LinkedIn Audience Network: Extend Your Reach

LinkedIn Audience Network extends your campaigns beyond LinkedIn itself, displaying your ads on thousands of partner websites and apps. This can increase reach and lower costs—but it also requires careful management to maintain quality.

This guide explains how LinkedIn Audience Network works and when to use it.

What Is LinkedIn Audience Network?

LinkedIn Audience Network (LAN) is a publisher network that displays your LinkedIn ads on third-party websites and mobile apps. When enabled, your Sponsored Content appears to LinkedIn members while they browse other sites.

How It Works

1. You create Sponsored Content in Campaign Manager
2. You enable LinkedIn Audience Network in placement settings
3. Your ads appear on LinkedIn and partner sites
4. You reach the same audience across more touchpoints

Key Features

• Same targeting: Uses your LinkedIn audience criteria
• Same creative: Shows your Sponsored Content as-is
• Extended reach: Access audiences beyond LinkedIn
• Combined reporting: See all metrics in Campaign Manager

Supported Ad Formats

Not all LinkedIn ad formats work with Audience Network:

Format	LAN Support
Single Image Ads	Yes
Video Ads	Yes
Carousel Ads	No
Message Ads	No
Text Ads	No
Dynamic Ads	No

Only Single Image and Video Sponsored Content can extend to the partner network.

Benefits of LinkedIn Audience Network

1. Increased Reach

Audience Network can significantly expand how many people see your ads. LinkedIn members spend more time on external sites than on LinkedIn itself.

2. Lower Costs

Partner network inventory often costs less than LinkedIn feed placements. This can reduce overall campaign CPC and CPM.

3. More Touchpoints

Reaching prospects across multiple sites reinforces your message and increases recognition.

4. Same Targeting Precision

Your professional targeting criteria apply across the network, maintaining audience quality.

Potential Drawbacks

1. Less Context Control

You can't choose which specific sites display your ads. Quality varies across partners.

2. Potentially Lower Engagement

Ads outside LinkedIn's professional context may see lower engagement rates.

3. Brand Safety Considerations

Your ads could appear alongside content you wouldn't choose. LinkedIn provides some brand safety controls but not full transparency.

4. Attribution Complexity

Multi-touch attribution across LinkedIn and partner sites requires careful tracking setup.

When to Use LinkedIn Audience Network

Good Use Cases

Brand awareness campaigns: When reach matters more than immediate conversions.

Retargeting: Reaching people who already know your brand across more touchpoints.

High-volume needs: When LinkedIn-only inventory isn't sufficient for your budget.

Cost reduction: When you need to stretch budget further while maintaining targeting.

When to Avoid

High-intent conversions: Direct-response campaigns may perform better in-feed only.

Brand-sensitive industries: When placement context matters significantly.

Tight budgets: Start with LinkedIn-only to understand baseline performance first.

First-time campaigns: Learn what works on LinkedIn before expanding.

How to Enable LinkedIn Audience Network

Step 1: Create or Edit Campaign

1. Go to Campaign Manager
2. Create a new campaign or edit existing
3. Select Sponsored Content format

Step 2: Configure Placements

In the "Placements" section:

1. Select LinkedIn Audience Network in addition to LinkedIn
2. Or choose "Automatic" to let LinkedIn optimize placements

Step 3: Review Brand Safety Settings

LinkedIn offers category exclusions to prevent ads appearing alongside certain content types:

• Adult content
• Illegal downloads
• Hate speech
• Violence
• And other sensitive categories

Review and enable relevant exclusions.

Step 4: Launch and Monitor

After launch, watch performance by placement in reporting.

Optimization Best Practices

1. Start With LinkedIn Only

Run campaigns on LinkedIn feed first to establish performance baselines. Then test adding Audience Network.

2. Use Placement Reporting

Campaign Manager shows performance by placement type. Compare:

• CTR on LinkedIn vs. Audience Network
• Conversion rates by placement
• Cost differences

3. Set Up Proper Tracking

Ensure conversion tracking works across all placements. The LinkedIn Insight Tag should be on all conversion pages.

4. Monitor Brand Safety

Periodically review where your ads appear (available in reporting). Adjust exclusions if needed.

5. Test Separate Campaigns

Consider running separate campaigns for LinkedIn-only vs. Audience Network. This provides cleaner data and easier optimization.

6. Watch Quality Metrics

If engagement drops significantly on Audience Network, the extra reach may not be valuable. Quality matters more than volume for B2B.

Measuring Performance

Key Metrics by Placement

Metric	What to Watch
CTR	Compare by placement
Conversion rate	Quality indicator
CPC/CPM	Cost efficiency
View-through rate	For video

Expected Differences

Audience Network typically shows:

• Lower CTR than LinkedIn feed
• Lower CPC/CPM
• Variable conversion rates

Lower engagement isn't necessarily bad if conversions remain strong and costs are lower.

LinkedIn Audience Network vs. Other Networks

Compared to Google Display Network

Factor	LinkedIn Audience Network	Google Display Network
Targeting	Professional attributes	Interests, demographics, intent
Reach	LinkedIn members only	All web users
B2B focus	Strong	Variable
Inventory	Smaller network	Massive network

Compared to LinkedIn-Only

Factor	LAN Enabled	LinkedIn Only
Reach	Higher	Lower
Control	Less	More
Cost	Often lower	Often higher
Context	Variable	Professional

Frequently Asked Questions

Does LinkedIn Audience Network work for B2B?

Yes, LinkedIn Audience Network maintains your professional targeting across partner sites. However, results vary. Some B2B campaigns perform better staying LinkedIn-only where context is professional. Test both approaches and compare conversion quality, not just click volume.

Can I see which sites my ads appear on?

LinkedIn provides aggregate reporting by placement type (LinkedIn feed vs. Audience Network) but limited transparency into specific partner sites. You can use category exclusions for brand safety but cannot pick individual publishers.

Does LinkedIn Audience Network cost more?

Typically, Audience Network placements cost less than LinkedIn feed placements. However, if performance is weaker, the lower cost may not translate to better ROI. Evaluate cost per conversion, not just cost per click.

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Key Takeaways

• LinkedIn Audience Network extends Sponsored Content to partner websites and apps
• Same targeting applies—you reach LinkedIn members across more touchpoints
• Lower costs are common, but monitor conversion quality, not just volume
• Start with LinkedIn-only campaigns to establish baselines before expanding
• Use placement reporting to compare performance and optimize accordingly

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