criteria:

1. Job experience (title, function, seniority)

2. Company details (size, industry)

3. Demographics (age, gender)

4. Education (degree, field of study)

5. Interests and traits

Best practices:

• Don't over-segment (keep audience over 50,000 for most campaigns)

• Test different segments

• Monitor performance regularly

• Stay updated on LinkedIn changes

New for 2024:

• Lookalike audiences replaced by Predictive Audiences

• Audience Expansion tool for wider reach

• Enhanced Audience Insights

Quick Comparison:

| Feature | Old Targeting | New Targeting (2024) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Audience Finding | Lookalike Audiences | Predictive Audiences |
| Reach Expansion | Manual | Audience Expansion Tool |
| Insights | Basic | Enhanced Audience Insights |
| Privacy Focus | Standard | Increased

Remember: Good segmentation leads to better engagement, more efficient ad spend, and improved campaign performance.

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LinkedIn audience attributes

LinkedIn's audience attributes are your secret weapon for laser-focused marketing. Here's what you need to know:

Basic attributes: Your starting point

You can't skip these:

| Attribute | What it is | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Location | Where they are | Local relevance |
| Language | Profile language | Content they understand

These are must-haves for any LinkedIn campaign. They're your first step in reaching the right people.

Main attributes: The good stuff

This is where LinkedIn shines:

1. Job experience

Job title, function, seniority, years of experience, and skills. Want to target senior developers with 10+ years of experience? You can.

2. Company details

Name, size, industry, connections, and followers. Looking for decision-makers in Fortune 500 tech companies? No problem.

3. Demographics

Age and gender. Sometimes, it matters.

4. Education

Degrees, fields of study, and schools. Need MBA graduates from top business schools? Got it.

5. Interests and traits

LinkedIn groups and interests. Find people passionate about your industry.

"The targeting options can enable you to target an audience with higher levels of disposable income than other platforms."

Translation: LinkedIn users often have more money to spend.

Pro tip: Mix and match these attributes. Try pairing "Member Skills" with "Job Functions" for a killer combo.

LinkedIn says aim for at least 300 members in your audience, but 300,000 is the sweet spot for sponsored content.

Segmentation criteria in detail

LinkedIn's targeting options help you find your ideal audience. Here's a breakdown of the key criteria:

Job experience targeting

This tool lets you reach professionals based on their career:

| Criteria | Examples |
| --- | --- |
| Job titles | Marketing Manager, Software Engineer |
| Functions | Sales, IT, Human Resources |
| Seniority | Entry-level, Manager, Director, C-suite |
| Skills | Python, Project Management, SEO |
| Years of experience | 0-2 years, 3-5 years, 10+ years

Want to target decision-makers? Try combining job functions with seniority. For example, target IT functions at the Director level and above to reach tech leaders.

Company targeting

Find your audience based on where they work:

• Target up to 200 specific companies

• Choose company sizes from startups to large enterprises

• Pick from LinkedIn's industry list

• Reach 1st-degree connections of employees at target companies

• Target followers of specific company pages

Demographic targeting

LinkedIn offers basic demographic options:

• Age: 18-24, 25-34, 35-54, 55+

• Gender: Male, Female

But be careful. Using demographic targeting might limit your reach more than you want.

Education targeting

Great for reaching alumni or professionals with specific educational backgrounds:

• Degrees: Bachelor's, Master's, PhD, etc.

• Fields of study: Business, Computer Science, Engineering, etc.

• Schools: Target graduates from specific institutions

Interest and trait targeting

Connect with professionals based on what they like and do:

• Member interests: Topics like AI, Digital Marketing, etc.

• LinkedIn groups: Professional associations, industry groups, etc.

• Traits: Frequent travelers, early tech adopters, etc.

Starting May 15, 2024, Member Groups targeting won't be available for campaigns in the EEA or Switzerland.

The secret to great LinkedIn targeting? Combine these criteria smartly. For example, to find tech-savvy marketing leaders, you could mix:

1. Job function: Marketing

2. Seniority: Director and above

3. Skills: Digital Marketing, Marketing Automation

4. Member interests: AI, Big Data

Advanced segmentation methods

LinkedIn's targeting tools let you zero in on your ideal audience. Here's how to use them:

Combining multiple criteria

Mix and match targeting options to create laser-focused segments:

| Criteria | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Job Function | Marketing |
| Seniority | Director and above |
| Skills | Digital Marketing, AI |
| Company Size | 1,000-5,000 employees

This combo targets senior marketers with AI skills in mid-sized companies.

