LinkedIn Ads: How To Optimize For Success In 2024

LinkedIn ads offer businesses a powerful way to reach a professional audience, making optimization essential for success. Whether your goal is to generate leads or increase brand visibility, refining your approach can significantly enhance your results.

In this article, we’ll cover key strategies to maximize the impact of your LinkedIn ads, from targeting the right audience to boosting engagement. For more insights on LinkedIn strategies, visit System SocialZ.

What are LinkedIn ads?

LinkedIn ads are paid promotions that appear on LinkedIn, a platform focused on “building and engaging professional networks.”

These ads are a powerful tool for businesses aiming to increase brand visibility, generate leads, drive traffic, or promote content.

Whether you’re amplifying a single post or running a complex, multi-channel campaign, LinkedIn ads enable you to target a highly specific audience.

You can set detailed criteria like job title, industry, and company size, ensuring your ads reach key decision-makers — all while staying within your budget.

How do LinkedIn ads work?

LinkedIn ads operate through five key steps once you have access to LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

Choose an Objective: Begin by selecting an objective that aligns with your goals, whether it’s brand awareness, consideration, or conversions.
Select Targeting Criteria: Next, define your audience by choosing specific targeting criteria to ensure your ads reach the right people.
Pick an Ad Format: Decide on an ad format that best suits your campaign. Options include sponsored content, message ads, dynamic ads, or text ads.
Set an Ad Budget: Determine your ad budget to manage your spending effectively throughout the campaign.
Measure Your Ad’s Success: Finally, track and analyze your ad’s performance to gauge its success and make any necessary adjustments for future campaigns.

By following these steps, you can create a well-structured LinkedIn ads campaign that drives meaningful results.

Benefits of using LinkedIn ads

LinkedIn ads provide a variety of benefits for users, making it an attractive platform for brands and businesses. Below are some of the key advantages that users experience when utilizing LinkedIn ads:

Targeted reach

LinkedIn provides precise audience targeting to ensure your ads reach the most relevant professionals. You can filter by demographics such as age, gender, and location, and target specific industries to connect with potential customers.

By selecting job titles or functions, you can engage decision-makers, while options to target by company size allow you to reach both small businesses and large enterprises.

Additionally, targeting users based on their skills and interests enhances engagement. LinkedIn also supports custom audiences for effective retargeting. These targeting capabilities significantly improve the effectiveness of LinkedIn ads and maximize your return on investment.

Increases brands’ online visibility

As social media has become a key channel for reaching target audiences, brands must establish a presence on these platforms to enhance their online visibility. LinkedIn ads play a crucial role in helping brands build trusted and sustainable visibility among their customers.

To effectively maintain an online presence in the B2B market, businesses should integrate LinkedIn ads into their marketing strategies, ensuring they connect with the right audience and foster meaningful relationships.

Networking and traffic

LinkedIn is renowned for its ability to foster strong professional networks. When users share high-quality content with their connections, they drive valuable traffic to their websites or blogs, effectively promoting their brands.

This engagement not only enhances visibility but also establishes credibility, allowing businesses to connect with a targeted audience and build lasting relationships.

Promotes products and services

Advertisements are one of the most effective ways to promote products and services. They capture attention and communicate value propositions, significantly boosting brand visibility and sales when executed strategically.

LinkedIn advertising empowers businesses and brands to effectively reach their target audience. Utilizing LinkedIn’s advanced targeting capabilities ensures ads connect with the right professionals, showcasing offerings to those most likely to engage and convert. This targeted approach maximizes the impact of advertising efforts, driving meaningful results in the B2B landscape.

Promotes courses, seminars, and conferences

Advertising on LinkedIn is an excellent way to promote specific courses, events, seminars, or conferences. The platform’s targeted advertising capabilities enable businesses to reach a larger audience quickly and effectively.

This approach not only maximizes visibility but also ensures that the promotion reaches professionals who are genuinely interested in attending, making it a highly efficient marketing strategy.

LinkedIn ads objectives

LinkedIn employs objective-based advertising, enabling advertisers to create campaigns centered on specific business goals. This approach allows businesses to place ads targeting all three stages of the sales funnel, from awareness to conversion.

Let’s explore the three main types of advertising objectives:

Awareness ads on LinkedIn

Looking to build your brand without making direct sales? Start with a brand awareness ad to keep your brand top-of-mind. These top-of-funnel campaigns encourage audiences to discuss your products, services, and overall brand.

