
As a B2B business, you know that LinkedIn is more than just a social network for you. It’s a platform to present your portfolio, put offers on the table, and negotiate deals.
But despite all that, it can sometimes feel like you’re missing the target. You post, you engage, but even with the 1.2 billion users on LinkedIn, the right people still seem out of reach. That’s because organic reach isn’t always enough to cut the noise. And that’s where LinkedIn advertising comes in. With advanced tools and features, you go beyond indirect connections and speak directly to decision-makers.
In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at why LinkedIn advertising is a must-have for all B2B businesses, the popular ad formats, steps to create an effective campaign, and the best practices you can implement.
What is LinkedIn Advertising?
LinkedIn advertising involves using LinkedIn’s platform to promote your business, products, or services to an audience of professionals through paid ads.
These ads can appear in various formats, such as sponsored content, messages, dynamic, and text. They are specifically designed to help B2B businesses reach professionals, decision-makers, and specific job titles or industries.
However, LinkedIn ads aren’t just limited to businesses. Any marketer, recruiter, job hunter, freelancer, or working professional can use it to expand their network.
In short, it’s a way for businesses to boost visibility, generate leads, and get sales in a more targeted business-focused environment.
Curious how this compares to Instagram advertising, where your audience is more social? Read our blog, All You Need to Know About Instagram Advertising, for a better understanding.
Why Advertise On LinkedIn?
There are plenty of other advertising platforms with even larger audience bases. So what is it that makes LinkedIn advertising stand out as an exception? Here are a few reasons:
The largest B2B network
There’s no doubt that LinkedIn is the biggest B2B social network we know of. According to the latest data by DataReportal, the platform currently has 1.2 billion members. Semrush further reports that the site saw 1.77 billion visits in February 2025. It was also ranked as one of the most important social media platforms by 44% of B2B professionals according to a global survey conducted by Statista. All this hints at how massive its reach is.
The posh LinkedIn audience
LinkedIn advertising gets you access to a diverse, posh audience, where you can reach out to different industries, job titles, experience levels, and geographic locations. A study from Pew Research Center found that 53% of the platform’s users come from households earning more than $100,000+. So, you have the option to connect with the biggest MNCs and small-scale businesses.
Strategic advertising features
When it comes to targeting ads, LinkedIn’s game is unbeatable. You can target ads by location, company, job title, gender, and much more. 69% of LinkedIn marketers have stated that they have found hyper-targeted ad campaigns to be more effective than broad ones.
Ads see high CTR rates
Ads on LinkedIn drive impressive results, with brands seeing a 33% increase in purchase intent and a 2-3x lift in brand attributes. Marketers also see a 2x higher conversion rate, and audiences exposed to brand messages are 6x more likely to convert, making it an effective space for ad campaigns.
Effective in Lead Generation
LinkedIn is classified as the most effective channel for driving high-quality leads by 40% of B2B marketers. As LinkedIn states, 89% of them use it for lead generation, and 62% are satisfied with the results. What makes this better is that LinkedIn’s cost per lead is 28% lower than Google AdWords.
Types of Ad Formats Offered By LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers a wide variety of ad formats to make your advertising more goal-oriented and impactful. Let’s take a look at them below:
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content looks like every other post on your feed with an additional CTA button and ‘promoted’ label attached to it. These ads feel native to the platform and allow you to share thought leadership, showcase products and services, or promote an event by dropping into your target audience’s feed.
These ads come in 9 different ad formats, including:
- Single image ads: A single visual ad to present your products and services to audiences across desktop and mobile.
- Video ads: Videos to tell a story or demonstrate how a product/service works.
- Carousel ads: A swipeable series of cards that lets you showcase multiple products or tell stories through images and videos.
- Event ads: Ads that promote upcoming events by highlighting details like date, time, location, and CTA.
- Document ads: Ads that let you share documents like PDFs, guides, or slides directly into someone’s feed, which can be read or downloaded without leaving LinkedIn.
- Thought leader ads: Ads that allow companies to sponsor posts from their employees or leaders.