Using matched audiences

Matched Audiences use your own data for targeting:

1. Website retargeting

Add the LinkedIn Insight Tag to your site to retarget visitors. Segment based on pages viewed.

2. Contact targeting

Upload CRM email lists to reach known contacts on LinkedIn. This boosts click-through rates by 37%.

3. Account targeting

Upload a list of target companies (up to 300,000) to reach their decision-makers. This increases post-click conversion rates by 32% and cuts post-click cost per conversion by 4.7%.

Creating lookalike audiences

Heads up: LinkedIn is ditching lookalike audiences on February 29, 2024.

Instead, try Predictive Audiences. This AI tool spots likely converters based on your data:

1. Pick a data source (like a contact list)

2. Make sure you have at least 300 people in it

3. Let LinkedIn's AI do its thing

Audience expansion tools

LinkedIn's Audience Expansion finds users similar to your target. It's like fishing with a bigger net, but still catching the right fish.

Key points:

• Works for Sponsored Updates and Text Ads

• On by default in Campaign Manager

• Reaches more people without changing your settings

• Great for small audiences or stale campaigns

LinkedIn suggests a minimum audience of 300,000 for best results. Audience Expansion helps hit this mark while staying on target.

Best practices for LinkedIn segmentation

Here's how to get the most out of your LinkedIn campaigns:

Don't go overboard with segmentation

It's all about balance:

• Sponsored Content and Text Ads: Keep your audience over 50,000

• Message Ads: Aim for at least 15,000

• Stick to 2-3 targeting facets to maintain reach

Test your segments

A/B testing is your friend:

1. Run similar campaigns with slight targeting tweaks

2. Let them run at the same time

3. Compare results to find what works best

For instance, try job function vs. job title targeting. See which one performs better.

Keep an eye on segment performance

Use LinkedIn's tools to track how you're doing:

• Check the Demographics tab in Campaign Manager

• See which segments engage most with your content

• Spot and fix (or ditch) underperforming segments

Stay in the loop

LinkedIn's always changing. Keep up:

• Read the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions blog

• Join their webinars on ad best practices

• Chat with peers in LinkedIn marketing groups

What worked before might not work now. Stay sharp.

| Practice | Action | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Don't over-segment | Keep audience 50,000+ | Ensures enough reach |
| Test segments | A/B test targeting | Finds what works best |
| Track performance | Use Demographics tab | Shows who's engaging |
| Stay updated | Follow LinkedIn updates | Helps you adapt quickly

Tools for effective segmentation

LinkedIn's built-in tools are your starting point, but third-party solutions can take your segmentation to the next level.

LinkedIn Campaign Manager

This is where you'll do most of your audience targeting:

• Target by job title, company size, industry, and more

• Upload contact lists or retarget website visitors

• Find users similar to your best customers

Pro tip: Check out the Demographics tab to see who's actually engaging with your ads. Use this info to fine-tune your targeting.

Third-party tools

Want to dig deeper? Here are some options:

| Tool | What it does | Starting Price |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Sprout Social](https://sproutsocial.com/) | Social inbox management | $199/user/month |
| [Hootsuite](https://www.hootsuite.com/) | Post scheduling | $99/user/month |
| [Crystal Knows](https://www.crystalknows.com/) | Personality insights | $49/month (Premium) |

Sprout Social's AI-powered sentiment analysis is pretty cool. It helps you prioritize customer messages.

Podify.io: Audience growth on steroids

Podify.io is all about boosting your LinkedIn engagement. Here's what it does:

• Creates and repurposes content

• Matches you with the right audience

• Builds micro-communities for deeper engagement

"Podify.io has been a game-changer for growing audiences and personal brands on LinkedIn."

Two standout features:

1. Audience Meter: Checks if your content hits the mark with your target audience

2. Content Conversion: Turns PDFs and YouTube videos into LinkedIn-ready posts

Over 200 LinkedIn experts use Podify.io. And hey, you can start for free to test it out.

Measuring segmentation results

Tracking the right metrics is crucial to see if your LinkedIn audience segmentation is working. Let's dive into the key numbers you should watch.

