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6 Easy Ways to Set Up Ads on LinkedIn

Yes, you can advertise on LinkedIn. LinkedIn Campaign Manager lets you target professionals by job title, industry, company size, and more, then track results down to the click. This guide walks you through six steps to set up your first campaign, from choosing your objective to tracking conversions.

Source: Sprout Social.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is considered the world’s largest professional network that you can find online. It is a networking platform where employers can post job offers. As such, through LinkedIn, you can find a job or connect with other professionals, especially those that belong to your industry or niche.

LinkedIn also provides you with tips on how to improve your skills so that you can succeed in your chosen career. In addition, it allows you to showcase your professional profile, including your work experience, skill set, achievements, educational background, and more. The goal is to create a unique profile that will help you land the right job.

How to Set Up Ads on LinkedIn

Get Started with Campaign Manager

You can use LinkedIn’s all-in-one advertising platform, Campaign Manager, to create either a self-service campaign or a managed campaign. However, you need to create a LinkedIn Ads account first to be able to use the platform and set up ads on LinkedIn.

Through Campaign Manager, you can set a budget and select goals, such as clicks vs. impressions. You can also gain complete control over your campaign’s timeline. Campaign Manager also allows you to create and manage your campaigns, view analytics and performance reports (clicks, likes, shares, comments, and follows), and manage account assets, including conversion tracking and Matched Audiences.

So, how do you use LinkedIn to advertise your professional services? Check out the six ways to set up ads on LinkedIn:

ONE: Choose Your Objective

When creating a campaign, the first step is to choose your campaign objective. LinkedIn Campaign Manager provides you with three options: build brand awareness (Awareness), increase site visits, engagement, and views (Consideration), or stimulate lead generation and site conversions (Conversion).

The goal or objective you choose will determine what will happen next in creating your campaign.

TWO: Determine Key Metrics

The next step is to determine the key metrics based on the campaign objective or goal you selected in the previous step. 

If you want more people to know about your brand, you should aim for the following metrics: Clicks, Impressions, Click-through Rate (CTR), and Average Engagement.

Image Source: LinkedIn

Clicks are the number of times your ad is clicked. Impressions, on the other hand, refer to the number of times people saw your ad. Meanwhile, CTR is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions. 

Finally, average engagement is the total engagement, including free and paid clicks, divided by the number of impressions. When we say engagements, these may include social actions such as post likes, comments, and shares.

However, if you want to drive leads and increase conversions, you should focus on the following: Conversions, Conversion Rate, Cost Per Conversion, Leads, and Cost Per Lead (CPL).

Conversions refer to how many times users performed an action after seeing or clicking on your ad. The conversion rate is then the percentage of visitors who convert on your website. Then, the cost per conversion is your ad spend divided by the number of conversions. 

Finally, leads refer to the number of leads you got from your ads, while CPL is your ad spend divided by the number of leads.

THREE: Select Your Target

After you choose your objective, Campaign Manager will prompt you to select your targeting criteria. This step will determine whom LinkedIn displays your ads to. If you target your ads, you increase the chances of engagement and, ultimately, conversion.

As such, you will need to identify the attributes of your target audience. These attributes may include the following: company name, company size, member interests, member groups, member schools, job title, skills, and more.

FOUR: Choose Your Ad Format

In this step, you need to choose your ad format. Campaign Manager groups ten formats under four categories. 

• Sponsored Content covers single image, carousel, video, document, event, and article or newsletter ads. 
• Message Ads and Conversation Ads sit under Sponsored Messaging. 
• Text Ads and Spotlight Ads appear on the desktop right rail, and Follower Ads round out the list.

Sponsored content (single image ads, document ads, video ads, carousel ads, event ads, or article and newsletter ads) will appear directly on the feeds of LinkedIn users. It would be best to promote your top-performing post, as it has proven effective with your existing followers. As such, this content is most likely to entice more followers from a larger market

Message Ads allow you to connect with prospective employers through the LinkedIn Messaging feature. As such, through message ads, you can directly send messages to your prospects, increase engagement, and see which roles and companies respond to your ads. Conversation Ads build on this format. Recipients can choose from multiple response paths, so the message adapts to their choices.