- CTV ads: Ads that show up on smart TVs and streaming platforms to reach B2B professionals in a more relaxed setting.
- Click to message ads: Ads that include a button to send a message directly, enabling one-on-one chat with businesses.
- Article and Newsletter ads: Ads to promote long-form and native content like articles and newsletters.
Sponsored Messaging
Sponsored messaging ads allow you to drop personalized messages directly into your prospect’s inbox. This makes it easy to reach audiences in a more personal way, deliver interactive content, and refine your lead pipeline.
These messages come in 2 ad formats, including:
- Message ads: Your typical message ads with a single CTA that aim to spark immediate action.
- Conversation ads: Messages that provide users a choose-your-path experience by giving them options about where to carry on conversations.
Dynamic Ads
Dynamic ads help you capture attention by personalizing the experience and automating individualized campaigns at scale. These ads feature each professional’s own LinkedIn profile data, like photo, job title, company name, and more, to entice users into engaging.
Text Ads
Text ads are your everyday basic ads that work on PPC (pay-per-click) and or CPM (cost per impression) basis. They contain a simple headline, description, and a small image. While their short and concise nature holds them back from being too over-the-top, they are more cost-effective than the rest.
Steps To Create a LinkedIn Advertising Campaign
LinkedIn advertising might look a bit complicated from afar and sound too hectic, but it’s really not. Follow along to create a simple LinkedIn ad campaign.
Pre-Requisites: To get started, you’ll need an active LinkedIn personal account or business page, along with a Campaign Manager Account. You can set up your billing information either before or after creating your campaign, depending on your preference.
Step 1. Create a Campaign
Start by opening Campaign Manager by clicking on the little button on the top that says Advertise.
Click on the blue Create button and select Campaign or Campaign Group.
If you don’t have a Campaign group yet, we suggest creating that first. Give it a name, select status, add your budget, and enter the start and end date. You can then proceed to create a campaign within the campaign group.
Step 2. Choose your Campaign Objective
The second step is to choose your campaign objective based on your overall advertising goals. LinkedIn offers 3 main objectives, each with a different set of categories.
- Awareness: Brand awareness
- Consideration: Website visits, Engagement, Video views
- Conversion: Lead generation, Website conversions, Job applicants
Step 3. Set your Target Audience
Now is the time to pick who you want your ads to show up for. You can tweak your target audience based on the attributes you want to include and the ones you want to exclude.
Location is mandatory. Select all the countries you want to target.
You can also narrow the target audience further using audience data (List upload, Lookalike, Predictive, Retargeting, Third party, Other), and audience attributes (company, demographics, job experience, education, interests, and traits).
Exclude users based on audience attributes and Matched audiences.
While you’re adjusting your targeting, you will be able to see the forecasted results in the sidebar.
Step 4: Select ad format
LinkedIn gives you a large variety of ad formats, so choose wisely.
- Single Image Ad
- Carousel Ad
- Video Ad
- Message Ad
- Conversation Ad
- Event Ad
- Text Ad
- Spotlight Ad (Dynamic)
Make sure the ad format reflects the goals you want to achieve and effectively captures the attention of your audience.
Step 5: Set your Budget, Schedule, and Bidding
Budget section is where you set the daily or lifetime budget.
Schedule section is where you enter the start and end dates of your campaign. You also have the option to run the campaign continuously.
Bidding prices keep changing depending on your campaign objective and market demand. You can set your bidding strategy to Maximum delivery or Cost cap.
Step 6: Set up Conversion Tracking
This step is optional but recommended. Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your website to track leads and performance throughout your campaign.
Step 7: Create your Ad Creative
It’s finally time to enter creatives and copy for your audience. You’re given two options: create a new ad or browse existing content. We’ll go with creating a new ad.
Give a name to your ad and enter the destination URL. Then, proceed to add:
- Introductory text
- Images/Video
- Alt text
- Headline
- Description
- CTA (call-to-action)
Step 8: Review and Launch
Finally, it’s time to review and launch your ads. Go over all the details and make any final edits if required. Once you’re sure of everything, you can either Save and exit, or Agree & launch campaign.
