How to Generate Leads on LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn advertising can be a machine for generating high-quality B2B leads, but only if you know how to operate it correctly. Getting it wrong can mean wasting a lot of money with very little to show for it. This guide gives you the blueprint for setting up, running, and optimizing LinkedIn ad campaigns that consistently bring new prospects into your pipeline.

First Things First: Why Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation?

Unlike other social media platforms where users go for entertainment, people on LinkedIn are in a professional mindset. They're thinking about career growth, business solutions, and industry trends. They're receptive to offers that can help them do their jobs better. This context, combined with LinkedIn's detailed professional targeting data, makes it an unmatched environment for B2B marketers looking to connect with decision-makers.

You're not just targeting general demographics like "males aged 25-54." You're reaching "VPs of Marketing in the software industry at companies with 200-500 employees who have skills in SaaS." That level of specificity is what makes LinkedIn so powerful for finding qualified leads.

Choosing the Right LinkedIn Ad Arsenal for Leads

LinkedIn offers several ad formats, but a few are particularly effective for lead generation. The key to success is pairing a visually engaging ad format with a frictionless way for people to give you their information. This is where LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms come in.

Instead of sending users off-site to a landing page where they have to manually type in their details, Lead Gen Forms are native forms that pop up directly on LinkedIn. They come pre-filled with the user's profile information (like name, email, company, and job title), which dramatically increases conversion rates. Most modern lead gen campaigns should use this feature. Here are the ad formats that work best with it:

Sponsored Content (Single Image and Video Ads)

These are the native ads that appear directly in the LinkedIn news feed. They look like regular posts but are labeled as "Promoted."

• Single Image Ads: Simple, clean, and effective. A strong image, a compelling headline, and concise copy can work wonders. Use this format to promote a single piece of high-value content, like an ebook, whitepaper, or webinar registration.
• Video Ads: Video is fantastic for grabbing attention. You can use short videos to explain a complex topic, feature a customer testimonial, or give a sneak peek into an event. The motion in the feed makes users stop scrolling, giving you a chance to deliver your message.

Carousel Ads

Carousel ads let you showcase multiple images or videos in a single ad, which users can swipe through. This format is great for storytelling or breaking down information into digestible chunks. For lead generation, you could use a carousel to:

• Showcase multiple features of a product.
• Highlight key takeaways from a report.
• Share different perspectives from industry experts in an online event.

Each card in the carousel can have its own headline and link, driving users to your Lead Gen Form.

Message Ads

Formerly known as Sponsored InMail, Message Ads allow you to send direct messages to your target audience's LinkedIn inboxes. This approach is highly personal and can be very effective if done well. But be careful - people are protective of their inbox. Your message needs to be respectful, highly relevant, and offer genuine value. It's best used for high-intent offers targeted at a very specific, senior audience.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your LinkedIn Lead Gen Campaign

Ready to build your first campaign? Let's walk through the process in LinkedIn's Campaign Manager.

Step 1: Set Your Objective

After clicking "Create Campaign," the first thing LinkedIn asks is for your objective. This is an important step because it tells LinkedIn what action you want users to take. For our purposes, the choice is clear: select Lead Generation. This objective optimizes your campaign to show your ads to people most likely to fill out your form and enables the use of native Lead Gen Forms.

Step 2: Define Your Target Audience

This is where you zero in on your ideal customer. Don't go too broad. The more specific you are, the better your results will be. LinkedIn allows you to target based on a huge array of professional attributes.

Building an Audience from Scratch:

You can layer different targeting attributes to create a highly specific audience. Here are some of the most useful options:

• Company Attributes: Industry, Company Size, Company Name.
• Job Experience: Job Title, Job Function, Seniority, Years of Experience.
• Education: Schools, Fields of Study, Degrees.
• Skills & Interests: Member Skills (based on their profile), Member Interests.

Example: You are selling accounting software to startups. You might target individuals with Job Titles like "Founder," "CEO," or "CFO" at companies with 1-50 employees in the "Computer Software" and "Information Technology" industries.