You can leverage these impression-based campaigns to gain followers, boost views, and enhance engagement. While most LinkedIn ad formats can effectively generate awareness, the best options for this objective include:

Single Image Ads
Carousel Ads
Follower Ads
Event Ads
Spotlight Ads

Consideration ads on LinkedIn

If your audience is already somewhat familiar with your brand, consider using consideration ads. These ads are optimized to help advertisers achieve the following goals:

Website Visits: Drive traffic to your website and landing pages.
Engagement: Encourage likes, comments, shares, and visits to other social media platforms.
Video Views: Share your business story or showcase your latest product through video content.
Messaging: Engage your audience directly by sending messages to their inboxes.

To nurture these mid-funnel leads, consider utilizing the following LinkedIn ads formats: Video Ads, Carousel Ads, Conversation Ads and Text Ads.

Conversion ads on LinkedIn

If your audience is already familiar with your brand and ready to make a decision, it’s time to leverage conversion ads. These ads are designed to help you generate leads, drive sales, or attract job applicants.

They can meet the following objectives:

Lead Generation: Use pre-filled forms with audience profile data, making it one of the easiest ways to capture leads on LinkedIn.
Website Conversion: Encourage visitors to download whitepapers or fill out lead gen forms on your landing page. (Note: Conversion tracking is essential for this objective.)
Job Applicants: Utilize LinkedIn to find the right candidates for your team.

The best ad formats to achieve these goals include Conversation Ads, Lead Gen Forms, Carousel Ads, Job Ads, and Text Ads.

Types of LinkedIn ads and their specs

Lead gen forms

Lead gen forms are key tools for message ads and sponsored content, enabling businesses to capture qualified leads efficiently.

For example, if you’re advertising an online course, you can link a lead gen form to your CTA, automatically filling in your audience’s profile information. After collecting leads, download them from LinkedIn’s ads manager or integrate with your CRM.

Form Name: Up to 256 characters
Headline: Up to 60 characters
Details: Up to 160 characters
Privacy Policy Text (Optional): Up to 2,000 characters
Call-to-Action: Up to 20 characters
Confirmation Message: Up to 300 characters

Text and Dynamic Ads

Utilize LinkedIn right rail ads to engage users with personalized, dynamically generated ads on desktop. Each ad is tailored using individual profile data, including profile photos and job titles.

Text ads

Text ads are akin to Google/Bing search ads, allowing you to create multiple ad variations within a campaign for easy testing of images and copy. These ads are exclusively displayed on desktop, appearing in the right rail of the news feed. You can select either a cost-per-click model or a cost-per-thousand-impressions model for your campaign.

Text Ad Specifications:

Ad Image Size: 100 × 100 pixels
Format: JPG or PNG
Max File Size: 2 MB
Headline: Up to 25 characters
Description: Up to 75 characters

Spotlight ads

Spotlight ads highlight your products, services, and content, directing users to your landing page or website upon clicking.

Ad Description: Up to 70 characters
Ad Headline: Up to 50 characters
Company Name: Up to 25 characters
Image Size: Preferred 100 x 100 px (JPG or PNG)
Call-to-Action: Up to 18 characters
Custom Background (Optional): Exactly 300 x 250 px, max 2 MB

Follower ads

Follower ads are dynamic ads personalized for your audience, promoting your LinkedIn Page and encouraging users to follow.

Ad Description: Up to 70 characters
Ad Headline: Choose a pre-set option or write up to 50 characters
Company Name: Up to 25 characters
Ad Image: Company logo; 100 x 100 px (JPG or PNG)

The true cost of LinkedIn ads

The average cost-per-click (CPC) on LinkedIn is typically between $5 and $6, but actual costs vary based on ad type, targeting options, budget, and campaign performance.

Sponsored content usually follows a CPC or cost-per-mille (CPM) pricing model, while sponsored messages are generally cost-per-send (CPS). Specific targeting can increase costs, but effective campaigns may lower cost-per-conversion, enhancing cost-effectiveness. It’s crucial to set a budget and track ROI to keep ad expenses in check and meet financial goals.

Setting up your ad budget and schedule

Managing your LinkedIn ad campaigns effectively involves setting a budget to control costs. LinkedIn offers three budget options:

Daily Budget: Specify your desired average daily spend. You can opt for a continuous or set schedule for this budget.

