LinkedIn Ads Best Practices: How to Build, Optimize, and Measure for a Full-Funnel Strategy

When it comes to B2B demand generation, LinkedIn remains one of the most powerful platforms for reaching high-intent buyers. But with higher costs and complex funnel stages, every decision, from campaign structure to creative testing, matters.

I’ve distilled JDM’s internal best practices into this guide to help advertisers build smarter LinkedIn campaigns that support full-funnel growth, without wasting spend.

In this post, I’ll cover:

• Account structure
• Audience strategy
• Creative strategy
• Budgeting and bidding
• Tracking and lead quality

Let’s dig in.

1. Account Structure: Align to Funnel Stage

The stakes of great account structure are high. The stronger the structure, the better insights and performance.

Here’s how we structure:

• Campaign Groups by funnel stage (upper vs. lower), product line, region, and/or ad type.
• Naming conventions that are clean and descriptive (want our template? Reach out and ask).
• Objectives aligned to intent: gate lower-funnel offers or ungate everything in upper-funnel content. Match objective to desired outcome.
  
  

Reminder: LinkedIn ad accounts run on UTC time (8 hours ahead of PT).

2. Audience Strategy: Segment + Exclude Intelligently

Segment your ICP based on funnel stage. In short, cold audiences get educational messaging, and warm audiences get credibility and offers. (And remember: exclusion lists are critical.)

Best practices:

• Aim for these target sizes:
  
  • Prospecting: 50k–100k (min 10k)

• • Retargeting: 10k+ ideal

• • ABM Lists: Smaller is fine, just expect higher CPCs

• Use exclusions: current customers, clients, your team, competitors, entry level seniority,  irrelevant large companies, (e.g., Amazon, Meta)
• Use Forecasting and Demographic Insights to refine further.

🔗 Use dynamic UTMs to tag your campaigns:

utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_term=[MANUALLY ADD AUDIENCE HERE]

3. Ad Creative: Test, Refresh, Repeat

Creative fatigue is real, especially on LinkedIn where frequency can spike fast. Set a consistent cadence for testing, at least once per month. Important note: don’t be afraid to get creative. LinkedIn ads don’t have to be boring! We’ve seen ‘humorous’ ads perform well across multiple accounts. 

What we recommend:

• Always run 3–5 ads per campaign
• Prioritize square (1080x1080) and vertical (1080x1920) formats
  
  • Avoid landscape (it’s an older, lower-performing format)

• Test different creative types, hooks, angles, offers, and formats
  • Hot tip: We see huge success across almost all accounts with Thought Leader Ads
• Focus on providing value to potential customers, not simply promoting your product or service
• Avoid stuffing emojis (5+ can get flagged)
  
  

Use consistent naming and split-test cleanly. If you’re not using campaign-level UTMs, manually append them.

4. Budget + Bidding: Control Early, Optimize Later

Start with manual bidding to keep CPCs in check. Only switch to automated bidding if spend or scale is an issue. Your daily budget should be high enough to exit the learning phase but not spread too thin.

5. Tracking + Lead Gen: Go Beyond Clicks

Install the Insight Tag 2.0 and set up offline conversions so you can evaluate pipeline and revenue, not just CTRs. Native LinkedIn lead gen forms are powerful, but make sure they’re integrated with your CRM and that hidden fields are mapped and tested before launch.

Use the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR) to track upper-funnel influence; this is especially important for ABM plays or ungated content to show full picture impact.

LinkedIn campaigns thrive on structure, precision, and constant testing. It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it platform, and that’s a good thing. 

There are a few things that will set successful advertisers apart from the rest on LinkedIn: 

• Investing in refining every layer, from account setup to targeting to messaging
• Prioritizing value to customers over product or service promotion 
• Fully setting up tracking and advanced measurement
• Understanding and communicating the full story of impact beyond direct results 

The advertisers who prioritize the above will be the ones who stand out in a crowded feed and capture real demand.

Want a fresh set of eyes on your LinkedIn campaigns? Let’s talk.