Creating your first LinkedIn ad campaign can feel overwhelming with all the options available. This step-by-step tutorial walks you through the entire process—from setting up your account to launching your first campaign.
Before you start, you'll need:
If you don't have a Company Page yet, create one first—it takes about 5 minutes.
You'll land on the Campaign Manager dashboard, where all your advertising activity lives.
Campaign Groups help organize related campaigns. For example, group all Q1 lead generation campaigns together.
LinkedIn offers objectives organized by marketing goal:
For most B2B campaigns, start with Lead generation or Website conversions. These objectives optimize for business outcomes, not vanity metrics.
This is where LinkedIn's targeting power shines. Build your audience with these options:
Add criteria from these categories:
| Category | Options |
|---|---|
| Company | Name, industry, size, growth rate |
| Job | Title, function, seniority, years of experience |
| Education | Schools, degrees, fields of study |
| Demographics | Age, gender |
| Interests | Member interests, groups |
Combine multiple attributes for precision. For example:
This targets marketing leaders at mid-sized tech companies—much more valuable than broad targeting.
LinkedIn shows your estimated audience size on the right. Aim for:
If your audience is too small, remove criteria. If too large, add filters.
Choose where your ads appear:
For your first campaign, stick to LinkedIn feed only to maintain quality and control.
Daily budget: Spend up to this amount per day Lifetime budget: Spend this total over the campaign duration
For testing, start with a daily budget of $50-100 to gather data quickly.
Choose how LinkedIn optimizes delivery:
Set start and end dates, or run continuously. For testing, run campaigns for at least 2 weeks to gather meaningful data.
Now build the creative. Options depend on your objective:
According to high-performing ad research, conversational, authentic tones outperform corporate communications by about 45% in engagement.
Strong hook examples:
Weak hooks to avoid:
If your objective is lead generation:
Keep forms short—conversion rates drop significantly after 5 fields.
Before launching:
Click Launch campaign when ready. LinkedIn reviews ads within 24 hours before they go live.
After launch, check Campaign Manager regularly:
| Metric | What It Tells You |
|---|---|
| CTR | Ad relevance and appeal |
| CPC | Cost efficiency |
| CPL | Lead generation efficiency |
| Conversion rate | Offer and landing page effectiveness |
"All marketers" wastes budget. Add seniority, company size, or industry filters.
Every field reduces completions. Start with 3-4 essentials.
"Learn more about our solution" doesn't compel action. Lead with specific value.
Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your site to track conversions beyond leads.
LinkedIn campaigns need 2+ weeks and 10,000+ impressions to optimize properly.
LinkedIn has no setup fee—you only pay for ad delivery. Minimum daily budget is $10. Most B2B advertisers spend $50-200/day during testing, scaling to $500-2,000/day for proven campaigns. CPCs typically range from $5-15 depending on targeting and competition.
LinkedIn typically reviews and approves ads within 24 hours. Some ads may take longer if they require additional review. You'll receive notification when your ads are approved or if any changes are needed.
No, a LinkedIn Company Page is required to run ads. This ensures advertisers represent legitimate businesses. Creating a Company Page is free and takes about 5 minutes if you don't already have one.
Need help creating LinkedIn ads that convert? Our team specializes in B2B LinkedIn advertising and can help you launch campaigns that generate qualified leads. Contact us | Get a free consultation
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