Lifetime Budget: Set a total amount for your campaign, and LinkedIn will adjust the daily spend for optimal results, influenced by traffic and other factors.

Combination: Utilize both daily and lifetime budgets to monitor overall costs and daily expenses, although this option only allows a continuous schedule.

After establishing your budget, you’ll need to set a campaign schedule, which affects the ad’s duration and spending pace. The scheduling options vary based on your budget type:

Continuous Schedule: The campaign runs until your budget is exhausted, applicable for all budget types.

Set Schedule: This runs the campaign between a specified start and end date, available for lifetime and daily budgets, but not for combinations.

Understanding LinkedIn bid types

LinkedIn advertising operates on an online auction system, requiring competitive bids for ad placement. In the Campaign Manager, you can choose from three bidding strategies:

Manual Bidding: Set a specific bid amount for clicks, impressions, or views, depending on your ad’s format and goals. This option provides greater control but requires ongoing performance tracking and adjustments.

Cost-Cap Bidding: Establish a maximum cost per result. The system automatically adjusts bids to achieve optimal outcomes while adhering to your budget.

Maximum Delivery: An automated strategy that leverages machine learning to manage and adjust bids, aiming to maximize key results and efficiently utilize your entire budget.

How to determine if you should run LinkedIn ads?

Evaluate your budget for LinkedIn ads

Similar to other advertising platforms, there isn’t a fixed cost for running a LinkedIn campaign. LinkedIn requires a minimum daily budget of $10 and a minimum lifetime budget of $100. However, it’s important to note that LinkedIn usually has higher cost-per-click (CPC) rates compared to other platforms.

Despite the higher CPCs, the clicks you receive on LinkedIn are from users with strong intent, which can lead to qualified leads. As a result, the conversion rate (CVR) is typically much higher on LinkedIn.

Below, you’ll find a graph illustrating the average CPC and CVR rates for both LinkedIn and Google Ads across various industries:

	Google Ads	LinkedIn
Average Cost-per-click (CPC)	$2.96	$5.39
Conversion Rate (CVR)	3%	5 to 15%

Determine your end goal

Before launching an ad campaign, it’s essential to establish clear goals. Are you aiming to enhance your thought leadership, generate leads, or increase brand awareness?

Regardless of the goal you select, it’s crucial to measure the outcomes that will most significantly affect your business or client. To achieve this, you should identify the key metrics that will drive the greatest impact.

Understand if your audience is on LinkedIn

As digital marketers, our main priority is to serve our audiences effectively. Before launching your ads, it’s essential to clearly define who you want to target. Understanding your audience helps you create more relevant and engaging content, ultimately leading to better campaign performance.

LinkedIn provides robust targeting capabilities that distinguish it from other advertising platforms. You can precisely target your audience based on a variety of factors, including location, company, industry, job title, skill level, degree of study, and more.

This customization increases the chances of your ads reaching the right professionals, boosting engagement and conversion rates. By leveraging these advanced targeting options, you can create more impactful campaigns that resonate with your desired audience.

How to set up a LinkedIn ad campaign?

To set up a LinkedIn ad campaign, follow these steps:

Open the campaign manager

To begin setting up your LinkedIn ad campaign, locate the “Advertise” icon in the top right corner of your screen. Click it to access the Campaign Manager, and then hit the blue “Create” button to initiate a new advertising account.

Next, update the account name and currency, and connect it to your LinkedIn Company Page. This step is crucial, as it unlocks all available ad formats. Keep in mind that only Page Admins can advertise on behalf of a Page.

Select an objective

Click the blue “Create” button to access the campaign objective menu.

From here, select an option that aligns with your goals: Awareness, Consideration or Conversion .

Select campaign group

Assign a group name to your campaign and specify how and when you plan to allocate your spending.

Enable budget optimization to automatically distribute your group budget for improved ROI. When you’re set, click the Next button at the bottom to proceed.

Choose your target audience

In the Audience menu, customize your target audience by specifying details such as location, profile language, job title, industry, and skills. You can include desired attributes and exclude those that don’t fit your criteria.

If you’re unsure where to begin, use one of LinkedIn’s preset audiences from the drop-down menu. The right-hand sidebar will provide insights on expected performance based on your selections. At the bottom, you can save this audience for future use or reset all settings to start anew.

Select an ad format

LinkedIn provides a menu of ad format options tailored to your campaign objective.

