LinkedIn ads remain one of the most powerful channels for B2B marketing. With over 950 million professionals on the platform, LinkedIn offers unmatched targeting capabilities that let you reach decision-makers based on job title, company size, industry, seniority, and more.

But LinkedIn ads are also notoriously expensive. The average cost per click hovers around $5 to $6, significantly higher than other platforms. That means you need a solid strategy from day one to avoid burning budget on campaigns that don't convert.

This guide walks you through exactly how to use LinkedIn ads, from account setup to campaign optimization. Whether you are launching your first campaign or refining an existing one, these strategies will help you generate leads without wasting ad spend.

Step 1: Set Up Your LinkedIn Campaign Manager Account

Before you can run ads, you need access to LinkedIn Campaign Manager. This is LinkedIn's advertising platform where you will create, manage, and track all your campaigns.

How to Get Started:

Go to linkedin.com/campaignmanager
Sign in with your LinkedIn account
Create an account name (usually your company name)
Add your company's LinkedIn Page
Set up billing information

If you don't have a company LinkedIn Page yet, you will need to create one first. LinkedIn requires all ads to be associated with a business page, which also adds credibility to your campaigns.

Step 2: Choose Your Campaign Objective

LinkedIn offers several campaign objectives. Your choice determines what actions LinkedIn optimizes for and what ad formats are available. Here are the main objectives and when to use them:

Brand Awareness

Use this when you want to get your brand in front of as many people as possible. LinkedIn optimizes for impressions. This works well for top-of-funnel campaigns or when launching a new product to your target market.

Best for: Large companies with brand budgets, product launches, thought leadership campaigns.

Website Visits

Drives traffic to your website or landing page. LinkedIn optimizes for clicks. This is ideal when you want to move prospects to your site where you have more control over the experience and can track conversions with your own analytics.

Best for: Driving traffic to blog posts, landing pages, product pages, or webinar registrations.

Engagement

Optimizes for likes, comments, shares, and follows. Use this for content marketing campaigns where you want to build an engaged audience and increase your organic reach on the platform.

Best for: Content promotion, building followers, increasing post engagement.

Lead Generation

This is the most popular objective for B2B marketers. LinkedIn's Lead Gen Forms let users submit their information without leaving the platform. The forms auto-fill with their LinkedIn profile data, which significantly increases conversion rates.

Lead gen campaigns typically see conversion rates between 10% to 13%, much higher than sending traffic to external landing pages.

Best for: Collecting leads, gated content downloads, demo requests, newsletter signups.

Conversions

Optimizes for specific actions on your website using LinkedIn's Insight Tag. This requires more setup but allows you to track ROI precisely and optimize for actions that matter like purchases, signups, or downloads.

Best for: E-commerce, SaaS signups, or when you need precise attribution.

For most B2B companies just getting started, Lead Generation is the best choice. It has the lowest friction and highest conversion rates.

Step 3: Define Your Target Audience

This is where LinkedIn ads shine. The targeting options are unmatched for B2B marketing. You can layer multiple criteria to build highly specific audiences.

Core Targeting Options

Location

Target by country, state, city, or even specific metro areas. You can include or exclude locations.

Company

Target by company name, industry, company size (employee count), or company connections. You can target people who work at specific companies or exclude them.

Pro tip: Use company size targeting carefully. A company with 50 employees has very different needs than one with 5,000.

Job Title and Function

Target by job title, job function, or seniority level. This is critical for reaching decision-makers.

Example: If you sell to marketing leaders, you might target job titles like "CMO," "VP Marketing," or "Head of Marketing" combined with seniority level "Director" and above.

Skills and Groups

Target people based on skills they have listed or LinkedIn groups they belong to. This is useful for niche technical audiences.

Education

Target by degree, field of study, or specific schools. Useful for recruiting or targeting alumni networks.

Audience Size Sweet Spot

LinkedIn recommends a minimum audience size of 50,000 for most campaigns. However, for highly targeted B2B campaigns, you can go lower. Audiences between 20,000 and 80,000 tend to perform well for lead generation.

If your audience is too broad (over 500,000), your targeting is probably not specific enough and you will waste budget on unqualified leads. If it is under 10,000, you may struggle to get enough delivery and your costs will be higher.

Advanced Targeting: Matched Audiences

Matched Audiences let you retarget website visitors, upload customer lists, or create lookalike audiences. This is powerful for moving prospects through your funnel.

Website Retargeting

Install LinkedIn's Insight Tag on your website to build retargeting audiences. You can retarget people who visited specific pages or took certain actions.

Example: Retarget people who visited your pricing page but didn't sign up.

Contact List Uploads

Upload a CSV of email addresses to target your existing contacts or customers. Minimum list size is 300 contacts.

Lookalike Audiences

LinkedIn finds people similar to your best customers. This works best when your source audience has at least 300 members.

Step 4: Select Your Ad Format

LinkedIn offers several ad formats. Each serves different goals and performs differently based on your objective.

Single Image Ads

The most common format. Simple, easy to create, and effective for driving clicks and leads. Your ad includes one image, a headline, description, and CTA button.

