How to Master LinkedIn Ads for B2B: Targeting, Formats, and ROI Hacks

LinkedIn Ads have become a cornerstone of B2B social media marketing, offering unparalleled targeting capabilities and a professional audience. However, to maximise return on investment (ROI), businesses must go beyond basic ad placements. This article, written by our B2B marketing agency, breaks down ten key steps to mastering B2B LinkedIn Ads, covering audience targeting, ad formats, and advanced strategies to optimise lead generation. 

1.- Define Your Ideal Audience with Precision

LinkedIn’s granular targeting allows you to reach decision-makers by job title, industry, company size, seniority, and even company revenue. If you’re focusing on B2B lead generation, leverage Matched Audiences to target website visitors, CRM contacts, or ABM lists for highly relevant campaigns. Salesforce uses LinkedIn’s job title and industry targeting to reach enterprise-level decision-makers for their CRM solutions, ensuring they engage with the most relevant audience. According to LinkedIn, 4 out of 5 LinkedIn users drive business decisions, making it the top platform for B2B marketers to reach decision-makers.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Use LinkedIn’s Boolean search in Sales Navigator to refine your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).

– Segment audiences by region, revenue, and buying intent signals to tailor ads more precisely

– Set up a quarterly review to analise targeting accuracy and refine audience filters based on CRM data

2.- Leverage Lookalike Audiences

Expanding your reach efficiently means using Lookalike Audiences based on high-value customers. This helps find similar decision-makers who are more likely to engage, increasing your ad relevance while reducing cost per lead (CPL). This strategy is a must for companies that rely on LinkedIn for B2B sales and demand generation. HubSpot successfully employs Lookalike Audiences to scale their reach to new potential customers similar to their existing marketing and sales software users, driving more qualified leads. LinkedIn reports that advertisers see a 37% higher conversion rate when using Lookalike Audiences versus standard targeting methods. 

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Upload a list of top 10% converting leads from your CRM to LinkedIn and create Lookalike Audiences.

– Use Lookalikes alongside Account-Based Marketing (ABM) to target decision-makers in Fortune 500 companies

3.- Choose the Right Ad Format for Your Goal

LinkedIn offers various ad formats, each suited to different objectives:

– Sponsored Content: Best for engagement and brand awareness in B2B social media marketing.

– Message Ads: Ideal for direct, personalised outreach, especially when combined with B2B Sales Navigator.

– Lead Gen Forms: Reduce friction by capturing leads within LinkedIn, a common strategy for a B2B LinkedIn ads agency.

– Carousel & Video Ads: Effective for storytelling and product showcases.

Adobe leverages Carousel Ads to showcase different creative solutions for businesses, using visual storytelling to engage marketing professionals and designers. Video ads on LinkedIn drive 3x higher engagement than text-based content, making them a powerful tool for audience interaction.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Run split tests with LinkedIn Video Ads vs. Carousel Ads to analise engagement levels.

– For product launches, use Document Ads to distribute interactive whitepapers or case studies.

– Set up Sequential Ad Campaigns: First a thought-leadership video, followed by a lead-gen form ad.

4.- Optimise Your LinkedIn Ad Bidding Strategy

For better control over spend and performance, test different bidding models:

– Manual Bidding: Ideal for maximising control over CPC or CPM.

– Automated Bidding: Uses LinkedIn’s AI to get optimal results within your budget.

– Enhanced CPC: Adjusts bids based on likelihood to convert.

IBM uses manual bidding strategies for their tech solutions to control spend and ensure they target enterprise-level customers without wasting budget on irrelevant audiences. Companies that use automated bidding see  an 18% reduction in cost per click (CPC) compared to manual bidding.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Allocate higher bids for executive-level targets (C-suite) and lower bids for influencers .

– Use Time-of-Day Bidding to bid aggressively during working hours when decision-makers are active.

– Adjust bids based on lead quality feedback from the sales team via CRM integration.

5.- Create High-Impact Ad Copy & Visuals

Effective B2B LinkedIn ads balance clarity and persuasion. Keep text concise and benefit-driven while ensuring visuals align with your brand. Avoid corporate jargon—speak directly to decision-makers’ challenges. Many B2B LinkedIn ads agencies focus on B2B LinkedIn ads tips & tricks to craft compelling creatives that drive conversions. Zoom effectively uses concise copy in their LinkedIn ads, emphasising benefits like “Seamless video conferencing for your business” to instantly communicate their value proposition. Ads with direct benefit-driven messaging see 2x higher engagement than those that focus on features alone.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Test LinkedIn Conversation Ads with an interactive, chatbot-style experience for high-value leads.