For instance, if your goal is brand awareness, you can choose from formats like single image, carousel, video, text, spotlight, follower, document, conversation, or event ads. Each format has its own strengths, allowing you to select the best fit for your messaging and audience engagement.

Adjust other setting

Next, scroll down to find instructions for adding URL tracking parameters to monitor your ad’s performance. Below this section, you can also choose to expand your ad placements beyond LinkedIn, allowing it to appear on trusted third-party publishers, thereby increasing your reach.

Set your budget and schedule

Continue scrolling down to review your campaign budget and schedule. You can select a daily budget, a lifetime budget, or a combination of both.

Additionally, choose whether to run your ad continuously or between specific dates. Don’t forget to adjust your optimization goal and bidding strategy to align with your campaign objectives.

Start conversion tracking (optional)

With a conversion tracker, you can measure the actions taken by users who visit your website after clicking or viewing your LinkedIn ads. To set this up, choose “Create new conversion” and follow the prompts to apply a tracker to your website. After configuring the settings, click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page to continue.

Create an ad for your campaign

Now that you’ve defined your audience and campaign schedule, it’s time to create your ad. Click on “Create new ads” and let your creativity shine.

Start by giving your ad a title, adding introductory text, and entering a destination URL. Don’t forget to upload an image, add a catchy headline, and include a call-to-action button to engage your audience effectively. Once you’re satisfied with your ad, click the “Save Ad” button in the bottom right corner to finalize it.

Add more ads (optional)

At this point, you can choose to add more advertisements to your LinkedIn campaign by clicking the “Create New Ads” link at the top.

If you prefer to launch just one standout ad, you’re almost ready to go!

Review and launch

Before launching your ad, take a moment to review your choices. Here, you’ll also enter your billing information, including your business contact and credit card details.

Once everything looks good, click the “Agree & launch campaign” button in the bottom right corner to kick off your advertising journey!

LinkedIn ads best practices

You’ve invested significant effort into your LinkedIn ads campaign—let’s make sure it succeeds! To help you succeed, here are the key criteria identified by System SocialZ as essential for crafting a successful ad campaign on this platform.

Figure out your target audience

On LinkedIn, defining your ad’s geographic reach is essential. Location is the only mandatory field when setting up your ad campaign. You can choose to target a broad area by selecting a country or state, or get more specific by pinpointing cities or metropolitan areas.

Additionally, refine your audience by incorporating details such as company industry, size, demographics, education, job experience, and interests. However, LinkedIn warns against overly specific targeting; if you’re new to LinkedIn ads, consider starting with broader criteria and focusing on just three aspects.

You can also conduct A/B testing with varying targeting parameters, like skills versus job titles, to discover which audiences resonate best with your brand.

Segment your customers.

Segmenting your customers is crucial for optimizing ad targeting on LinkedIn and other platforms. By categorizing your audience into distinct segments based on factors like behavior, demographics, or interests, you can tailor your ads to better meet their needs.

For instance, if you have a segment of potential clients interested in industry insights, you can create informative content specifically for them. This targeted approach not only enhances engagement but also increases the likelihood of conversions by delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Craft your ad copy around a clear call to action

Your audience is busy, so make it easy for them to know what to do next. Ensure your LinkedIn ads feature a concise headline, descriptive copy, and a clear call to action (CTA), ideally as a text button.

It’s essential that your CTA aligns with your initial campaign objective. Some effective options include “Register Now” or “Sign Up Today!” This clarity helps guide potential customers effortlessly toward their next steps.

Make the most of your ad type

LinkedIn can help your content reach the right audience, but to truly engage them, your ads need to stand out. Here are some techniques to captivate your audience:

Sponsored Content:

Repurpose content from your blog, website, and social media channels.
Include 4-5 ads in each campaign for variety.
Utilize video, audio, or other rich media elements.
Create an emotional connection by sharing human interest stories.
Go beyond just sharing trending news; add your insights to showcase your brand’s thought leadership.

Sponsored Messaging:

For brand consideration, share blog posts, webinars, or industry analyses.
To generate leads, promote product demos, tutorials, success stories, or upcoming events.

Text Ads: While visuals are optional, they enhance results; consider using a profile image instead of just a logo.

Dynamic Ads:

Be descriptive in your main headline and text.
Test image layouts before posting.
Ensure each ad has one clear message and CTA.

