How to Do Account-Based Advertising on LinkedIn (with Examples)

Last Updated on: 23rd November 2024, 01:55 pm

If you’re struggling with long B2B sales cycles or different stakeholders coming to you (or, more worryingly – not) with different questions, the LinkedIn account-based advertising will change your entire game!

Today, I’ll show you how to use account-based advertising as part of your account-based marketing (ABM) to engage your perfect buyers where they spend their professional time: LinkedIn!

What Is Account-Based Marketing (ABM) in B2B – and How Does It Differ from Traditional Marketing?

In traditional marketing, you’re typically targeting broader segments and customer personas or attracting them with inbound strategies. ABM, on the other hand, is a hyper-targeted and often more strategic approach. 

Rather than moving from a broad audience to a narrow one, you’re working backwards to create a highly personalised experience for just a handful of accounts.

It’s especially powerful for B2B because you’re focusing on specific, high-value accounts such as large enterprises, C-level executives, or key decision-makers in industries that align perfectly with your solution. 

These are the accounts that, if won over, could drastically boost your bottom line, build long-term partnerships, and drive real business growth. (It’s no wonder that 85% of B2B marketers have found an improved ability to retain customers by having an ABM strategy!)

Who Should Be Doing Account-Based Advertising on LinkedIn (And Who Might Want to Hold Off)?

An account-based approach is typically great for B2B companies with well-defined target accounts and longer sales cycles. If you’re selling high-value products or services – like software solutions, consulting, or complex equipment – then it’s perfect for you. 

ABM excels for businesses aiming to land enterprise clients (think Fortune 500) or large accounts where multiple decision-makers are involved.

However, if your B2B sales cycles involve fewer decision-makers or require quicker decisions, ABM might not give you the return on investment you need. Also, companies selling low-cost software or high-turnover products may find the level of personalisation and resource investment too demanding.

Oh, and importantly: your marketing and sales teams have to be in lockstep for ABM to work. Your marketing team needs to know which accounts the sales team is targeting, and the sales team needs to be on the same page with the messaging marketing is using. 

If your team isn’t ready to collaborate or lacks the budget and time, traditional LinkedIn campaigns or broader PPC efforts might be better for you in the short term.

Best Practices for Account-Based LinkedIn Campaigns

Understanding Gatekeepers, Influencers, and Decision-Makers

Before you start narrowing down your target audience, you’ve got different players to consider:

• Gatekeepers: Think of titles like Executive Assistants or Office Managers. These folks might not make the final call, but they control access to the people who do. 
• Influencers: These are people like department heads or key managers – they don’t have the power to sign off, but they have the ear of the decision-makers. 
• Decision-makers: Here, we’re talking about the C-suite executives, VPs, and Directors. They’re the ones who sign the checks and have the ultimate say. 

Tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help you immensely. You can go beyond basic targeting by identifying specific people within the organisation, as well as the organisation’s hierarchy. It’ll also help you when it comes time to zero in on your perfect audience, which leads us to the next topic…

Laser-Targeting Your Audience

LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities are a feast for ABM – you can filter by seniority, job function, company size, industry, and even personal interests. 

For ABM to really work on LinkedIn, it’s crucial to be super specific about who you’re targeting. That’s because large enterprise audiences behave very differently from SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises). With enterprises, you’re typically going after C-levels, VPs, and department heads of all the departments that are involved with purchasing or operationalising your offer. 

(In contrast, with SMEs, the decision-making process is often more streamlined, so you’d only focus on the owner or the general manager.)

Knowing the exact details of the roles you need to speak to helps you fine-tune your audience to ensure they reach and convert the right people.

Uploading an ABM List in LinkedIn Campaign Manager

Now, here’s where we get a little practical. Once you’ve identified the accounts you need to target along with the top individuals within those accounts, it’s time to get them into LinkedIn Campaign Manager. It’s simpler than it sounds!

Here’s a quick step-by-step on how to do it:

1. Navigate to Campaign Manager.
2. Go to Account Assets > Matched Audiences.
3. Click on Create Audience > Upload a List.
4. Select whether you’re uploading a Company or Contact list (pro tip: make sure your list is clean and accurate to avoid wasted ad spend).

This lets you upload a list of companies or specific contacts so you can target your ads to those exact people. You’ll be able to see how these specific accounts interact with your ads, giving you real-time insights into what’s working.