Image specs: 1200 x 627 pixels (1.91:1 ratio). File size under 5MB.

Best practices: Use high-quality images with minimal text. Faces and products tend to perform better than abstract graphics.

Video Ads

Video ads typically get higher engagement than static images. They are great for product demos, customer testimonials, or thought leadership content.

Video specs: MP4 format, max 200MB, 3 seconds to 30 minutes long (though 15-30 seconds performs best).

Best practices: Add captions since most people watch with sound off. Hook viewers in the first 3 seconds.

Carousel Ads

Include multiple images that users can swipe through. Great for showcasing multiple products, features, or telling a story.

Best for: Product catalogs, step-by-step guides, customer stories.

Text Ads

Small, PPC-style ads that appear in the sidebar. Lower engagement but also lower cost. These can work for targeted campaigns with limited budget.

Best for: Brand awareness on a budget, event promotion.

Document Ads

Let users flip through a document (PDF, PowerPoint) directly in their feed without leaving LinkedIn. These are highly engaging for gated content.

Best for: Whitepapers, case studies, research reports, guides.

Message Ads (Sponsored InMail)

Send direct messages to your target audience. These feel personal and can drive high-quality leads, but they are also the most expensive format.

Best for: Event invitations, exclusive offers, high-value products.

For most lead generation campaigns, start with Single Image Ads. They are the easiest to test and optimize. Once you have a winning campaign, experiment with video and document ads.

Step 5: Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy

LinkedIn ads require a daily budget of at least $10, but realistically you need more to see meaningful results. Most successful campaigns start with $50 to $100 per day.

Bidding Options

Maximum Delivery (Automated Bidding)

LinkedIn automatically sets your bids to get the most results within your budget. This is the easiest option and works well when you are starting out.

The algorithm optimizes over time as it learns what works for your campaign.

Cost Cap

Set a target cost per result. LinkedIn will try to keep your average cost at or below your cap while maximizing delivery. Good when you have specific cost-per-lead goals.

Manual Bidding

You set the maximum you are willing to pay per click, impression, or send. This gives you the most control but requires active management and testing.

LinkedIn shows you a suggested bid range. Start in the middle of that range.

What to Expect: Real Cost Benchmarks

Based on data from thousands of LinkedIn campaigns:

Average CPC (Cost Per Click): $5 to $6
Average CPM (Cost Per 1000 Impressions): $30 to $40
Average Cost Per Lead with Lead Gen Forms: $50 to $100
Average Cost Per Lead with external landing pages: $75 to $150

These vary significantly by industry and targeting. Highly competitive industries like software, finance, and consulting often see higher costs.

Recommendation: Start with Maximum Delivery bidding and a daily budget of $50 to $100. Let the campaign run for at least a week to gather data, then optimize based on performance.

Step 6: Create Compelling Ad Creative

Your targeting and budget matter, but creative is what gets people to click. Here is what works on LinkedIn:

Headlines That Convert

Your headline has a 70-character limit. Make every word count. Focus on the benefit or outcome, not your product features.

Weak headline: "Our Software Helps Sales Teams"

Strong headline: "Close 30% More Deals with Automated Follow-Ups"

Description Text

You get 150 characters for the description. Use this space to add context, address pain points, or include social proof.

Example: "Join 2,000+ sales teams using our platform to automate outreach and book more meetings."

Call-to-Action Buttons

LinkedIn offers several CTA options: Learn More, Download, Sign Up, Register, Apply, and more. Choose one that matches your offer.

Pro tip: "Learn More" and "Download" tend to perform best for lead gen campaigns because they feel less committal than "Sign Up" or "Buy Now."

Image Selection

Images with people get 3x more engagement than product shots or abstract graphics. Use real team members or customers if possible. Avoid stock photos that feel generic.

Keep text overlays minimal. LinkedIn penalizes ads with too much text in the image.

Testing Creative Variations

Always test at least 3 to 5 creative variations per campaign. LinkedIn's algorithm will automatically show the best-performing ads more often.

Test different angles: pain point vs. benefit, emotional vs. logical, different images, different headlines.

Step 7: Set Up Lead Gen Forms (If Applicable)

If you chose Lead Generation as your objective, you will need to create a Lead Gen Form. This is the form users see when they click your ad.

Form Fields

LinkedIn auto-fills fields with profile data. You can choose from pre-filled fields like name, email, phone number, company name, job title, and more.

Best practice: Keep forms short. Only ask for information you truly need. Forms with 3 fields convert at about 15% to 20%. Add more fields and conversion rates drop.

For most campaigns, ask for: First Name, Last Name, Email, Company Name. That gives you enough to follow up effectively.

Custom Questions

You can add custom questions to qualify leads better. Use these sparingly. Each additional question lowers conversion rates by about 5% to 10%.

Example custom questions: "What is your current monthly ad spend?" or "What is your biggest challenge with LinkedIn ads?"

Thank You Message

After submitting the form, users see a thank you message. Use this to set expectations and include a CTA button that links to your website, calendar, or resource.

