I’ve worked in advertising for over a decade, and when it comes to generating leads, nothing beats LinkedIn. It offers unparalleled targeting options and delivers incredibly accurate results when trying to connect with a specific audience.

I often hear people say, “We tried LinkedIn Ads, but it didn’t work for us.” I get it, but chances are you weren’t utilizing the platform to its full potential. So, let’s dive into the best practices. Here are my six top strategies and tips to help you generate leads effectively with LinkedIn Ads.

Table of contents

1. Reset your expectations
2. Don’t slack on remarketing
3. Speak to multiple buyer personas
4. Test lead generation forms
5. Get creative with ad formats
6. Don’t start with automated bidding

6 strategies for generating leads on LinkedIn

Let’s explore the top six tips for successful lead generation on LinkedIn Ads! Looking for more lead generation ideas? Download our comprehensive and free guide to lead generation featuring 25 ideas, complete with tips and examples!

1. Adjust your expectations

The first thing I discuss with new clients advertising on LinkedIn is managing expectations. Most “LinkedIn didn’t work for us” stories stem from misaligned calls to action. Unlike channels like search ads or Facebook Ads, which often convert bottom-funnel users, LinkedIn excels at targeting top and mid-funnel prospects. Direct demo requests and sales pitches usually fall flat on LinkedIn, unless targeting a highly engaged audience already nurtured through other channels. On LinkedIn, your most successful calls to action will focus on building brand or product awareness and generating interest. Instead of immediate sales calls, offer valuable content like industry reports or insights into your company’s offerings. There are many effective call to action options for these campaigns. Here are a few to spark your creativity:

• Industry report
• Infographic
• Webinar
• Cost calculator
• Sweepstakes entry
• Newsletter signup
• Event information Remember, offering value upfront on LinkedIn is key to attracting potential customers, regardless of your ultimate sales goals.

2. Prioritize remarketing

Since we’re not focusing on bottom-funnel calls to action, nurturing users acquired through top and mid-funnel campaigns is crucial. LinkedIn provides various remarketing options based on user engagement. You can leverage website lists, engagement audiences from ad interactions, and customer data uploaded from your CRM. This enables you to nurture both individual users and target companies for account-based marketing strategies. Essentially, LinkedIn Ads allows you to reach almost any audience. However, given LinkedIn’s cost, consider retargeting those users on other platforms as well. Users who find your website through LinkedIn likely also use Google, engage on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, or even watch YouTube videos. Why not connect with these high-value LinkedIn users on those platforms, too? Creating remarketing lists specific to your LinkedIn visitors allows you to effectively nurture them through the later stages of the funnel, which shouldn’t be your initial focus on LinkedIn. Could your PPC accounts benefit from optimizations such as a LinkedIn remarketing list? Discover the possibilities with our free Google Ads Grader!

3. Engage multiple buyer personas

A common challenge on LinkedIn is securing buy-in from all decision-makers within a company. You might target end-users effectively, but struggle to convince higher-ups. The solution? Actively target and engage multiple personas within your desired companies. For software sales, targeting end-users is important, but don’t forget about their managers. How would your software benefit them and their teams? Consider the finance department and leadership team as well. What might persuade them to be open to a change? Identify all stakeholders influencing the decision to engage with your business, create dedicated personas for each, and then develop tailored campaigns and calls to action. This creates a compelling and unified message for your business.

4. Experiment with lead generation forms

Neither option is inherently superior, but neglecting to test both standard landing pages and LinkedIn Lead Gen forms could be a missed opportunity, depending on your industry and the target customers you are targeting. In my experience, LinkedIn’s native forms are highly effective for users to quickly submit information, engage with your company, and seamlessly return to their LinkedIn feed. While many companies prefer directing users to their landing pages for various reasons (providing additional context, enticing conversions, building website remarketing lists, more focused questions, or robust validation), these reasons shouldn’t completely overshadow the benefits of Lead Gen forms. If you’re shifting your focus away from bottom-funnel calls to action and prioritizing top and mid-funnel engagement, LinkedIn Lead Gen forms can be highly effective.

5. Explore creative ad formats

LinkedIn offers a range of engaging ad formats beyond Lead Gen forms, yet many advertisers hesitate to experiment. Here are two of my top picks for generating leads on LinkedIn.

Document Ads

Document Ads let you feature a downloadable document as your call to action, even offering a preview within the user’s feed. I find these particularly effective for slide-formatted content, as it provides a sneak peek before download.

Conversation Ads

Instead of sending cold emails, why not initiate a conversation? Conversation Ads allow users to choose their responses, enabling you to tailor your messaging based on their engagement. This interactive approach is incredibly effective. Conversation Ads are an innovative way to connect with your audience, meet their needs based on their funnel position, and qualify leads for future nurturing.

Text Ads

Many marketers dismiss text ads due to their lower click-through rates and volume. However, every interaction matters, and no business would complain about incremental growth. Why not utilize this budget-friendly ad format on a premium platform like LinkedIn to engage a highly relevant audience? Text ads are my go-to for remarketing directly on LinkedIn.

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6. Avoid starting with automated bidding

While it’s the default setting for new campaigns, automated bidding on LinkedIn Ads often proves inefficient for most advertisers. The resulting cost per click (CPC) tends to be significantly higher compared to investing a little time and effort into a more conservative, manual bidding strategy.

I recommend utilizing manual bidding and starting with the lowest bid allowed by LinkedIn. This ensures you reach your target audience at the most cost-effective rate. As you see positive results or require increased volume, gradually raise your bid to enhance competitiveness. Over time, you’ll find the sweet spot that balances desired volume and performance while paying a fraction of the cost associated with automated bidding.

Generating leads on LinkedIn can be simpler than you think (with the right strategies!)

LinkedIn is an exceptional platform for reaching business professionals. Its targeting capabilities are unmatched, but success requires a shift in perspective and a unique approach to best practices. Hopefully, these tips will inspire you to reevaluate your LinkedIn Ads strategy and start achieving the desired results.