LinkedIn advertising best practices and the impact of the “Belt and Road” digital economy

As digital marketing continues to advance, LinkedIn advertising is an important tool for corporate promotion, and its best practices are gradually emerging. At the same time, the “Belt and Road” initiative has provided new opportunities for the development of cross-border e-commerce, especially with the help of platforms such as AliExpress, trade barriers between countries have gradually reduced. This article integrates information about LinkedIn advertising strategies and the economic development of countries along the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, aiming to provide readers with valuable insights.

Best Practices for LinkedIn Advertising

1. Test ad variations

In LinkedIn advertising, promotions should be organized by advertising account. Each campaign has its own budget, bidding, and locking options. It’s recommended to create at least 2 to 4 ad variations covering different ad copy, call-to-action phrases, and images. Through testing like this, you can identify which ads perform best. Initially all ads will be shown to a specific target audience, and as click-through rates improve, top-performing ads will receive more exposure, while underperforming ads can be paused and new experiments conducted.

2. Lock in the right target customers

To ensure advertising effectiveness, companies need to limit their target customers to members who may be interested in products or services. Advertisements should be consistent with the needs of specific customer groups. For example, when launching text ads, it is recommended that the target customer size be set between 60,000 and 600,000 people.

3. Set competitive bids

Each promotion requires a payment method, which may be pay-per-click (CPC) or pay-per-thousand impressions (CPM). In addition, companies need to set bids to ensure they have an advantage over the competition. The recommended bid range is provided based on the bids of existing advertisers. If the bid is in a higher range, the chances of ad display and clicks will be greatly increased.

Digital economy under the “One Belt, One Road” initiative

The role of AliExpress

As a cross-border export B2C retail platform covering all countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”, AliExpress has users in more than 220 countries and regions, of which more than 45% are users from countries along the “Belt and Road” %. This platform allows more and more Chinese products to enter the international market smoothly, with countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Belarus leading the purchasing power rankings.

User portraits and consumption trends

Along the “Belt and Road”, young people aged 25 to 34 have become the mainstream group of cross-border online shoppers. The proportion of wireless shopping among this group of users is as high as 59.6%, which is a highlight of the overall average level of the platform. At the same time, goods such as mobile phones, fashion jewelry and women’s clothing performed well in these countries.

Main importing countries and consumer categories

In terms of imports, countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia perform well in China’s retail market. For example, the total transaction volume of Thai goods on Tmall Global increased by 152% year-on-year in 2016. The country mainly sells latex household products, beauty products and food, proving the potential for consumption upgrades.

By analyzing the best practices of LinkedIn advertising and the current status of the digital economy under the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, companies can better grasp market opportunities, enhance competitiveness, and achieve a new stage of development of cross-border e-commerce.