Using Matched Audiences:

If you already have a list of targets, LinkedIn's Matched Audiences are perfect. You can upload a list of companies (account-based marketing) or a list of contact emails. LinkedIn will match this data with user profiles so you can serve ads directly to them. You can also install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your website to retarget visitors or create lookalike audiences based on your existing customers.

Step 3: Choose Your Ad Format and Create Your Ad

Based on your offer, select the ad format you believe will work best - Single Image, Video, or Carousel. Now it's time to build the creative.

• Ad Creative: Use eye-catching, high-quality visuals. Whether it's an image or a video, it should stop someone from scrolling. Avoid cheesy stock photos. If possible, show your product, feature people, or use clean brand graphics.
• Introductory Text: This is the copy that appears above your image/video. Start with a hook that addresses a pain point or asks a compelling question. Get to the point quickly.
• Headline: The text that appears directly below the creative. It should be short, punchy, and clearly state what you're offering. Think action-oriented phrases like "Download Your Free Guide" or "Register for the Webinar."
• Call-to-Action (CTA): LinkedIn provides a dropdown of CTAs. Choose the one that best matches your offer, like "Download," "Sign Up," "Learn More," or "Register."

Step 4: Build Your Instant Lead Gen Form

When a user clicks your CTA, your Lead Gen Form will appear. This is where the magic happens.

• Offer Headline: Reiterate the value of what they're getting. For example, "Get Your Ultimate Guide to SEO Trends in 2024."
• Form Fields: This is the most important part. By default, LinkedIn can pull info like First Name, Last Name, and Email Address. You can ask for more information (like Company Name, Job Title, Company Size, Phone Number), but remember this rule: every additional field creates friction and will slightly lower your conversion rate. Only ask for the information you absolutely need to qualify a lead.
• Privacy Policy URL: This is required. You must link to your company's privacy policy.
• Confirmation Message: Once the user hits submit, they'll see a thank you page. Customize this message and include a link to your website or a direct download link to the content they just requested.

Step 5: Set Your Budget and Schedule

You can choose between a daily budget or a lifetime budget for the campaign. For beginners, a daily budget is often easier to manage. LinkedIn offers several bidding strategies, but for a new campaign, you can usually start with the default "Maximum Delivery" to let LinkedIn's algorithm get you the most results for your budget. You can always get more granular with bidding later on as you collect data.

Step 6: Launch, Monitor, and Optimize

Pushing 'Launch Campaign' isn't the final step. The best marketers continuously monitor and improve their campaigns. Here's what to look at:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): A low CTR (below 1%) suggests your ad creative or offer isn't resonating with your audience. Test different images, headlines, or copy.
• Cost Per Lead (CPL): This is your key metric. What does it cost you to get one person to fill out your form? Keep a close eye on this number to track the campaign's financial performance.
• Conversion Rate: This shows the percentage of people who clicked your ad and then submitted the form. If this is low, your form might be asking for too much information, or there might be a mismatch between your ad and your offer.
• Lead Quality: Don't just look at the numbers. Are the leads coming in a good fit for your business? If you're getting lots of cheap leads but none of them match your ideal customer profile, you need to revisit and tighten your audience targeting.

Always be A/B testing. Create duplicates of your ad campaign and change one variable at a time - the image, the headline, the audience - to see what performs best. This iterative process of testing and optimizing is what separates average campaigns from highly profitable ones.

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn offers an incredibly focused environment for B2B lead generation if you use it correctly. By combining a valuable offer with laser-focused targeting and a frictionless Lead Gen Form, you can build a reliable system for bringing new, qualified prospects into your business. Just remember that it's an ongoing process of monitoring, testing, and refining your approach.

While powerful ad campaigns fill your pipeline, a consistent organic presence is what builds the brand trust that makes people click in the first place. This is where many teams get stuck because managing it all can feel overwhelming. We built Postbase to streamline this exact process. By providing a clean visual calendar to plan your content and a reliable scheduler to get it published everywhere, we help you maintain that steady organic pulse. With your organic social strategy handled, you are better positioned to turn cold paid traffic into warm, receptive leads.