How to Set Up a LinkedIn Ad Account

Running ads on LinkedIn starts with one foundational step: creating your Campaign Manager account. This initial setup is the gateway to reaching a massive professional audience, but the process can feel a bit confusing if you’ve never done it before. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from finding the right page to adding your payment information, so you can launch your first campaign with confidence.

Before You Start: What You’ll Need

Jumping into the setup process without the right pieces in place can be frustrating. To make this as smooth as possible, gather these three things first. Having them ready will turn this into a five-minute task instead of an hour-long scavenger hunt.

• A Personal LinkedIn Profile: Your personal profile is the key to everything on LinkedIn. You cannot create an ad account for a company without a personal profile to manage it from. This profile acts as the administrator and ultimate owner of the ad account.
• A LinkedIn Company Page: Ads on LinkedIn run from a Company Page, not your personal profile. A Company Page represents your business or organization. You must have administrator privileges for the page you want to run ads from. If you don't have one yet, simply go to the "Work" menu on LinkedIn and select "Create a Company Page."
• A Valid Payment Method: To run ads, you need to tell LinkedIn how you're going to pay them. This is usually a corporate credit card. Make sure you have the card details on hand before you begin.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your LinkedIn Ad Account

With your prerequisites in hand, you're ready to create your account. Follow these steps carefully to build a solid foundation for your B2B advertising campaigns.

Step 1: Access the LinkedIn Campaign Manager

The Campaign Manager is the central hub for all LinkedIn advertising activities. Finding it is the first real step in the process. There are two simple ways to get there:

1. Through the LinkedIn Interface: From your LinkedIn homepage, look for the Work icon in the top-right corner (it looks like a 3x3 grid of squares). Click it, and a dropdown menu will appear. Near the bottom, you'll see an option called Advertise. Click that to be taken directly to the Campaign Manager welcome screen.
2. Using the Direct Link: The easiest way is to just go there directly. The URL is always linkedin.com/campaignmanager/. Bookmark this page - you’ll be visiting it a lot.

Once you’re on the welcome screen, you'll see a big "Create account" button. Click it to get started.

Step 2: Fill In Your Basic Account Details

This is where you provide the core information for your ad account. LinkedIn keeps it simple, but each field is important, so don't rush through it.

You’ll be asked for three key pieces of information:

1. Account Name

This is the internal name for your ad account. It’s what you'll see in your Campaign Manager dashboard. Choose a name that is clear and easily identifiable. If you only manage one company, something simple like "[Your Company Name] Ads" works great. If you manage multiple brands or clients, have a naming convention, like "[Client Name] - [Region]" or "[Product Line] Ads."

2. Currency

This is the single most important choice you will make on this page. The currency you select becomes permanent for this ad account. It cannot be changed later. All of your ad spend, billing, and reporting will be in this currency forever. If you accidentally select the wrong one, you will have to create an entirely new ad account. Choose the currency that matches your company's accounting and payment method to avoid complications later.

3. Associate a LinkedIn Page (Optional, but Recommended)

Here, you’ll connect your ad account to your LinkedIn Company Page. Even though LinkedIn marks this as optional, it's a vital step. Without linking a page, you can’t run Sponsored Content ads, which are the most common and effective ad format on the platform. Start typing the name of your Company Page, and a pre-populated list will appear. Select the correct page from the list.

Quick Tip: If your page doesn’t appear, it’s most likely because you are not an administrator of that page. Double-check your page roles and permissions before moving forward.

Once you've filled in these fields, click "Agree &, create account" to finalize the setup.

Step 3: A Quick Tour of the Campaign Manager Dashboard

Welcome to your new empty dashboard! It might seem underwhelming at first, but this is your command center. Let’s briefly go over the main areas you'll be using so you can get oriented.

