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You’ve been tasked with expanding your software into a new vertical.

Where the heck do you start? How do you do it?

This is what I’ve been doing for the past two plus years. I’ve learned a lot along the way through trials and errors. Terrible paid performance and great paid performance on LinkedIn.

Speaking of terrible paid performance. When I first started, our LinkedIn CTR and engagement percentage was barely cracking 25%.

Far below industry averages.

Through ongoing learnings about the industry(s) we were focused on I eventually found the formula that worked. That allowed us to drive 2x CTR and engagement increases YoY.

In Q4 of this last fiscal year, we averaged a 0.76% CTR and engagement rate. In some instances, that percentage reached as high as 0.82% for the quarter.

So how did we get this far? Below are my three tips for driving sustained engagement with LinkedIn ads while expanding into a new vertical.

1. Segment by sub-industry: Segmenting your accounts by just “financial services” or “healthcare” is not considered vertical expansion. There are multiple industries within these industry categories. For example, commercial banking or medical devices are their own industry within these categories.
   
   Make sure your GTM teams know which of these “sub-industries” you are targeting. If you’re not able to answer that question, chances are you’re not ready for vertical expansion.
   

2. Use case messaging: If you’re targeting any non-tech industries, like the ones mentioned in point #1, stray away from messaging that communicates your full platform use case.
   
   These industries are simply not ready to onboard multiple tech products at one time. Find one, simple use case that has product-market-fit for your target industry, and use simplified messaging around that over and over and over again. It’s much easier for these industries to comprehend what you’re offering if you focus on one use case and use very elementary language.
   

3. Imagery: This might seem obvious, but stray away from using imagery that looks too tech-like. With any ad that we produce, we ensure that whether it’s a product image or persona image, it matches the industry that we’re targeting. It’s all about consistency when you’re targeting a new industry.

Vertical expansion within the SaaS world is going to take off soon once companies realize they’re not able to sustain their growth in tech. And when that ask comes down to begin vertical expansion efforts, be sure to remember these three tips provided today.

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1. Account selection consultation: need help figuring out which accounts to choose for your ABM strategy? How many to select?

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