INTRODUCTION
According to Pew Research, 30% of adults in the United States are active on LinkedIn. While that may not seem as impressive as the more than 60% of adults who use Facebook, LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for professionals and is widely used by college-educated individuals ages 30-49.
Municipalities of all sizes can leverage LinkedIn ads to engage and educate citizens, increase public engagement, increase awareness of community initiatives and showcase opportunities to work in government.
Following are some tips on how your municipality can engage the public with LinkedIn ads.
PROMOTE UPCOMING MEETINGS, EVENTS AND INITIATIVES WITH SPONSORED CONTENT
If your municipality is active on LinkedIn, you have probably used organic feed posts to share news and happenings or created a LinkedIn event for meetings or community events.
You can amplify the reach of those posts by boosting them from the page or running more sophisticated sponsored content ads through LinkedIn Campaign Manager–campaign manager allows you to select a wider range of campaign objectives (such as web traffic, engagement and awareness) and access advanced targeting parameters. You also can A/B test multiple ads to test different languages or media.
To create a sponsored content ad, select the objective and ad format that aligns with your goal.
For example, you could use the brand awareness objective, which prioritizes ad reach, and the event ad format to promote a public information meeting for an upcoming project or referendum to as many people in your community as possible.
Make sure to use location targeting (and select “permanent location”) to ensure you are reaching residents in your municipality.
Other helpful sponsored content formats include single image, carousel image, video and document. The latter could be used to share meeting minutes, updated policies or ordinances, while the other formats have broader uses.
For instance, you could use the video ad format to share a Q&A session that provides answers to hot topic issues in your community or tour the proposed site of a new facility.
If your municipality is new to LinkedIn advertising, you will need to create an ad account and link it to your LinkedIn page before you can use sponsored content.
USE SPONSORED MESSAGING TO SHARE INFORMATION
Take engagement a step further by sending personalized sponsored messaging ads directly to your residents’ LinkedIn inboxes. There are two types of ads from which to choose.
Message ads resemble direct messages and include a single call-to-action button or link to your website. Use them when you want to deliver a single message and have your residents take one specific action. For instance, you could use it to drive people to sign up for a volunteer position at a community clean-up event or take a community-wide survey.
Conversation ads, on the other hand, provide an interactive, chat-like experience that can include images and up to five call-to-action buttons that lead to different experiences. For instance, one button could lead to a secondary message while another could route to an external website.
Use a conversation ad to offer more complex responses and resources. For example, you can use this ad format to share information about a major capital development project or a referendum. Set up your call-to-action buttons to offer informative responses to anticipated questions or link to multiple educational resources. This ad format has preset templates for inspiration, or you can start with a blank template and build your own.
Of note, both types of sponsored messaging ads require a “sender” to be an actual person–it can not come from your municipality’s LinkedIn page. In most cases, the city or village administrator should be the sender, but you may also want to have department heads take that role in certain situations. For instance, the Director of Public Works may be more appropriate for infrastructure-related topics.
Create a concise, relevant and conversational subject line to get people to open your sponsored messaging ad. You also should include custom fields, like %FIRSTNAME% and %LASTNAME%, to further personalize your message. LinkedIn will fill in the custom fields with the individual’s personal information when the message is delivered.
ADVERTISE JOB OPENINGS FOR YOUR MUNICIPALITY
LinkedIn is the social media platform for connecting job seekers with all types of employers. Use the “job applicants” advertising objective to showcase your municipality’s open positions in front of the right people.
You can promote a single job or multiple positions (via the “jobs” ad format) in one ad. As a general rule, you should only aim to use the “jobs” format if the positions require similar experiences or skill sets, or if you have a limited budget.
Otherwise, you should aim to promote one position per campaign so you can be more specific with your targeting. For instance, if you have an open position in the Parks and Recreation Department, you could set up your audience to target people with skills related to parks, local government, operations and/or planning. Some of these skills may differ from the ones you’re seeking in a candidate for a communications department position, for example.
A single job ad also allows you to use more tailored language, which could make a difference in attracting the right candidate(s). Of note, you must post the job listing organically on LinkedIn before you can run a single job ad. The platform uses that listing as part of your ad.
In addition to targeting specific skills, you also should broaden the target location for jobs ads, as you likely want to include people outside of your community.