Lead Syncing

Connect your Lead Gen Forms to your CRM or email marketing platform so leads flow automatically. LinkedIn integrates with most major platforms including HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, and Zapier.

Step 8: Launch and Monitor Your Campaign

Once you launch, LinkedIn needs 48 to 72 hours to optimize delivery. Don't make changes during this period unless something is clearly broken.

Key Metrics to Track

Impressions

How many times your ad was shown. If impressions are low, your bid might be too low or your audience too narrow.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Percentage of people who clicked your ad. Aim for 0.4% or higher for sponsored content. Below 0.3% means your creative needs work.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

What you pay each time someone clicks. Monitor this against benchmarks. If it is significantly higher, your targeting may be too competitive.

Conversion Rate

For Lead Gen Forms, this is the percentage of people who submitted the form after clicking. Aim for 10% or higher. Lower rates suggest your offer or form needs refinement.

Cost Per Lead

The most important metric. Calculate this by dividing total spend by number of leads. Track this against your target acquisition cost.

When to Make Changes

Wait until you have at least 500 impressions or 50 clicks before making creative changes. LinkedIn needs data to optimize.

If CTR is low after a week, test new creative. If conversion rate is low, adjust your form or offer. If CPC is too high, broaden your audience or lower your bid.

Step 9: Optimize for Better Performance

Once you have initial data, optimization is where you improve ROI. Here are the highest-impact changes you can make:

Audience Refinement

Look at demographic performance in Campaign Manager. LinkedIn shows you which job titles, seniorities, company sizes, and industries are converting best.

Create new campaigns targeting high-performing segments. Pause or exclude low-performing ones.

Creative Rotation

LinkedIn will show your best ads more often, but ad fatigue sets in after 2 to 4 weeks. When CTR drops by 30% or more, refresh your creative.

Keep winning concepts but change images, update headlines, or adjust angles.

A/B Test Landing Pages

If you are driving traffic to external pages, test different landing page variations. Small changes like headline, CTA placement, or form length can significantly impact conversion rates.

Dayparting

Check when your ads perform best. LinkedIn lets you schedule campaigns to run only during specific hours or days.

B2B campaigns often perform better during business hours on weekdays. Weekend performance is usually weaker unless you are targeting specific audiences.

Negative Targeting

Exclude groups that don't convert. For example, if students or job seekers are clicking but not converting, exclude current students and add seniority filters.

Retargeting Campaigns

Build retargeting audiences from people who engaged with your ads or visited your site but didn't convert. Retargeting campaigns typically have 2x to 3x higher conversion rates and lower costs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Targeting Too Broad

LinkedIn's reach is tempting but going broad wastes budget. Be specific about who you want to reach. A targeted audience of 30,000 will outperform a generic audience of 500,000.

Asking for Too Much Information

Every additional form field reduces conversions. If you don't need it immediately, don't ask for it. You can always enrich lead data later or ask follow-up questions.

Setting Budgets Too Low

A $10 daily budget will barely get impressions. You need enough budget for LinkedIn's algorithm to optimize. Start with at least $50 per day or don't run ads yet.

Not Installing the Insight Tag

Even if you are not tracking conversions yet, install LinkedIn's Insight Tag on your website from day one. This builds retargeting audiences and gives you conversion data later.

Ignoring Mobile

Over 60% of LinkedIn users access the platform on mobile. Make sure your landing pages and forms are mobile-optimized. Test everything on mobile before launching.

Giving Up Too Soon

LinkedIn ads take time to optimize. Give campaigns at least 2 weeks and 1,000 impressions before deciding if they work. Many successful campaigns start slow.

LinkedIn Ads vs. Organic LinkedIn Outreach

LinkedIn ads are powerful but expensive. They work best when you need to scale quickly or reach large audiences. But they are not the only way to generate leads on LinkedIn.

Organic outreach through connection requests and direct messages costs nothing but time. It is more personal, builds real relationships, and often drives higher-quality conversations. The downside is it takes longer and requires consistent effort.

Most successful B2B companies use both. Run ads to fill your top of funnel quickly while building organic relationships with your ideal prospects. This combination drives the best long-term results.

If you are doing organic outreach at scale, automation tools help you stay consistent without spending hours every day on LinkedIn. That is where a platform focused on safe, reliable LinkedIn automation becomes valuable for maintaining your outreach pipeline while you focus on closing deals.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to use LinkedIn ads effectively takes time and testing. Start with one campaign, one objective, and one audience. Master that before expanding.

Focus on lead quality, not just volume. A campaign generating 10 high-quality leads per week at $80 each is better than 50 low-quality leads at $30 each if those quality leads actually convert to customers.

Track everything back to revenue. Cost per lead matters, but cost per customer matters more. The best LinkedIn campaigns are the ones that drive profitable growth, not just activity.

Now you have the framework. Set up your first campaign, let it run, optimize based on data, and keep testing. LinkedIn ads can drive real growth when you approach them strategically.

How to Use LinkedIn Ads: A Complete Guide for B2B Growth