10 LinkedIn Ads Hacks to Fill Association Events & Sell Out Memberships.

By implementing these LinkedIn Ads hacks below, professional associations can attract high-value members, fill their events to capacity, and build a thriving community.

Remember, personalization, value-driven messaging, and strategic targeting are key to success in the professional realm of LinkedIn. It applies to both organic and paid strategies.

Let’s dig in.

1. Target Your Market Audience, Decision-Makers & Influencers:

• Go beyond individual members: Use job titles and target specific LinkedIn Groups relevant to your association’s field. Reach the people who hold the purse strings or influence membership decisions. And, directly write to your “perfect attendee”.

2. Showcase Member Benefits & ROI:

• Focus on value, not just features: Highlight exclusive benefits like networking opportunities, professional development resources, legal / attorney support, industry insights, or discounts on events and services. Quantify the return on investment (ROI) for membership. Test different landing pages to optimize the user experience.

3. Leverage Testimonial Ads:

• Let members speak for you: Feature video or text testimonials from satisfied members showcasing the positive impact of membership. This builds trust and authenticity.

4. Retarget Event Attendees & Website Visitors:

• Turn attendees into members: Retarget attendees from past events or website visitors who showed interest. Offer special membership deals or exclusive content to convert them from passive participants to active members.
• Note: See below for a detailed step-by-step on how you can start LinkedIn retargeting now. (“Master LinkedIn Ads Retargeting”)

5. Partner with Industry Publications & Influencers:

• Tap into existing networks: Collaborate with relevant industry publications or LinkedIn influencers to promote your association and membership benefits to their engaged audience. Leverage their established authority and reach.

6. Utilize Lead Gen Forms for Easy Sign-Ups:

• Make it seamless to join: Streamline the signup process with LinkedIn Ads lead gen forms. Capture user information directly within the ad, eliminating the need for landing pages and making membership sign-ups a breeze. Customize the fields to capture the essential information, without creating too much friction on the sign-up process. Send the information directly to your CRM, ex: Hubspot or Salesforce and run your email sequences automatically (follow-up). This includes SMS and sales team outreach options.

7. Exclusive Content Previews & Membership Sneak Peeks:

• Offer a taste of what they’re missing: Share exclusive snippets of association resources, event highlights, or member-only content in your ads. This creates a sense of FOMO and incentivizes membership enrollment.

8. Highlight Member Success Stories:

• Show the power of the network: Showcase success stories of how your association has helped members achieve career goals, land jobs, or grow their businesses. This inspires potential members and reinforces the value proposition.

9. Offer Time-Limited Membership Trials:

• Reduce the barrier to entry: Provide limited-time trials or introductory membership rates to give potential members a chance to experience the benefits firsthand. This lowers the perceived risk and encourages sign-ups.

10. Track & Analyze Performance, Optimize Regularly:

• Don’t set it and forget it: Monitor campaign performance, analyze conversion rates, and adjust your targeting, messaging, and offers based on data insights. Continuously refine your approach to maximize membership growth. Run weekly reports to your team and watch your Google Analytics (GA4) for how to improve stickability and engagement.

Master LinkedIn Ads Retargeting: Turn Casual Connections into Loyal Association Members

Remember those engaged event attendees, website visitors who explored key pages, and even curious followers of your LinkedIn Page?

Retargeting with LinkedIn Ads! This strategy allows you to recapture their interest and convert them into valuable association members.

You can start simple with an image ad that drives your targeted message towards a lead form or website landing page.

Imagine reaching an attendee who downloaded your event presentation with a personalized ad showcasing exclusive member resources.

Or picture reminding website visitors who browsed membership benefits with a video testimonial from a satisfied member.

With retargeting, you can tailor your message to their specific actions and keep your association top-of-mind.

The magic lies in LinkedIn’s audience builder capabilities.

Because these lists and previous engagers are considered “warm” audiences, your cost per acquisition (CPA / CPL) will be lower. “Cold” traffic from higher up the funnel is more expensive. In other words, the further down the funnel you go, the more profitable your ad campaigns will be – and your organization benefits from a stronger ROI over time.

Here’s how retargeting strategies work:

• Event Attendees: Upload your customer lists, subscriber lists, attendee list to create a custom audience(s), then craft ads highlighting event content or exclusive member benefits. For non-members, use “teaser” and “benefit” driven content to drive more engagement.
• Website Visitors: Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your website to track user behavior. Create retargeting audiences based on specific page visits, like your membership page or contact form.
• LinkedIn Page Followers: Reach your existing fanbase with targeted ads showcasing the value of membership, highlighting upcoming events, or featuring member success stories.
• Start by following the LinkedIn Retargeting steps here.

Always – remember: personalization is key.

Use dynamic ad features to display attendees’ names, relevant event titles, or even names of mutual connections they share with members.

This adds a touch of magic, grabs attention, and drives conversions.

Want to learn more?