Linkedin ads report

Pick the audience first - the report depends on it

Three common stakeholder audiences, three different reports. (1) Marketing leadership (CMO/VP Marketing): wants channel mix, format performance, audience insights, optimization roadmap. (2) Revenue leadership (CRO/CFO): wants pipeline contribution, CAC, payback period - barely cares about CPL. (3) Board/exec deck: 2-3 slides max, headline pipeline number + trend direction + one strategic narrative. Don't try to serve all three with one report.

Lead with the pipeline number, not the spend number

First slide/section answers: 'How much pipeline did LinkedIn contribute this period?'. Not 'how much did we spend' (that's table stakes), not 'what was CPL' (too tactical for stakeholder reports). Pipeline contribution = sum of pipeline value attributed to LinkedIn-sourced opportunities in the period. If you don't have that number, get offline conversions flowing from your CRM before building the report - the report doesn't work without it.

Build the standard 6-section structure

Section 1: Executive summary (1 page - pipeline contribution, spend, trend direction, 1 sentence on what changed). Section 2: Spend by campaign + objective (where money went). Section 3: Performance metrics (CTR, CPL, Cost per SQL, Conversion Rate - with comparison to previous period). Section 4: Audience insights (which job functions / seniorities / industries converted best). Section 5: Creative insights (which formats / variants drove the numbers). Section 6: Next-period actions (3-5 specific changes you're making, with rationale).

# 6-section template:
1. Executive summary (1 slide)
2. Spend allocation (1 slide)
3. Performance metrics + trend (2 slides)
4. Audience insights (1 slide)
5. Creative insights (1 slide)
6. Next-period actions (1 slide)
Total: 7-8 slides for monthly review

Cite Cost per SQL, not Cost per Lead, as the primary efficiency metric

CPL is what Campaign Manager shows by default. CPSQL is what determines whether LinkedIn is working. Most accounts have a 3-5x ratio between the two - $80 CPL with 25% SQL conversion = $320 CPSQL. Some accounts have a 10x+ ratio (broad audience, lots of form fills, low SQL conversion). Reporting CPL alone hides that gap. Always show both, with CPSQL as the headline efficiency metric.

Add the comparison column, always

Every metric in the report shows current period + previous period + % change. 'CPL: $85' is noise. 'CPL: $85 (vs $112 prev period, -24%)' is signal. The comparison column is what turns a report from a data dump into a decision-input. Use red/green color coding for direction (green = improving = lower CPL/CPSQL or higher conversion rate).

Include one audience-insight visualization per report

Pull Campaign Manager → Breakdown by Member Demographics → Job Function (or Seniority, or Industry). The chart that consistently lands with stakeholders: 'CPL and SQL conversion rate by Seniority' - shows which seniority levels are most efficient. Most CMOs have intuition about which seniorities matter; the data confirms or challenges that intuition. High-engagement, easy to discuss.

End with 3-5 next-period actions, not 20

The 'recommendations' section is where most LinkedIn reports go wrong - they list 15-20 small optimizations. Stakeholders read the top 3 and ignore the rest. Limit to 3-5 specific actions: (1) what you're doing, (2) why (cite the data point), (3) what you expect to change. 'Reallocating $3k/mo from Campaign B (CPSQL $580) to Campaign C (CPSQL $290) - expecting blended CPSQL to drop ~$80 next month' is a usable recommendation. 'Continue to optimize creative' is not.

Distribute and archive

Email the report (PDF or shareable link) to stakeholders on a consistent monthly cadence - same day of month, same time. Archive every report in a shared folder so trends are reviewable quarter-over-quarter. Reports that come at inconsistent times get less attention than reports that show up on a rhythm.