LinkedIn Lead-Gen Campaign @ Speakers for Schools

A set of digital advertisements from Speakers for Schools promoting their Work Experience Programme. The ads use bold typography, bright colours, and engaging imagery to highlight key messages such as 'OPEN TO OFFERING WORK EXPERIENCE?' and '66% of talented young people leave their school with no work experience in sight.' The ads also encourage employers to download a guide on providing work experience. The campaign features students in construction gear, professional-looking graphics, and clear calls to action, reinforcing the importance of work experience opportunities for young people.

16 December 2024

LinkedIn Lead-Gen Campaign @ Speakers for Schools

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How do you turn LinkedIn from a networking tool into a lead-generation powerhouse?

That’s the question I set out to answer at Speakers for Schools. As a UK social mobility charity, Speakers for Schools’ mission is simple but ambitious: give state‑educated students access to work experiences that shape their future. But to make that happen, we needed the right partners, organisations ready to break convention and open their doors to students who rarely get the chance.

Grabbing senior decision-makers’ attention on LinkedIn is no small feat, especially without prior data to guide your approach. But by combining personalised messaging, a clear call‑to‑action and a data-driven strategy, I delivered a campaign that exceeded expectations, building both leads and long-term partnerships.

Brief:

Generate 500 qualified leads that would build at least 25 long-term partnerships, and create 1,000 work experiences for young students in state schools in three months.

Challenges:

Reaching leaders in a crowded digital space isn’t easy. With so many charities competing for attention I knew our message had to stand out. There was no historical data to rely on, making A/B testing and optimisation crucial from the start.

Strategy:

To maximise conversions, I crafted a structured lead generation journey specifically for LinkedIn. The platform’s precise targeting allowed us to reach CEOs, HR leaders, and CSR decision-makers from medium to large UK companies.

I started with a thorough audience analysis and persona development to understand key motivators and pain points. The result? A content journey that delivered value to each segment and sparked interest in the Work Experience programme.

For those who didn’t engage right away, they were retargeted with other Sponsored Content and Messaging Ads, addressing hesitations and reinforcing the call to action.

Flowchart representing the process of LinkedIn Ads for CEOs, CSRs, and HRs. The process includes interactions with LinkedIn forms, downloading the guide, and retargeting with other sponsored content or sponsored messaging. The final step leads to CRM and the process ends when the guide is downloaded.

Implementation:

The campaign was all about empowering organisations to start providing work experiences. It pushed for inclusivity by making work experience accessible to every young person in state schools.

The approach was simple but powerful. Using Single Image Ads and LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms, with three distinct guides. These were crafted specifically for CEOs, HR leaders, and CSR decision-makers, highlighting the organisation’s benefits in offering work experiences, talent pipeline and social impact value.

Each ad featured carefully chosen images, whether it was engaged young people in professional environments, a testimonial from a work experience provider, or a bold statistic, each visual reinforced the campaign’s message.

The copy was direct and actionable, encouraging leaders to download the guide with just one click.

Lead Gen Forms simplified data capture, auto-filling fields to minimise friction and increase engagement.

The campaign ran from April to June 2024, with a steady budget allocation, adjusting based on performance insights.

Creatives Credit: Neil Watts

Speakers for Schools promoted ad featuring a book cover titled 'The Power of Providing Work Experience – Employers’ Guide'. The ad promotes the ultimate guide on providing work experience, with a photo of students wearing construction gear in the background. A 'Download the guide' button is featured at the bottom.

Speakers for Schools promoted ad with the text 'Open to offering work experience? Great, now get the guide to make it happen.' The background is a gradient of purple, turquoise, and blue. Below, there's a 'Download' button prompting users to get the guide to offer work experience.

Speakers for Schools promoted ad with the text 'Laura and Virgin Atlantic made their work experience programme happen for young people.' The background is red, with a picture of Laura from Virgin Atlantic. Below, there are two buttons: 'Find out how' and 'Get the guide' prompting users to download the guide. The footer includes the text: 'Your FREE guide is one click away!' and a 'Download' button.

Speakers for Schools promoted ad with the text '66% of talented young people leave their school with no work experience in sight.' The image features two students in safety gear working with surveying equipment. Below the text, a 'Download' button encourages users to download the guide to open eyes to hosting work experience.

Tracking & Reporting:

To keep improving, I set up a detailed tracking system. I used LinkedIn insights alongside our internal CRM to monitor engagement, lead sources, and conversion rates. Every two weeks, I generated reports.

These reports provided real-time insights. I could quickly see what was working and what wasn’t. With that information, I perfected our campaign by applying data driven optimisations. It was all about staying aligned with our objectives and making sure we were on track to meet our goals.

Optimisation:

A/B testing was key. It allowed me to refine our ad creatives, headlines, and messaging for each audience segment.

For users who didn’t engage initially, I used retargeting. They saw tailored content created just for them, bringing them back into the funnel. Every fortnight, I reviewed performance.

With those insights, I dynamically allocated the budget. High-performing ads received additional support, while I reduced or stopped spending on ads that weren’t delivering. It was all about maximising impact without wasting resources.

Results:

519

guide downloads

47

partnerships

+2000

work experiences

Achieved a 9% lead conversion rate, surpassing industry benchmarks in the education sector.
Increased LinkedIn ad engagement by 35% demonstrating the effectiveness of personalised messaging.
Lowered cost-per-lead by 70% through continuous optimisation.
Retargeting resulted in a 30% increase in conversions.

Takeaways:

Focusing the campaign on the guide download, not the programme, drove more sign‑ups.

Benefit‑led, persona‑focused messaging drove better results than generic purpose statements.

Multiple touchpoints were essential, many conversions happened after retargeting.

Simplifying the sign‑up journey significantly increased form completions.

Skills:

Recommendation:

Codrin stepped into the shoes of our full time digital marketer for a maternity cover. He learned the ropes quickly and utilised his deep knowledge of the tactics and strategies to lead on some complex projects such as the rollout of a new email marketing platform and employer lead generation campaign. He quickly integrated himself into the team and generated some great results.