Choosing the Best Format for Your Account-Based Campaigns

So, what types of ads should you be running for ABM on LinkedIn? LinkedIn recommends starting with Sponsored Content, Message Ads, and Dynamic Ads – but let’s break down why these are particularly useful for ABM:

• Sponsored Content delivers high-value content directly into the LinkedIn feed of your target accounts. You can share relevant screenshots, whitepapers, case studies, or even thought leadership articles that speak to the specific pain points of the companies you’re targeting. The goal here is to build trust and nurture relationships with key decision-makers by offering content that aligns with their business challenges.

• Message Ads, on the other hand, provide a more personal and direct way to engage your target audience. These ads appear right in the inbox of your key contacts, making them feel like they’re receiving a direct message from you. With ABM, you can get these messages to speak to their specific role within the organisation or to their company’s unique situation, offering a demo, a personalised proposal, or an invitation to a private event.

• Dynamic Ads take personalisation a step further by using the LinkedIn profile data of your target audience – things like their name, company logo, or job title. This creates a hyper-personalised experience, making your ads more engaging because they feel made for each recipient. You could, for example, send the CTO the implementation guide for your product, while sending the CFO an ROI breakdown calculator.

Learn the specifications for the different LinkedIn Ad types here.

Monitoring and Optimising Your ABM Campaigns

Once your campaign is live, the work isn’t over – you’ll need to constantly monitor and optimise to ensure you’re hitting the right notes with your target accounts. One of the best strategies for this is A/B testing. 

For example, you could test slightly different messaging – maybe one version emphasises cost savings while another highlights productivity. Both might resonate, but the goal is to discover which variation outpulls the other. 

You could also experiment with visual elements, like testing two different images or colours in the ad to see which draws more engagement. Even minor tweaks in your CTA wording – for instance, “Learn More” vs. “Get Started Today” – can influence how much your audience interacts with your ad.

On top of A/B testing, keep tracking metrics like CTR (click-through rate), leads generated, deals closed, and cost-per-lead. Here’s why:

• CTR shows the percentage of people who have found your ad interesting enough to click through. This is especially useful in ABM because it tells you if you’re successfully piquing the interest of the hard-to-reach stakeholders.
• While ABM is highly account-focused, leads are still valuable indicators of interest within target accounts. Tracking leads helps you identify new points of contact or influencers in key accounts, expanding your reach within each organisation.
• Ultimately, closed deals are the most direct measure of your ABM success. ABM is designed to target high-value accounts, so tracking closed deals shows whether your efforts to engage key stakeholders have translated into actual revenue.
• In ABM, the cost per lead can run higher due to the highly targeted nature of the campaigns, but it’s worth monitoring to ensure efficiency. Comparing CPL against revenue from closed deals helps you understand the ROI of your ABM efforts, allowing you to allocate your budget more effectively.

Each metric gives you a layer of insight, giving you a 360 view of how your ABM campaigns are performing –  and where you can improve to maximise ROI!

A Great Example of an Account-Based LinkedIn Ad You Should Draw Inspiration From!

Notice how the ad starts by referencing well-known companies like TIBCO, BMC Software, and Thomson Reuters. This immediately speaks to high-value targets, giving a sense of exclusivity. For an account-based campaign, this is spot-on because it appeals to specific industries and key decision-makers who might recognise the value of learning from big names. 

The focus on a 65% higher engagement rate achieved through AI-driven programs is an ultra-specific message. It ties into the pain points ABM targets often have: improving engagement and staying competitive with advanced tools.

Interestingly, this example was taken from an article originally written by Lattice Engines, in which they emphasise how their LinkedIn ad messaging matches the sales team’s messaging – a perfect illustration of the alignment I mentioned earlier. This synergy is critical because consistent messaging across both teams makes sure the target audience receives a unified and trustworthy message. 

Make LinkedIn Ads Work for Your Account-Based Advertising Strategy

With ABM, you’re not just marketing to companies that might need your product. Instead, you’re laser-focused on organisations that definitely do – and LinkedIn Ads are the perfect vehicle to drive that precision.

Not seeing the results you expected from LinkedIn? Let’s change that! A lot of my clients have come to me claiming that their LinkedIn Ads feel lacklustre, or that they’re spending too much time tweaking without results. 

My team and I are here to give your ads the edge they need. 

We’ll plunge into your LinkedIn Ads account, fine-tuning everything from audience targeting to ad creatives, so you’re reaching key decision-makers and bypassing the usual digital noise. 

Let’s chat!