TLDR: LinkedIn Ads are one of the most effective ways for B2B brands to reach decision-makers, generate high-quality leads, and build brand visibility. With powerful targeting options, from job titles to company lists, and diverse ad formats like Sponsored Content, Message Ads, and Video Ads, LinkedIn offers unmatched precision in reaching professional audiences.
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Why use LinkedIn Ads?
When we asked our paid social specialist, Emanuela, why LinkedIn Ads are worth recommending, she immediately pointed to one thing: LinkedIn performs best for B2B businesses. “We tend to see LinkedIn performing best for B2B companies… because that’s where most of the businesses or people working in businesses are. The targeting capabilities the platform offers are unique.”Unlike other social platforms, LinkedIn allows brands to target people specifically based on their professional identity. That’s gold for B2B marketing.
Key benefits
- Targeting professionals
Hit people based on job title, industry, seniority, company size, and more. - High-quality leads
Sponsored Messages and Document Ads often drive strong lead generation results. - Perfect for B2B
If your audience is made up of businesses, LinkedIn is where they are.
A real success story
At Modo25, we’ve seen impressive results for our own campaigns. “For ASK BOSCO®, we’re doing a lot of brand awareness… we have reached around 90% of our niche audience with good frequency” She also mentioned that Sponsored Message Ads have driven quite good leads for lower-funnel activity.
Types of LinkedIn Ad formats
Emanuela walked us through the main formats available.
Sponsored Content (native feed ads)
These appear directly in users’ feeds.
Formats include:
- Single Image Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Video Ads
You have your standard video format, which appears on the feed, and the static image.
Message ads (direct to inbox)
These are unique to LinkedIn and often highly effective. “What is different… is the sponsored messages that go directly to someone’s inbox.” Brands can also build conversational ads with multiple clickable paths like “Yes, tell me more.”
Text ads
A simple, cost-effective format that appears in the sidebar. While these ads don’t appear to be used as much in comparison to the others, but they remain an option for awareness campaigns.
Dynamic ads
These ads automatically personalise creative using profile data (e.g., job title or company).
Carousel & video ads
These are great for storytelling and engagement. Emanuela specifically listed them as key ad types: “Single image, carousel and video… those are your three key formats.”
LinkedIn ads targeting options
LinkedIn’s targeting is where it truly stands out. You can go after specific industries or job titles or companies… you can go very niche.
Options Include:
- Location
- Company (industry, size, name)
- Job title and seniority
- Skills and education
- Audience attributes (interest-based)
Matched audiences
This is where LinkedIn gets even more powerful. With matched audiences… you have a list of people, and you want to target them… you upload your contact or company list.
Brands can upload:
- Website visitors (via the Insight Tag)
- Email lists
- CRM lists
- Company lists
- Event attendee lists
A key requirement is that your brand needs at least 300 people to run a campaign, however.
How to set up your first LinkedIn ad campaign
Create your campaign manager account
This is the central hub for creating and managing your ads.
Choose your campaign objective
Whether your goal is:
- Awareness
- Consideration (traffic, engagement, video views)
- Conversions (lead gen forms, website conversions)
Emanuela emphasised: “The key thing is to understand what the objective is and what you’re trying to drive.”
Build your campaign group
This acts like a folder for campaigns. You can have different campaigns within one campaign group… the campaign group is really where you select your objective and budget.
Create your individual campaigns
Because each ad format requires its own campaign, if you’re using images, video, or carousel, you have to have three different campaigns per format.”
Set your targeting
Choose:
- Location
- Job titles
- Company size
- Matched audiences
- Lookalikes
You can also enable Audience Expansion, LinkedIn will reach users outside your targeting if it’s likely to improve performance.
Select your ad format & placements
Next, choose the ad format that best suits your objective, such as image, video, or carousel and confirm where you want your ads to appear across LinkedIn’s placements
Set budget & schedule
You can place budgets at campaign group level or campaign level.
Choose bidding strategy
Two main options:
- Manual bidding
- Maximum delivery (recommended for beginners)
We tend to use maximum delivery… as it has worked well for us in previous campaigns.
Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag
This is essential. Before you launch any campaign… make sure you have the Insight Tag so you can track what people are doing on your website.
Best LinkedIn ads practices for beginners
When it comes to running your first LinkedIn Ads, one of the best pieces of advice from Emanuela is to experiment with different formats. As she put it, it’s important to “have different formats so you can understand what is resonating best”. Whether that’s single images, video, or carousels, giving LinkedIn a few creative options helps you see what your audience actually engages with.
From there, it really comes down to how compelling your ads are. Clear, engaging creative is essential, your ad needs to stop people mid-scroll and make them want to know more. A strong message and a clean visual can make all the difference.
Once your campaign is live, keep an eye on the metrics that matter for your goal. If you’re focusing on awareness, you’ll be looking at reach and impressions. For consideration campaigns, CTR and landing page views are great indicators. And if you’re driving conversions, you’ll want to monitor leads, CPA and your conversion rate.
It’s also worth running some A/B tests along the way. Try out different audiences, formats, CTAs or even bidding strategies to see what actually moves the needle. Small tests are encouraged so you know what works and what can be changed.
And finally, be prepared for LinkedIn to cost a little more than other platforms. As Emanuela explained, “LinkedIn tends to be very expensive… but the value of a B2B lead is usually very high” .The upside is that you’re paying to reach a highly targeted, highly relevant professional audience—so the quality generally justifies the price.
Common mistakes to avoid
One of the biggest mistakes is over-targeting right from the start. As Emmanuela explained, “when you’re new… go broader rather than starting very niche” because the algorithm needs room to learn and optimise your audience effectively. Another thing to keep in mind is the quality of your creative and calls to action. If the message isn’t clear or the visuals don’t stand out, people simply won’t engage. Strong CTAs and relevant, eye-catching content are essential, especially on a platform where users are often in “professional mode.”
Your landing page matters just as much as your ad. If your landing page is not a good user experience… that’s not going to benefit the campaign. Even the best ad can’t compensate for a slow, confusing, or irrelevant page on the other end.
Finally, don’t overlook your data. Tracking and optimisation are the key to improving performance over time. Monitoring your analytics helps you understand what’s working, what isn’t, and where to refine your approach.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Ads are one of the most powerful platforms for B2B marketers. With unmatched professional targeting, flexible ad formats, and strong ROI potential, it’s an essential tool for brands looking to reach decision-makers.
Ready to Get Started? Modo25’s PPC team specialises in LinkedIn Ads, whether you need help setting up your first campaign or scaling an existing one. If you want support with strategy, creative, or optimisation, we’re here to help. Please get in contact with our team, at Modo25, or you can email our team at team@modo25.com.
