If you’re a B2B marketer, agency, or business owner, LinkedIn Ads can be your secret weapon. With the ability to target users by job title, company, industry, seniority, and more — LinkedIn Ads deliver highly qualified leads that other platforms can’t.
This step-by-step guide will walk you through how to set up your first LinkedIn Ad campaign from scratch using LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
✅ Why Use LinkedIn Ads?
- 🎯 Reach decision-makers & professionals
- 🧠 Advanced B2B targeting (job roles, company size, industry)
- 💬 Native lead forms & in-mail ads
- 📊 Great for lead generation, recruitment, webinars & thought leadership
🧭 Before You Start
You’ll need:
- A LinkedIn Business Page
- A LinkedIn Ads account (inside Campaign Manager)
- A credit/debit card for billing
- A goal or objective for your campaign (leads, traffic, awareness)
🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Create a LinkedIn Ad Campaign
Step 1: Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager
👉 Visit https://www.linkedin.com/campaignmanager/
- Log in with your LinkedIn account
- Create a new ad account if you haven’t already
- Link your LinkedIn Company Page
- Set your billing country and currency
Step 2: Choose Your Campaign Objective
LinkedIn supports these key ad objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Website Visits
- Engagement
- Video Views
- Lead Generation (using LinkedIn forms)
- Website Conversions
- Job Applicants
👉 Choose your objective based on your marketing goal. For example:
- Use Lead Generation to collect leads
- Use Website Visits to drive traffic
- Use Conversions for product sign-ups or sales
Step 3: Set Up Audience Targeting
This is where LinkedIn shines for B2B marketing.
🎯 Target by:
- Job Title
- Industry
- Company Size
- Company Name
- Seniority Level
- Education
- Skills
- Location
- Groups
✔ Use AND/OR targeting logic to refine your audience
✔ Save your audience as a template for future use
✔ You can also use Matched Audiences for remarketing or uploading email lists
Step 4: Choose Ad Placement and Budget
- You can enable LinkedIn Audience Network (optional)
- Choose Daily or Lifetime Budget
- Set Bid Strategy:
- Maximum Delivery (automated)
- Cost Cap
- Manual Bidding
💡 Start with ₹1000–₹3000/day (or $10–$50) and scale based on performance
Step 5: Select Your Ad Format
LinkedIn offers multiple ad formats:
- Single Image Ad
- Video Ad
- Carousel Ad
- Message Ad (InMail)
- Conversation Ad
- Text Ad
- Spotlight Ad (for Company Pages or Careers)
🟢 For first campaigns, use Single Image Ad or Lead Gen Form Ad
Step 6: Create the Ad Creative
You’ll now create your ad content:
✍️ Add:
- Ad Name
- Intro Text (90–150 characters)
- Headline (max 70 characters)
- Call-To-Action (e.g., Sign Up, Learn More)
- Destination URL (landing page) OR Lead Gen Form
- Image/Video (1080×1080 for square)
✔ Write clear, benefit-driven headlines
✔ Use strong CTA buttons
✔ A/B test different creatives later
Step 7: Set Up Conversion Tracking (Optional but Recommended)
- Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your website
- Create conversion actions to track sign-ups, purchases, etc.
This allows you to optimize ads for conversions and retarget website visitors.
Step 8: Review & Launch Your Campaign
Double-check:
- Audience targeting
- Budget
- Creative
- Bidding strategy
- Tracking setup
Click Launch Campaign — and your ad will go into review. Most ads get approved within 24 hours.
📊 After Launch: Monitor & Optimize
Track your ad performance via:
- Impressions
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Cost-per-click (CPC)
- Cost-per-lead (CPL)
- Conversion rate
- Lead form opens/submissions (if applicable)
📌 Pause underperforming ads, test new creatives, and refine targeting weekly.
🧠 Pro Tips for LinkedIn Ads
- Use Lead Gen Forms to reduce drop-offs
- Target by job function and seniority for better B2B results
- Use custom images/videos — stock doesn’t perform as well
- Shorter copy = better engagement
- Run A/B tests regularly
🚀 Final Thoughts
LinkedIn Ads are a powerful tool for high-value lead generation, especially in B2B, SaaS, tech, education, and consulting industries.
Even with a modest budget, you can reach decision-makers who matter. Follow this step-by-step guide to create your first campaign and start generating qualified traffic or leads.
