Mastering LinkedIn Predictive Audiences: A Guide for Event Marketers

Written by Kitty McKee, Paid Social Executive

If you’re looking to enhance your digital campaigns, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive into understanding LinkedIn Predictive Audiences when to utilise them, and how they perform.

LinkedIn has announced an important change in its advertising tools, which means the retirement of LinkedIn Lookalikes and the introduction of Predictive Audiences.

This is set to redefine how marketers attack their LinkedIn campaigns.

Lookalike Audience aimed to allow advertisers to reach new users similar to their existing customers, is being replaced by a more up-to-date, AI-driven approach.

Predictive Audiences use advanced machine learning algorithms to analyse vast amounts of data, including user behaviour and engagement, to accurately predict who will most likely convert.

In response to data privacy regulations and the evolving digital landscape, platforms like LinkedIn and Meta are innovating to maintain effective targeting.

The shift from Lookalike to Predictive Audiences on LinkedIn, and the introduction of Meta’s Advantage+ campaigns, are prime examples of this adaptation.

These platforms use advanced AI to navigate challenges like data privacy and the loss of third-party cookies, ensuring advertisers can still reach their ideal customers with precision.

Meta’s Advantage+ campaigns, for instance, optimise ad targeting and creative placement across Facebook and Instagram, showcasing how AI-driven solutions are becoming essential for advertisers looking to achieve high engagement and conversion rates in a privacy-focused world.

What are LinkedIn Predictive Audiences?

LinkedIn Predictive Audiences gives you the ability to clone your most valuable event attendees.

This is done by combining your data source (whether that be Lead Gen forms, contact lists, or conversions) with LinkedIn’s own AI, and the platform will automatically generate a new, custom audience.

Think of a custom audience as a group of LinkedIn users handpicked based on specific criteria like their interactions with your content or their similarity to your existing customers.

The AI takes your data, analyses it alongside LinkedIn’s insights, and identifies new users who aren’t just similar to your current audience but are also more likely to engage with your event.

Using the power of predictive analytics, LinkedIn aims to offer advertisers Predictive Audiences as a tool that not only identifies potential customers with higher accuracy than they’ve previously been able to provide but also enhances the overall campaign performance.

This new feature contrasts with the platform’s previous Lookalike Audiences by incorporating dynamic AI and machine learning algorithms to analyse both user behaviour and engagement data.

While Lookalike Audiences focus on matching new users with existing ones based on shared characteristics, Predictive Audiences aim to identify potential customers with higher precision by learning from ongoing campaign data.

This methodological shift reflects LinkedIn’s adaptation to the evolving landscape of digital advertising, emphasising the growing importance of AI-driven targeting.

When Should You Use Predictive Audiences?

Predictive Audiences are particularly useful when you’re looking to expand your reach beyond your existing audience without sacrificing relevance or optimise your marketing budget by focusing on users with a higher likelihood of converting.

Consider employing Predictive Audiences for specific scenarios such as launching new brands or events, breaking into new markets, or targeting hard-to-reach demographics.

The precision of Predictive Audiences could significantly benefit strategies aimed at targeting, for example, C-level executives in emerging tech sectors or potential donors for specialised non-profit causes.

Creating a Predictive Audience is straightforward yet effective. Your data source must have at least 300 members, but you can combine multiple sources within a data source type to reach this.

Once selected, you can refine your audience by location and size, tailoring it perfectly to your event’s target audience.

Tag Digital’s Best Practices:

Know Your Audience

A deep understanding of your current customers or attendees is crucial. High-quality, first-party data from your CRM or event sign-ups provides a solid foundation for Predictive Audiences, ensuring the AI has the best possible basis for creating accurate, effective audience predictions.

Define Clear Goals

Aligning your predictive audience with your campaign’s objectives is key, whether that’s maximising registrations, promoting awareness, or driving engagement.

Start with a test campaign to gauge the Predictive Audiences’ impact, iterating based on performance data to refine your approach continually.

Quality Over Quantity

Ensure your data sources are accurate and up-to-date. A relevantly curated data list can significantly enhance the AI’s ability to find relevant matches.