Connecting LinkedIn
1
Open Ad Manager settings
Go to Marketing > Ad Manager and click Settings.
2
Connect LinkedIn
Click Connect LinkedIn and authorize the platform to access your LinkedIn Ad Account.
3
Select your ad account
Choose the LinkedIn Ad Account you want to manage. You need admin access to the ad account.
Creating a LinkedIn ad campaign
1
Start a new campaign
Click Create Campaign and select LinkedIn Ad Campaign.
2
Set the objective
Choose your campaign objective:
- Lead generation — capture leads with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
- Website visits — drive traffic to your website
- Brand awareness — maximize impressions
- Engagement — increase interactions with your content
3
Configure audience targeting
Target by:
- Job title — specific titles or title functions
- Industry — the company’s industry
- Company size — employee count ranges
- Seniority — entry level through C-suite
- Skills — self-reported skills on LinkedIn profiles
- Geography — country, region, or city
- Company name — target employees of specific companies
4
Set budget and schedule
- Daily budget — maximum daily spend
- Total budget — maximum overall campaign spend
- Schedule — start and end dates
- Bid strategy — automated or manual bidding
5
Create your ad
Upload creative assets (images or video), write ad copy (headline, description, intro text), and set the call-to-action button.
6
Attach a lead form (optional)
For lead generation campaigns, create or select a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form. Forms pre-fill with the user’s LinkedIn profile data for high conversion rates.
7
Review and publish
Review all settings and click Publish. LinkedIn typically reviews ads within 24-48 hours.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
Lead Gen Forms are pre-filled forms that appear within the LinkedIn app. Users can submit their information with a single tap because LinkedIn auto-fills fields from their profile. Available fields:- First name, last name, email
- Job title, company, company size
- Phone number
- Custom questions
Audience targeting best practices
Start broad, then narrow
Start broad, then narrow
Begin with a broader audience (50,000-100,000) and narrow based on performance data. LinkedIn’s algorithm needs sufficient audience size to optimize delivery.
Layer targeting criteria
Layer targeting criteria
Combine job title + industry + seniority for precision. For example: “Marketing Director” + “Technology” + “Director level” reaches the right decision-makers.
Exclude irrelevant audiences
Exclude irrelevant audiences
Use exclusion targeting to remove job titles, industries, or companies that are not relevant. This reduces wasted spend.
Use matched audiences
Use matched audiences
Upload your CRM contact list to create matched audiences on LinkedIn. Use these for retargeting or to build lookalike audiences.
Statistics
LinkedIn campaign performance is available in Marketing > Ad Manager > Statistics. Select LinkedIn from the channel selector to view:- Impressions, clicks, and CTR
- Cost per click (CPC) and cost per lead (CPL)
- Lead form submissions
- Total spend
- Campaign-level breakdown