Expert Tips and Best Practices to Make Your Ads Stand Out
Now that you know how to set up a campaign, we need to make sure your ad stands out. Here are a few tips and practices our experts at Logelite suggest to uplift your LinkedIn advertising.
Know how to connect with users
The audience you’re targeting is definitely business-minded, but it’s best not to generalize. They come from different niches and industry levels, which is why it’s good to know how to connect with them. Analyze the demographics, challenges, goals and motivations, decision-making process, content preferences, common objectives, and the current trends influencing them. The more you know, the easier it’ll be to create ads.
Don’t settle for boring ads
Professional doesn’t mean boring. Your ads should be compelling enough to catch the user’s eye, pique their interest, and have them trust you. It’s best to highlight your unique selling point, use crisp visuals, and make your brand voice reflect in your ads. Something that feels a bit more personal and authentic will always be better.
Test with different ad types
LinkedIn offers plenty of ad formats, but not all of them will work in your favour. Some are just better fitted for a different niche and audience type. But you won’t really know what works until you A/B test it. Alternate between different ad types, check performance, and see which has performed the best.
Retarget and nurture your audience
It’s a well-known fact that most working professionals don’t buy something on the first go. There’s a long decision-making process involved. That’s where retargeting and nurturing come in. Create retargeting campaigns for users who are engaged with your ad or website, and design a multi-touch journey using LinkedIn’s matched audience. Ease them into your business while they are in the consideration stage.
LinkedIn Ads Management Services Can Help
LinkedIn advertising isn’t as simple as using the first ad format and copy that comes to mind.
Many advertisers struggle in terms of inconsistent match rates, high ad costs, confusing ad formats, and difficulty tracking results. Without a clear strategy, it’s easy to burn through your budget without clearly understanding what’s working.
That is where LinkedIn advertising agencies come in. Right from precise audience targeting and selecting the right ad formats, to optimizing your campaign every step of the way, experts ensure that your ads are set up for success.
Handing over the campaign management to specialists helps eliminate guesswork and a hole in your budget. You’re then free to focus on things that actually matter for your business.
Logelite: An Agency You Can Depend On
At Logelite, we understand how overwhelming LinkedIn advertising can get. Which is why we’re here to take the burden off your shoulders and do things for you. We can help you get the most out of LinkedIn ads without exceeding your budget. Your ads will reach the right type of audience, deliver the right messages, and be optimised to their potential.
Our LinkedIn Ads Management Services include:
- LinkedIn Company Page Optimization
- Research, Strategy, and Planning
- Campaign Setup and Management
- Ad Creative and Copy Development
- Audience Targeting and Retargeting
- Conversion Tracking and Analytics
- Lead Generation and CRM Integration
- Reporting Optimization
Conclusion
And that’s a wrap on LinkedIn advertising. LinkedIn is the ultimate go-to platform for all B2B businesses. Whether you’re just starting out or know a thing or two, the platform is a great place to reach the right people.
And LinkedIn advertising just makes things a whole lot better. Just keep things simple, understand who you are targeting, share a clear message, and try different things to see what works. It’s all about making smart moves and building real connections through a paid medium.
Plus, if things get complicated, there’s always a digital marketing agency that you can go to.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is LinkedIn advertising?
Ans. LinkedIn advertising involves using LinkedIn’s platform to promote business, products, and services to a target professional audience through paid ads.
Who can advertise on LinkedIn?
Ans. All B2B businesses, HR professionals and recruiters, solo entrepreneurs and small businesses, marketing agencies, thought leaders, and working professionals can use LinkedIn advertising.
Is LinkedIn advertising good for B2B businesses?
Ans. Yes, LinkedIn advertising is great for BB professionals because of its precise targeting of professionals and decision makers.
How much does LinkedIn advertising cost?
Ans. On average, businesses can expect to pay $2 – $3 per click, $5 to $8 per 1000 impressions, and $0.26 to $0.50 per spend for sponsored messaging ads.
Are LinkedIn ads better than Google ads?
Ans. It totally depends on your goals. LinkedIn ads are better for reaching a B2B audience, while Google ads work well in capturing active demand.