– Use Dynamic Ads to personalise ad messaging based on job title and company name.

– Train sales teams on LinkedIn’s Engagement Insights to identify which ad messages resonate best.

6.- Implement A/B Testing on Every Campaign

Continuously test different ad creatives, headlines, CTAs, and formats to identify the best-performing variations. Even small changes in wording or image selection can significantly impact click-through and conversion rates. Testing is a standard practice for the best B2B marketing agency teams. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions itself runs A/B tests on its own ad campaigns, optimising copy and visuals to improve engagement among marketers looking to use LinkedIn Ads. Businesses that run at least 2-3 A/B tests per campaign increase conversion rates by 30% on average.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Run geo-based A/B tests comparing engagement in different markets.

– A/B test CTAs like “Book a Demo” vs. “Request Pricing” to identify what triggers conversions.

– Test multiple visual formats (product imagery, people-based creatives, infographics) for maximum engagement.

7.- Use Retargeting to Nurture Warm Leads

Retarget website visitors, video viewers, or previous ad engagers with follow-up campaigns. This helps push prospects down the funnel, reinforcing messaging and increasing conversion rates. A B2B LinkedIn ads agency can help structure multi-stage retargeting campaigns for optimal impact. Marketo (an Adobe company) uses retargeting to keep their audience engaged, serving ads to visitors who have previously interacted with their content but haven’t converted yet. Retargeting campaigns on LinkedIn result in 70% higher conversion rates compared to cold audience targeting.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Retarget based on LinkedIn Video Views to push high-intent leads toward a free trial.

– Serve account-specific retargeting ads for ABM strategies, customising ads by company name.

– Use LinkedIn’s Event-Based Retargeting to reach attendees after a webinar or live event

8.- Align LinkedIn Ads with Your Sales Funnel

B2B LinkedIn ads should support your full sales funnel:

– TOFU (Top of Funnel): Awareness ads with educational content.

– MOFU (Middle of Funnel): Case studies, webinars, and testimonials.

– BOFU (Bottom of Funnel): Direct lead generation or conversion-focused offers.

Gong.io, a revenue intelligence platform, structures its LinkedIn campaigns by funnel stage, promoting educational content at TOFU and case studies at MOFU before offering a demo at BOFU. Campaigns that align LinkedIn Ads with the sales funnel see a 35% improvement in lead-to-customer conversion rates.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Design content-specific ads for each funnel stage: TOFU: Industry reports, MOFU: Customer case studies, BOFU: Free trial/demo offers.

– Sync LinkedIn Ads with email nurture sequences for cross-channel consistency.

– Assign dedicated SDRs to follow up with leads from BOFU LinkedIn campaigns within 24 hours.

9.- Measure Success with Key LinkedIn Metrics

Track your metrics: CPC, CTR, conversion rates, and cost per lead to assess campaign effectiveness. ServiceNow measures LinkedIn ad success through lead generation KPIs, tracking conversions from LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms directly into their CRM to assess ROI. LinkedIn reports that 89% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn Ads provide the best lead quality compared to other platforms.

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Use UTM tracking to attribute LinkedIn leads in Google Analytics and CRM dashboards.

– Benchmark LinkedIn Ads against other paid channels (Google Ads, Facebook) to compare CPL and quality.

– Implement lead scoring: Prioritise leads from LinkedIn campaigns based on ad engagement data.

10.- Maximise ROI with Marketing Automation

Integrate B2B LinkedIn ads with marketing automation tools to maximise your ROI: HubSpot, Marketo, or Salesforce to streamline lead nurturing. Snowflake integrates LinkedIn Ads with their marketing automation platform, ensuring leads generated from LinkedIn campaigns are immediately entered into an automated email nurture sequence. Companies that combine LinkedIn Ads with automation experience a 60% increase in marketing-qualified leads (MQLs).

💡 Action for Decision Makers: 

– Set up LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms that sync directly with HubSpot/Marketo/Salesforce.

– Automate personalised follow-ups for leads via email and LinkedIn InMail.

– Trigger nurture workflows for leads from LinkedIn Ads, categorising them into relevant product/service interest lists

In conclusion:

Mastering B2B LinkedIn ads requires a combination of precise targeting, optimised ad formats, and continuous performance analysis. By refining audience selection, leveraging automation, and aligning ads with your sales funnel, you can drive high-quality leads and maximise ROI. If you’re looking for expert support, consider working with a B2B LinkedIn ads agency to fine-tune your campaigns and achieve consistent results.

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This article has been created in collaboration with ChatGPT 4.0.