LinkedIn Ads: Is It Really the Holy Grail for B2B?

When it comes to LinkedIn Ads, especially in B2B, the expectations are often high: reaching decision-makers directly, generating quality leads, and boosting branding strategically. But is LinkedIn Ads the magic solution for all B2B campaigns?

The short answer: it depends.

LinkedIn stands out for its unique targeting capabilities, allowing you to focus ads on specific roles, particular industries, and even individual companies. However, it’s not a channel for quick results. LinkedIn is not a short-term lead generation engine. Instead, it’s a tool for building long-term relationships, educating your audience, and strengthening brand authority.

So, when does it make sense to use LinkedIn Ads?

Launching campaigns for products or services that require market education.

Promoting webinars and events that provide value to your audience.

Remarketing campaigns for audiences that have already engaged with your brand and are advanced MQLs.

By advanced MQLs, I mean those Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) that match your buyer persona, have interacted with the brand or its content, and show commercial interest because they’ve visited BOFU pages (product pages, offer pages, add to cart, etc.).

On the other hand, if your goal is immediate conversions, it may be better to consider other platforms. LinkedIn excels when you have resources for long-term investment and a focus on value-driven content.

Why is LinkedIn Ads still important for B2B businesses?

The true strength of LinkedIn Ads lies in its ability to target with hyper-precision: roles, industries, professional experience, and specific companies. This makes it an ideal channel when the goal is to reach highly specific and qualified professional audiences. However, this also comes at a price: the cost per click is usually higher than on other platforms like Google Ads or Meta Ads.

What can you really achieve with LinkedIn Ads?

Long-term demand generation and branding: LinkedIn is perfect when the goal is to educate your audience before selling to them. Think of informative content that solves specific industry problems, like whitepapers, case studies, or webinars that help to strengthen brand authority.

Smart remarketing: This is where things get a bit sophisticated. Retargeting on LinkedIn allows you to re-engage those who have already shown interest in your content or visited your site. That said, LinkedIn remarketing tends to work better for audiences already advanced in their buying journey, rather than cold prospects.

More complex offers require more elaborate creatives: Video ads can work quite well, especially when they feature participation from key members of senior management. This generates a more personal and trustworthy connection with the audience.

What LinkedIn Ads is NOT:

It is not the ideal channel for quick lead generation or direct sales if your audience is cold. LinkedIn requires patience and continuous investment in education and trust-building—something many brands overlook. If your product or service is highly disruptive and there’s demand, you could try direct conversion. Otherwise, it’s best to focus on building long-term relationships.

So, is LinkedIn Ads a good solution for B2B?

It’s a strong channel, but not a magic solution. Optimise for the long-term, educate your audience, and don’t underestimate the value of high-quality content. If used with the right mindset, it can be one of the best tools for positioning your brand and generating qualified demand in the B2B space.

What do you think? What’s been your experience with LinkedIn Ads in B2B?

How Conversion Events Drive Brand Building and Engagement in Your Paid Media Campaigns

When we talk about conversions, we often think of the user’s final action: a purchase, a subscription, or a lead. But what about those “intermediate” events that also contribute to brand building and interaction? These types of conversion events can be an excellent way to improve the measurement of your brand strategy.

Consider this: events like spending 3 minutes on the page or scrolling 50% down are signals that you’re generating interest and real user interaction with your content, not just with the ad. These micro-conversions may seem small, but they add up to something bigger: the perception of your brand and the connection you build with your audience.

Think about it. If a user takes the time to explore a project on your website or interacts with your blog, it’s a sign of something important: trust and curiosity. These are the foundations upon which a brand is built. This type of event is key to nurturing long-term relationships and encouraging interaction with your content.

How do you optimise a campaign to maximise these events?

1. Define and measure interaction points: Use data such as time on page, scroll depth, and visits to key sections of the site. You can also measure events that combine several of these interactions.

   
   

2. Apply the appropriate attribution model:

• 1-day click, 0-day view: Ideal for engagement-type conversions or customised events on your website.

• 1-day click, 1-day view: Recommended for non-commercial leads, such as free content exchanges and referrals from Google.

The goal of choosing the right attribution model is to best represent the impact and relevance of these events. A broad attribution window may generate less relevant conversions and cause the events to lose their original purpose.

Conclusion: These methods will help you better understand how your audience connects with your brand and refine your content and creative strategy to further encourage these interactions.

💡 It’s never too late to integrate these events and attribution methods into your advertising goals.

🔍 Want to delve deeper into how these events can affect your paid media strategy? Leave a comment or send me a message, and we’ll discuss it.

Why It’s Important to Discuss High-Potential Markets with Clients for International Campaigns

When it comes to international paid media campaigns, identifying markets with the most potential is not just a matter of geographic interest. The right choice can mean the difference between a highly favourable outcome and a costly result with little return. But how do you know if you’re aiming in the right direction? This is where deep discussions with the client and a critical analysis of the various variables you seek in an attractive market come into play.

The first factor to consider in international paid media is the market’s growth potential. Not all markets are at the same stage of maturity; some are ready to explode, while others may be saturated. What does this mean for the campaign? It means you need to invest time in analysing data, identifying trends, and understanding consumer behaviour in those markets before launching campaigns. Some clients need guidance to understand that investment should be directed where real opportunities exist, not just where there is apparent demand.

A tool that can help you gather data on international markets, beyond search volumes, is Google’s Market Finder.

Another important aspect is understanding the local consumer. The cultural and behavioural differences between an Eastern country and a Western country, for example, highlight how vast these differences can be between countries, and what works in one place may not work in another, although the differences may not always be so significant.

If you overlook this, you risk launching a campaign that is not profitable. This is where you need to talk to the client about adapting the messaging and creatives to the particularities of each market, if necessary.

Local competition is a factor that cannot be ignored when planning an international strategy. What if the market has potential but is dominated by local competitors? It is vital to assess whether the client has the resources to compete or if it would be more strategic to focus on a less saturated market with good growth prospects. A frank conversation about the competitive reality can prevent unproductive investments.

Costs and infrastructure are decisive factors in international paid media. A market may seem attractive, but if the client cannot bear the entry costs or if there is no adequate infrastructure to support distribution and logistics, the campaign may fail. This is where the client’s experience and knowledge of their operational capacity must be integrated into the planning.

In conclusion, discussing these factors with the client is the foundation for a well-structured international campaign. Someone who overlooks this conversation may end up launching campaigns without direction or focus, wasting resources and opportunities.