LinkedIn Ads
B2B advertising on LinkedIn — campaigns, targeting, creative, Lead Gen Forms, and ABM.
Install
git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/linkedin-ads ~/.claude/skills/Campaign Types
| Type | Objective | Best For | |------|-----------|----------| | Sponsored Content | Brand awareness, engagement, conversions | Thought leadership, content promotion | | Message Ads | Direct outreach at scale | Event invites, demo requests, high-value offers | | Text Ads | Cost-efficient clicks | Always-on brand visibility | | Dynamic Ads | Personalized (follower, spotlight, jobs) | Follower growth, personalized CTAs | | Document Ads | Lead gen through gated content | Whitepapers, reports, guides | | Video Ads | Brand awareness, engagement | Product demos, testimonials, thought leadership | | Conversation Ads | Multi-CTA interactive messages | Complex offers, event + content combos | | Lead Gen Forms | In-platform lead capture | Gated content, demo requests, newsletter signups |
Targeting Capabilities
Professional Targeting (LinkedIn-Exclusive)
| Dimension | Examples | Use Case | |-----------|---------|----------| | Job Title | VP Marketing, CMO, Head of Growth | Role-specific targeting | | Job Function | Marketing, Sales, Engineering | Broad function targeting | | Seniority | C-Suite, VP, Director, Manager, Entry | Decision-maker targeting | | Company Name | Specific company lists | ABM campaigns | | Company Size | 1-10, 11-50, 51-200, 201-500, 500+ | Segment by org size | | Company Industry | SaaS, Healthcare, Finance, etc. | Vertical targeting | | Skills | Digital Marketing, SEO, Data Analysis | Interest/expertise targeting | | Groups | LinkedIn Group membership | Community targeting | | Years of Experience | 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, 10+ | Career stage | | Education | Degree, field of study, school | Academic targeting |
Matched Audiences
| Type | Source | Use Case | |------|--------|----------| | Contact Targeting | Email lists (300+ match) | CRM retargeting, ABM | | Company Targeting | Company name lists | ABM account lists | | Website Retargeting | Insight Tag pixel | Site visitor retargeting | | Lookalike Audiences | Expand from any source | Scale proven audiences | | Engagement Retargeting | Ad/page engagers | Warm audience nurturing | | Event Retargeting | LinkedIn Event attendees | Post-event follow-up |
Audience Size Guidelines
| Campaign Type | Minimum | Recommended | Maximum | |--------------|---------|-------------|---------| | Sponsored Content | 50,000 | 100,000-300,000 | 500,000+ | | Message Ads | 15,000 | 30,000-100,000 | 200,000 | | Lead Gen Forms | 50,000 | 100,000-300,000 | 500,000+ | | ABM (Company List) | 300 companies | 500-1,000 companies | 5,000 |
Benchmarks
| Metric | Good | Average | Poor | |--------|------|---------|------| | CTR (Sponsored Content) | >0.8% | 0.4-0.8% | <0.4% | | CTR (Message Ads) | >3% | 1-3% | <1% | | CPC (Sponsored Content) | <$5 | $5-10 | >$10 | | CPM | <$30 | $30-60 | >$60 | | Cost per Lead (Lead Gen) | <$50 | $50-150 | >$150 | | Lead Gen Form completion | >15% | 10-15% | <10% | | Video view rate | >25% | 15-25% | <15% | | Social engagement rate | >0.5% | 0.3-0.5% | <0.3% |
Audit Workflow
Step 1: Account Structure
- Campaign groups organized by objective/audience
- No overlapping audiences competing against each other
- Budget allocation matches business priorities
- Naming convention:
[Objective]-[Audience]-[Creative Type]-[Date]
Step 2: Targeting Assessment
- Audience size within recommended ranges
- No conflicting targeting layers (too narrow)
- Exclusions applied (current customers, competitors, employees)
- Matched Audiences utilizing CRM data
Step 3: Creative Review
- Ad format matches objective
- Intro text under 150 characters (before truncation)
- Image specs: 1200x627 (sponsored content), 1200x1200 (carousel)
- Video: 15-30 seconds, captions, square or vertical for mobile
- CTA button aligned with landing page intent
Step 4: Conversion Tracking
- Insight Tag installed and firing
- Conversion events configured (lead, purchase, signup)
- Offline conversion import set up (if applicable)
- Attribution window appropriate (30-day for B2B)
Step 5: Budget & Bidding
- Daily budget sufficient for target audience size
- Bid strategy aligned with maturity (auto for new, manual for optimized)
- Cost caps set based on target CAC
Best Practices
Creative
- Single-image > carousel for awareness (simpler, higher CTR)
- Document ads for lead gen (native PDF viewer, no landing page needed)
- Video with captions (85% of LinkedIn video watched without sound)
- Refresh creative every 4-6 weeks (frequency fatigue sets in fast)
Targeting
- Start broad, then narrow based on performance data
- Layer max 2-3 targeting dimensions (avoid over-segmentation)
- Use exclusions aggressively (exclude converted leads, competitors)
- ABM: combine company list + seniority for precision
Lead Gen Forms
- Max 3-4 fields (pre-filled from profile = high completion)
- Include a thank-you page with next step
- Integrate with CRM (Zapier, native, or API) for instant follow-up
- Speed-to-lead matters: contact within 5 minutes = 9x higher connect rate
Integration with Other Skills
- google-ads — Cross-platform campaign comparison
- facebook-ads — Meta vs LinkedIn targeting overlap analysis
- account-structure-review — Multi-platform structural audit
- wasted-spend-finder — Identify wasted LinkedIn spend
- copywriting-frameworks — Apply PAS/AIDA to LinkedIn ad copy