Look at your social ads and competitors’ LinkedIn ads

Gaining inspiration and insights from your existing social ads and those of your competitors can significantly streamline the process of creating ads on LinkedIn. While LinkedIn has its unique features and audience dynamics, examining high-performing ads from platforms like Google and Facebook can provide valuable ideas for your LinkedIn campaigns.

Repurposing content from successful Google Ads for LinkedIn can save time and increase effectiveness. Additionally, while you might not have access to detailed analytics on your competitors’ LinkedIn ads, you can gauge engagement by monitoring metrics such as comments and reactions.

This approach allows you to identify which ad types resonate well, serving as a useful reference point when planning your own LinkedIn ads, especially since your target audience may overlap with that of your competitors.

Use eye-catching visuals and language

When creating your LinkedIn ads, ensure your content aligns with the ad type and engages your audience. Focus on these key elements:

Colors: Use brand-appropriate colors that evoke emotion.
Font: Choose clear, legible fonts that reflect your brand’s personality.
Language and Text: Tailor your language to resonate with your target audience.
CTA Placement and Style: Place your call-to-action prominently and use persuasive language to encourage engagement.
Images and Videos: Select high-quality visuals; consider using videos or GIFs for better engagement.

Combining these elements effectively will help capture attention and drive meaningful interactions.

Support your ads with a strong organic brand

Running ads alone won’t guarantee leads and conversions. A robust organic strategy is essential to pique your audience’s interest, build trust, and enhance the effectiveness of your paid campaigns.

Investing in ads should be complemented by regularly sharing valuable content to position your business as a thought leader. Ensure your company page is well-designed with consistent branding to convey authenticity and quality.

Engage actively with your audience by responding to comments and messages, welcoming both positive and negative feedback.

Finally, track analytics to gauge the performance of your organic content. This insight will guide your ad campaigns and help set your future content up for success.

LinkedIn ad examples to inspire you

Now that you know how to run ads on LinkedIn, let’s explore some compelling examples from real-life brands to inspire your creativity.

Salesforce

Salesforce utilizes video ads effectively, sharing customer success stories and product demos. These ads provide valuable insights while showcasing the brand’s personality.

LinkedIn Learning

Using lead generation ads, LinkedIn Learning promotes free trials and courses. Their ads feature compelling headlines and direct CTAs to attract potential learners.

Dropbox

Dropbox’s video ads focus on storytelling, illustrating how their service simplifies collaboration and file sharing. Their relatable narratives make the brand approachable and relevant to users.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services’ ad begins with a captivating question that grabs attention right away. It highlights the free offers and services available, utilizing carousel ads to showcase the value. The multiple slides provide ample opportunities for engagement, making it both interactive and appealing to the audience.

PwC

PwC’s document ad focuses on promoting a comprehensive report, making it easy for professionals to access valuable insights. The ad highlights key takeaways from the report and encourages viewers to download the full document for an in-depth understanding. With a strong call to action, the ad efficiently drives engagement by offering clear value in the form of industry-leading research and analysis.

LinkedIn ads- Frequently asked questions

Is LinkedIn Marketing Labs free?

LinkedIn Marketing Labs offers free online courses on advertising and the opportunity to earn LinkedIn Marketing certifications, helping you enhance your skills and credibility in digital marketing.

How to access the LinkedIn Ads Library?

To access the LinkedIn Ads Library, follow these steps:

Go to LinkedIn: Log in to your LinkedIn account.
Search for Ads: In the search bar, type “Ads” or look for the “Advertising” section in the dropdown menu.
Visit the Ads Library: Click on the “Ads” link or navigate to the LinkedIn Ads Library page directly (if available).
Explore Ads: Use the filters to browse ads by criteria such as industry, format, and targeting.

How to advertise training on LinkedIn?

Announce your exciting news to your networks as soon as your course gets approved. Share thought leadership content relevant to your topic and engage in related conversations. Post photos, tips, and lessons learned from your course preparation—whether it’s about writing your course material or selecting your on-screen wardrobe.

What is a LinkedIn marketing agency?

A LinkedIn specialized marketing agency focuses on helping you identify and connect with your target audience, enhancing your lead generation efforts.

Conclusion

To enhance your LinkedIn ads for success in 2024, prioritize accurate audience targeting, engaging creatives, and ongoing performance analysis. Experiment with different ad formats, keep refining your messaging, and leverage LinkedIn’s tools to improve ROI. Remember to pair your paid campaigns with a strong organic strategy for the best results. For more in-depth tips and strategies on maximizing LinkedIn ads, visit System SocialZ.