LinkedIn Ads Targeting, Matched Audiences and ABM Guide

#01What targeting options does LinkedIn offer?

#02How do you build an ABM audience?

1. Build a company list from your CRM: company name, website domain, LinkedIn company Page URL where possible. Upload it under Plan > Audiences.
2. Check the match rate. Add domains and Page URLs to improve matching.
3. Layer roles: job function (for example Finance, Accounting) and seniority (Manager, Director, VP, CXO). Titles are precise but narrow.
4. Exclude customers, competitors, your own employees and current open opportunities if sales prefers.
5. Turn off audience expansion and decide on the Audience Network.
6. Split by tier: Tier 1 (top 50 to 200 accounts), Tier 2 and Tier 3 in separate ad sets so you can set different budgets and messages.

#03How should you use retargeting?

Practitioner claim: 50% and 75% video viewer audiences are the most useful mid-funnel pools because they are large enough to reach 300 members quickly.

#04What are predictive audiences?

LinkedIn predictive audiences find members likely to act like your source audience. LinkedIn Help says you create one under Plan > Audiences > Create > Predictive, choose a single source type (Lead Gen Form leads, a contact list, conversions or a retargeting audience) with more than 300 members, and LinkedIn builds an audience you can target. They replace lookalike audiences, which were discontinued on 29 February 2024.

Our view: seed predictive audiences with qualified leads or closed-won contacts, not every form fill. The seed quality is the targeting quality.

#05How do you use Companies Hub?

Companies Hub (Plan > Companies in Campaign Manager) lists companies engaging with your ads and Page, shows engagement levels, and with CRM sync can bring in opportunity and revenue data. You can save companies as a list to target or exclude. It requires a linked LinkedIn Page.

Weekly routine:

1. Sort by engagement change.
2. Send the top 10 rising accounts to sales with the ads they engaged with.
3. Save them as a "warming" list and move them into a mid-funnel ad set.

#06What about message ads in Europe?

LinkedIn Help says Sponsored Messaging (Message and Conversation ads) in the EEA and Switzerland is delivered only to members who opted in to receive them. Expect small audiences there; use Lead Gen Forms on Sponsored Content instead.

#07Worked example: Ledgerline

Ledgerline is a fictional accounts-payable software company. Competitors A to D and all figures are illustrative.

Ledgerline targeted "Finance" job function in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands with audience expansion on. Most spend went to small firms outside its ICP.

Walkthrough

1. Company list: 1,200 accounts from the CRM with domains; matched 74% (illustrative).
2. Tiers: 150 Tier 1 accounts, 1,050 Tier 2.
3. Roles: Finance function, Manager to CXO, plus IT Director for Tier 1.
4. Exclusions: customers, Competitors A to D, Ledgerline employees.
5. Expansion off.
6. Retargeting: 50% video viewers and site visitors in a warm ad set.
7. Predictive: seeded from 420 qualified leads.
8. Result after 10 weeks (illustrative): share of spend in ICP accounts up from 41% to 88%; Companies Hub flagged 23 Tier 1 accounts with two or more engaged roles.

#08Common mistakes

• Stacking many narrow criteria so the audience is tiny and CPMs spike.
• Leaving audience expansion on for ABM.
• Uploading lists with names only and no domains.
• Seeding predictive audiences with low-quality leads.
• Not excluding customers and employees.

#09Try it yourself

Export your top 200 target accounts with domains, upload them as a company list, layer two functions and three seniorities, and record the estimated audience size with expansion on and off.

#10Quick quiz

1. How many members does a matched audience need? Answer: At least 300.

2. What replaced lookalike audiences? Answer: Predictive audiences.

3. Is audience expansion on or off by default? Answer: On.

4. Where is Companies Hub? Answer: Plan > Companies in Campaign Manager.

#11What should you check before the next lesson?

• Company list uploaded with domains, match rate recorded.
• Expansion off for ABM ad sets.
• Retargeting pools building toward 300 members.

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Related: Ads objectives and formats · Sales Navigator · B2B enterprise buying committees

#12Common questions

How big does a LinkedIn matched audience need to be? LinkedIn Help says list and retargeting audiences need at least 300 matched members before they can be used, and predictive audiences need a source with more than 300 members.

Does LinkedIn still have lookalike audiences? No. LinkedIn discontinued lookalike audiences on 29 February 2024 and points advertisers to predictive audiences, which are built from a single source such as Lead Gen Form leads, a contact list, conversions or retargeting.

Should I turn off audience expansion? Audience expansion is on by default. For ABM or tightly defined job targeting, most practitioners turn it off so spend stays on the accounts and roles you chose; test it on broader prospecting ad sets.

What is Companies Hub in Campaign Manager? Companies Hub, under Plan then Companies, shows company-level engagement with your ads and Page, can bring in revenue data through CRM sync and lets you save companies as a list for targeting. It needs a linked LinkedIn Page.