For a while now the folks at LinkedIn have been telling us how good they are at selling ads. How good? Well, LinkedIn once told us that since they can target execs in specific industries, they were selling ads for $75 per thousand impressions (CPM). No doubt a little sales exaggeration there, but as TechCrunch points out, they've got an aggressive rate card with display ads listing from $35 to $76.50 CPM and text ads from $12 to $20 CPM. If they're getting anywhere near that, they're in another league than Facebook and MySpace, which struggle to get $1 CPM ads for weight loss progams and the like.
Now LinkedIn plans to sell its ads on other sites, launching an ad network with Collective Media. The play here is two-fold: As a social network for professionals, LinkedIn knows the industry and approximate pay grade for many of its users. That's incredibly valuable information for advertisers. But LinkedIn users don't spend a ton of time on LinkedIn, meaning that the best way to use that info is to hit them on sites they do use for work.
LinkedIn isn't saying which sites will join the network, but part of this deal is already in place with The New York Times, which is a content partner. LinkedIn has also inked content deals with BusinessWeek and CNBC. The company claims 27 million registered users and an average household income of $110,000. The average age is 41 and LinkedIn users are 65% male.
See Also:
CNBC's New Online Strategy: Partner With LinkedIn
The New York Times Get's LinkedIn: Targeted Headlines And Ads
LinkedIn Gets $1 Billion Valuation - And $53 Million In Cash
