How to create linkedin ads

Set up LinkedIn Campaign Manager

Go to business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/ads and create a Campaign Manager account if you don't have one. Link it to your company Page (you need Page admin rights). Add the LinkedIn Insight Tag to your site - similar to Meta Pixel, this enables conversion tracking and audience-building.

Choose campaign objective

LinkedIn's 8 objectives map to funnel stages: Brand awareness, Website visits, Engagement, Video views (TOFU); Lead generation, Conversions, Job applicants (MOFU/BOFU). Pick the objective that matches what you want to optimize for. The optimizer behaves differently per objective.

Define your audience tightly

LinkedIn's targeting strength is precise B2B audience building. Use: job function + seniority + company size + industry. Skip 'company name' targeting unless you're running account-based marketing (small specific list). The right audience size for most campaigns: 50,000-500,000 - tight enough to be specific, broad enough for the bidding algorithm to optimize.

# Example targeting:
Job function: Marketing, Sales
Seniority: VP, Director, C-Suite
Company size: 50-500 employees
Industries: SaaS, Internet, Tech
# Resulting audience size: ~250k - in the optimal range

Pick ad format - default to thought leader

LinkedIn has 9 ad formats. For most B2B campaigns in 2026, **thought leader ads (promoted posts from a personal LinkedIn profile) outperform every other format by 2-3x on engagement**. Default to thought leader unless you have a specific reason for another format (document ads for content downloads, conversation ads for role-routing, video for hero campaigns).

Write copy in first-person narrative

LinkedIn rewards content-shaped ads over ad-shaped ads. Open with first-person narrative ('I joined a Series C and inherited this stack'). No link in the first sentence. Line breaks between paragraphs. CTA in the final 1-2 sentences only. Copy length: 150-300 characters visible without expansion; full post can run 1000+ characters in expanded view.

Set bid strategy and budget

Three bid options: Automated (LinkedIn's optimizer chooses), Manual CPC (you set max), Manual CPM (you set max). For new campaigns: Automated. For mature campaigns where you have CPL targets: Manual CPC capped at your tolerable CPL. Daily budget: $50-100 minimum per campaign for the algorithm to optimize.

Install LinkedIn Conversion API (CAPI)

LinkedIn's CAPI provides server-side attribution that recovers signal lost to browser tracking limitations. Install via your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce native integrations) or via direct API. Adds 10-25% to measured conversion volume in most accounts.

Launch and monitor for 7-14 days before optimizing

LinkedIn's bidding algorithm needs 7-14 days to find optimal delivery patterns. Resist the urge to kill or optimize campaigns in the first 5-7 days - you don't have signal yet. After 7-14 days, review: top-performing creative variant, audience segment with highest CTR, time-of-day patterns. Iterate based on data.