6 Advanced LinkedIn Ad Hacks for 2025 - Cut Costs Boost RoI

Introduction

The session, led by Praveen of Factors with guest AJ from B2Linked, centered on effective LinkedIn advertising strategies. AJ brought over 14 years of experience in running LinkedIn ads for his agency, which has spent over $200 million on the platform.

About AJ Wilcox

AJ shared his extensive background and his agency’s recognition as an official LinkedIn Partner. He discussed his evolution from SEO to specializing in LinkedIn ads, noting how he recognized the platform’s potential through past professional experiences. His focus on LinkedIn was driven by its targeting capabilities for professional audiences and significant advancements in its advertising tools over the last decade.

Common Pitfalls in LinkedIn Advertising

AJ outlined five campaign settings that often hinder marketers’ success with LinkedIn ads:

1. Geography Settings: The default settings may capture leads from unintended locations, affecting the quality of leads.
2. Audience Expansion Option: It is recommended to disable this feature to maintain the quality of leads and avoid less qualified candidates.
3. LinkedIn Audience Network: Although this can extend reach, it often results in poor-quality traffic and reduced conversions due to lower engagement rates.
4. Bidding Settings: He advocated for switching from default CPM bidding to manual CPC bidding to better control costs and optimize ROI.
5. Targeting with Owned Lists: Leveraging in-house, well-curated company lists can improve targeting effectiveness over LinkedIn’s standard targeting features.

Challenges of Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

The session addressed the inefficiency of ABM strategies on LinkedIn, particularly how a small handful of large companies can dominate ad impressions, leading to wasted advertising budgets. AJ provided personal anecdotes, underlining the need for more balanced impression distribution to maximize budgets.

Utilizing Third-Party Intent Data

The necessity of using third-party intent data was discussed as a means to refine targeting strategies further. AJ also emphasized that external audience lists often outperform LinkedIn’s native filters, increasing campaign effectiveness.

LinkedIn’s Conversions API (CAPI)

The conversation shifted to LinkedIn’s Conversions API, designed to accurately track online and offline conversions. While it presents benefits, it poses challenges with data matching due to low match rates. A proposed solution involves using LinkedIn ID parameters captured in ad URLs, ensuring better data alignment.

Optimization via CAPI

Sending comprehensive conversion data back to LinkedIn is crucial for leveraging its machine learning capabilities. Businesses should focus on relaying conversion values concerning their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

Bidding Strategies and Best Practices

AJ’s discussion on bidding strategies highlighted the benefits of manual CPC bidding over LinkedIn’s suggested higher bid ranges. Starting with lower bids and modifying based on real-time performance can effectively reduce costs without sacrificing ad quality. Further, segmenting campaigns according to seniority levels can optimize results.

Objective Selection

AJ recommended against using LinkedIn’s brand awareness objective, asserting that the website visits objective tends to deliver better results.

Conclusion

The session concluded with practical advice for conducting campaigns, especially for niche audiences. AJ and Praveen encouraged audience engagement, emphasizing the importance of continuous testing and refinement in campaign strategies. Participants were urged to implement advanced tactics to maximize the effectiveness of LinkedIn advertising campaigns.