Key metrics to track

Here are the most important KPIs for your segmentation success:

| Metric | What it shows | Why it's important |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Engagement rate | How much people interact with your content | Tells you if your content hits the mark |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | How often people click your links | Shows if your audience is interested |
| Conversion rate | How many clicks turn into actions | Measures if people are doing what you want |
| Cost per lead | How much you spend to get a lead | Helps you track your return on investment

Checking segment performance

Regular check-ups help you spot trends and fine-tune your targeting:

• Look at LinkedIn Analytics often

• Compare how different segments are doing

• Find patterns in your best-performing content

"LinkedIn's analytics dashboard is gold for understanding what your audience loves", says Akshay Kothari, CPO at Notion.

Tweaking your strategy

Use what you learn to make your approach better:

1. Find your star segments

Which groups engage the most? Visa found that employee-shared content got 6x more engagement than company page posts.

2. Fix what's not working

If a segment's CTR is low, try mixing up your content or message.

3. Spend smart

Put more money into segments that give you better leads for less.

4. Grow what works

Create lookalike audiences based on your top-performing groups.

Future of LinkedIn audience segmentation

LinkedIn's targeting is changing big time in 2024. Here's the scoop:

New targeting tools

LinkedIn's shaking things up:

• Lookalike audiences? Gone after February 29, 2024.

• Predictive Audiences? New AI tool to find potential converters.

• Audience Expansion? Helps you find similar folks without first-party data.

Why? Better targeting, more privacy. Simple as that.

Cool new tech

LinkedIn's rolling out some nifty tools:

1. Audience Insights

Get the lowdown on your matched audiences:

| What you'll see | What it tells you |
| --- | --- |
| Job stuff | Their role, level, experience |
| Company info | How fast they're growing, what industry |
| What they're into | Work-related topics |

2. Beefed-up Analytics

Now you can track:

• Follower growth

• Who's following you (jobs, companies, locations)

• Your best posts

Getting ready for the changes

Here's what to do:

• Switch from Lookalike to Predictive Audiences

• Use Audience Expansion to cast a wider net

• Use new insights to target better

• Make more videos, build your brand

• Keep an eye on those metrics

"Audience Insights makes matched audience campaigns a breeze. You can manage targeting without jumping through hoops." - LinkedIn

Conclusion

LinkedIn audience segmentation boils down to five main tactics:

1. Job experience targeting

2. Company targeting

3. Demographic targeting

4. Education targeting

5. Interest and trait targeting

These let you zero in on the right professionals for your campaigns.

LinkedIn's targeting is changing. They're ditching Lookalike Audiences but introducing Predictive Audiences and Audience Expansion. These new AI-powered tools aim to boost targeting accuracy while protecting user privacy.

Why does good segmentation matter? It's simple:

• You reach the right people

• Your ads get more engagement (up to 37% more, says LinkedIn)

• You spend your ad budget more efficiently

"Avoid wasted spending and low engagement rates by focusing on detailed audience targeting and regularly refining strategies based on analytics." - LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

To nail LinkedIn segmentation:

1. Set clear goals first

2. Mix and match targeting options

3. Test and tweak often

4. Keep an eye on your campaign stats

5. Use new tools like Audience Insights

LinkedIn's 900 million members, most of whom drive business decisions, are a goldmine. Master segmentation, and you'll tap into it effectively.

Stay on top of LinkedIn's evolving targeting features. It's key to marketing success on the platform.

FAQs

What are the two LinkedIn targeting methods?

LinkedIn gives advertisers two main ways to target users:

1. Member Groups

This targets users based on the LinkedIn groups they've joined. Say you're selling project management software. You might aim for members in groups like "Project Management Pros" or "Agile and Scrum Experts".

2. Member Interests

This uses LinkedIn's algorithm to spot user interests based on their platform activity. If someone often engages with AI content, they might see AI-related ads.

Here's a quick look at both:

| Targeting Method | Based On | Best For |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Member Groups | Joined groups | Reaching pros with specific affiliations |
| Member Interests | User engagement | Targeting based on inferred interests

Heads up: LinkedIn's changing things. From May 15, 2024, Member Groups targeting won't work for campaigns in the EEA or Switzerland. Keep an eye on LinkedIn's targeting updates.

Pro tip: Use both methods for better targeting. This way, you'll reach pros in relevant groups AND those showing interest in your field.