As far as social media go, LinkedIn is the most effective one to work with for B2B marketing. To achieve the best results on this platform, targeting is the key to success if done the right way. As marketers know best, it can be challenging to pin down the exact job titles to target because these can vary across industries or employees sometimes cover multiple roles at the same company. For this reason, the job functions option provided by LinkedIn can be very useful.
The best way to take advantage of this targeting option is to combine the ‘job functions’ with the ‘seniority level’ filtering options, as this is a strong qualifying tool. This combination of targeting options makes it possible for you to reach valuable decision-makers within relevant functions.
Get familiar with the 26 job functions available on LinkedIn
Let’s take a closer look at all the categories that LinkedIn has to offer when it comes to job functions. We will further explain which kind of job titles fall within each job function so you can up your LinkedIn targeting game. Keep in mind that even though the initial research and the filtering options of LinkedIn provide a great starting point, it is essential to keep testing and experimenting with your targeting, as most job titles could fall into multiple job functions.
Accounting
Roles that are engaged in measuring and processing business and financial transactions, while also analyzing, verifying, and reporting the results. Some relevant examples are auditors, tax specialists, and accountants.
Administrative
Employees that help a business run smoothly. Job titles can vary a lot in this category as administrations include a broad selection of tasks, such as general office administration, answering phones, communicating with clients, aiding an employer, maintaining records, or inputting data. A few examples of relevant roles are administrative assistants, secretaries, account collectors, and office support managers.
Arts and Design
Include a variety of creative roles, which can be distinguished into two main categories: artists are concerned with conveying ideas that may have multiple meanings, whereas designers are more concerned with producing solutions with quantifiable results. Examples include artists, designers, hosts, actors, and architects.
Business Development
Roles involved with researching strategic prospects for a certain organization, such as developing partnerships or other commercial relationships or discovering new market opportunities including mergers, partnerships, and business initiatives. Examples of these roles include managing director, business development manager, merger and acquisitions specialist, chief executive officer, and chief marketing officer.
Community and social services
Social services are a category of government services that are designed to help and support the community, such as education, medical care, and housing. These roles most commonly include social workers, counselors, and psychologists.
Consulting
Their primary function is to guide individuals or businesses in a certain area of expertise. Consultants, sales consultants, and CRM consultants are a few examples.
Education
Employees responsible for contributing to the learning development of students. These roles however do not include corporate coaches, as these are usually considered to be part of Human Resources. Instead, they include school counselors, teachers, preschool teachers, and tutors.
Engineering
Include those involved in the creation, betterment, and application of their company’s products and solutions through the use of scientific principles. Some relevant roles in this category are aeronautical engineers, software engineers, coding engineers, and civil engineers.
Entrepreneurship
Describes the roles that are engaged in the establishment of new enterprises and projects. Examples include founders, board members, partners, and owners.
Finance
A broad term that refers to roles that handle a company’s finances and capital. This might include jobs in corporate finance, investment management, risk management, insurance, and banking positions that include fund management.
Healthcare services
Services for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure, or alleviation of a physical, mental, or behavioral health condition, sickness, accident, or disease. Professions that fall under this category include doctors, nurses, dentists, healthcare technicians, orthopedics, healthcare assistants, and health care administrators.
Human Resources
Tasked with locating, screening, recruiting, and training job candidates, as well as managing employee benefit programs. Relevant job titles are chief human resources officers, human resources analysts, human resources directors, and recruiters.
Information Technology
Computer-based information systems design, development, application, installation, support, and management within a business. Main examples of job titles are chief information officers, database developers, IT auditors, SAP consultants, and telecommunications managers.
Legal
The several roles that are associated with the legal practice. Attorneys, paralegals, and others who give legal advice or counsel are included.
Marketing
The advertising and distribution of goods and services, as well as the sale of goods and services to specific consumer groups. The marketing function includes advertising, branding, market research, and marketing analytics job titles. However, it does not include direct selling, communication with the press, and product management roles. Relevant job titles are chief marketing officers, creative directors, marketing managers, and content marketing specialists.
Media and Communication
Roles that revolve around managing mediums that pass along relevant information to the general public. These include writers, journalists, mass media, public relations, website management, and more. Always make sure to give this function a test if it is relevant to you, as it is the most ever-changing category on the list.
Military and Protective Services
Includes all the positions which aim to keep people, businesses, and communities safe, such as armed forces, law enforcement, and private security. Example job titles are firefighters, police officers, airport security, and investigators.
Operations
Employees that focus on assisting a company in running efficiently by utilizing interpersonal, communication, and project management skills. These also include employees responsible for the management of infrastructures, site operations, and manufacturing activities. It’s worth noting that this might also apply to marketing operations, IT operations, and IT infrastructure. Depending on the nature of the work position, job functions may overlap. Professions relevant to this job function are operations assistants, operations analysts, business operations managers, and chief operations officers.
Product Management
Roles involved in the development, launch, and management of a product or service according to the company’s business goals. Their responsibilities also extend across the full product lifecycle, from concept to development to market launch. The main roles for this job function are product managers, product owners, group product managers, and directors of product management.
Program and Project Management
Positions engaged in project management, while also coordinating processes, timetables, and activities between teams. Project managers, program managers, project administrators, business process managers, and agile consultants are just a few examples of job titles.
Purchasing
These positions are in charge of vendor selection, qualification, and negotiation when it comes to the acquisition of goods and services for the company. These functions are most likely tied to procurement teams. Relevant examples include procurement officers, supply chain managers, supplier relationship managers, and contract managers.
Quality Assurance
Roles involved in ensuring that a particular level of quality is maintained in a service or product. These can also involve software or hardware quality assurance. Examples of job titles are business analysts, healthcare quality assurers, testers, and software testers.
Real Estate
Professionals that assist clients in finding and purchasing a new home or commercial property, as well as assisting them through the negotiation process. These roles include real estate brokers, real estate asset managers, and property managers.
Research
Data analytics, scientific, commercial, and market research roles are all included in this category. Some of the positions that belong to this category are chemists, healthcare researchers, research analysts, product managers, and data scientists.
Sales
Employees responsible for presenting and selling products and services to individual customers or businesses, to generate revenue and business opportunities for their company. Common job titles include sales consultants, account executives, sales representatives, and sales managers.
Support
Roles that provide a set of services aimed at assisting clients in making the best possible use of a product or service. They include support with product or service planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, and upgrading. Some common job titles are customer service specialists, call center managers, and support representatives.
How does Leadgate help?
At Leadgate Europe, we have a lot of experience successfully leveraging LinkedIn’s targeting options for IT businesses. Are you curious about the possibilities for your IT business within LinkedIn? Our online advertising team will gladly answer your questions. Request a consultation with our specialists via our contact page.