• Overview/Dashboard: This is a high-level view of your account’s performance. Once you have active campaigns, this page will show you charts for impressions, clicks, spend, and other key metrics.
• Campaigns Tab: This is where the magic happens. Here, you’ll create, manage, and analyze your individual campaigns, ad sets (called Campaign Groups on LinkedIn), and ads. You’ll spend most of your time in this section.
• Account Assets Tab: This is a powerful section where you can manage important elements that are shared across your campaigns. The most important assets here are:
  • Insight Tag: The LinkedIn pixel that you install on your website to track conversions and build retargeting audiences. This is a must-do before you spend a single dollar.
  • Matched Audiences: This is where you can upload customer lists, create website retargeting audiences, and build lookalike audiences from a source.
  • Lead Gen Forms: If you run lead gen campaigns, the native forms you create will live here.
• Account Settings (Gear Icon): In the top right corner, you’ll find the settings menu. This is where you manage billing, user access, and other administrative details.

Take a moment to click around these tabs just to familiarize yourself with the layout.

Step 4: Setting Up Your Billing Information

Your ad account exists, but it can’t actually run ads until you give LinkedIn a way to charge you. Here’s how to set up billing:

1. Click your account name in the top navigation bar.
2. In the upper right corner, click the gear icon to open the Account Settings.
3. From the settings menu, select Billing Center.
4. You’ll see a large button that says Add credit card. Click it.
5. Enter all of your credit card information securely. This information is required for your ads to be approved and go live.

Once your card is saved, your account is fully active and ready to launch campaigns.

Understanding User Roles and Permissions

You probably won't be managing your LinkedIn ads alone forever. Whether you’re working with team members, agencies, or freelancers, it’s important to give them the right level of access without handing over the keys to the entire kingdom. LinkedIn provides several role-based permissions to accomplish this.

To add a team member, head back to Account Settings and click on Manage access.

Here’s a breakdown of the most common user roles:

• Account Manager: This is the highest level of access. Account Managers have full administrative rights - they can edit everything, manage users, and see billing details. Reserve this role for trusted team leads or partners.
• Campaign Manager: This is the workhorse role. Campaign Managers can create and edit campaigns, but they *cannot* edit billing details or manage user access. This is the perfect role for the person who will be in the platform day-to-day, running your ad campaigns.
• Creative Manager: This role is designed for designers or copywriters who need to add ad creatives to your campaigns. They can create ads within a campaign but cannot change budgets, launch campaigns, or adjust targeting settings.
• Viewer: Viewers have read-only access. They can see all campaign performance and settings but cannot make any changes. This is a great role for stakeholders or executives who want to see performance reports without the risk of them accidentally changing something.
• Billing Admin: This person can access the Billing Center to add or update credit cards and download invoices. However, they cannot create or edit campaigns. This is useful for members of your finance department who need access to payment details.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The setup process is simple, but a few small missteps at the beginning can cause big headaches down the road. Here are the most common pitfalls to watch out for:

• Picking the Wrong Currency: This is worth repeating - you cannot change your currency later! This single mistake is permanent and requires you to start over with a brand new ad account, losing all of your history and data in the process. Double-check your selection before clicking create.
• Giving Everyone Admin Access: It’s tempting to make everyone an Account Manager to make things easy, but this is a serious risk. Use structured permissions to give people only the access they actually need for their role. This prevents accidental launches, budget changes, or user deletions.
• Forgetting About the Insight Tag: An ad account without the LinkedIn Insight Tag (their version of a pixel) is an ad account that’s flying blind. Before you do anything else, go to Account Assets > Insight Tag, create your tag, and have it installed on your website. Without it, you can't track conversions or retarget website visitors, making effective advertising nearly impossible.

Final Thoughts

Setting up your LinkedIn Ad Account is a straightforward process that grants you access to one of the most powerful B2B marketing platforms available. By following these steps to establish your Campaign Manager, connect your Company Page, and assign the proper roles, you build a solid foundation for all your future campaigns.

Once your ads are bringing new people to your Company Page, maintaining a strong organic social media presence becomes even more valuable. At Postbase, we help you align your paid and organic strategies by making content planning simple. We built a platform that lets you visually schedule your posts across all social networks - including LinkedIn - so you can amplify the impact of every ad dollar you spend with a consistent and engaging brand voice.