If you choose to create Dynamic Ads, you can personalize your ad by using profile data such as photo, company name, and job title. Further under Dynamic Ads, you can choose to create a Follower ad, a Spotlight ad, or a Jobs ad.

Spotlight Ads and Follower Ads personalize your ad by using profile data such as the viewer’s photo, company name, and job title. Spotlight Ads highlight your product or offer with a tailored call to action. Follower Ads invite the viewer to follow your Company Page. Both formats appear on the desktop right rail.

Finally, LinkedIn will display Text Ads at the top, on the side, or at the bottom of the LinkedIn user’s feed. These are pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) types of ads. Because it will only display text, keep your copy short but engaging. Doing so would help guarantee that they click your ad and check out your profile.

FIVE: Set Your Budget and Schedule Ads

When setting your budget, you have three options: cost-per-send (CPS), cost-per-click (CPC), or cost-per-impression (CPM). 

Message Ads campaigns utilize CPS, wherein you pay for every message delivered to your target. Campaigns that require action from the target, such as event registration or lead generation, use CPC. Lastly, CPM is used for campaigns that delve into improving brand awareness.

Campaign Manager will then ask you to enter a suggested bid, your daily budget, your campaign’s start and end dates, and your total budget. Note that you can cancel your campaign at any time. Now you can finally set up and publish your ad.

SIX: Set Up Conversion Tracking and Lead Gen Forms

After determining the key metrics to measure your LinkedIn campaign performance, the next step is to set up Conversion Tracking and Lead Gen Forms. 

Conversion Tracking allows you to quickly measure conversions, conversion rate, and cost per conversion. However, before you can create a conversion, you first need to define conversions by choosing from the following:

• Insight Tag

The Insight Tag is a lightweight piece of JavaScript code you add to your website. Installing it takes a few minutes, and from then on, LinkedIn tracks page visits and clicks on your call-to-action buttons automatically.

• Conversions API

The Conversions API continuously sends your conversion data to LinkedIn via a server-to-server connection. You can set this up through a certified partner, such as Google Tag Manager or Zapier, or build a direct integration with your own developers.

• CSV Conversion

CSV Conversion lets you upload your conversion data straight into Campaign Manager as a spreadsheet. This method needs no developer resources, and a daily or weekly upload keeps your reporting accurate.  

Meanwhile, Lead Gen Forms let you measure leads and cost per lead. You can create Lead Gen Forms by selecting the Lead generation objective (in STEP ONE). 

Image Source: LinkedIn

However, you can also create it from the “Account Assets” tab on the account homepage of your Campaign Manager. Select “Lead Gen Forms,” complete the sections that you want to include in your form, and then click “Create Form.”

BONUS: Measure and Optimize Your Campaign

As with everything you do online for your business, you also need to monitor your campaigns. If you do this, you will be able to see if your ads are performing as expected. However, if they are not, you should be able to determine what they lack and improve them in the next campaign cycle. If you see a low-performing ad, it’s best to stop it and improve it as needed.

Fortunately, through Campaign Manager, you can analyze the performance of your ads and campaigns. There, you can see your campaign’s overall clicks, impressions, budgets, social actions, and more. 

With this analytics feature, you can quickly determine which ad is performing best and which one is not, thereby allowing you to make the necessary adjustments. In addition to standard analytics capabilities, you can, for instance, export LinkedIn Ads to Google BigQuery and dive deeper into campaign analysis

Set Up Your Ads on LinkedIn Now!

With PPC management services, you can have someone managing your LinkedIn ad campaigns for you! If you need help setting up ads on LinkedIn, please feel free to contact us through email or leave us a message in the comments section below.

This article was updated on July 29, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to advertise on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn sets a minimum daily budget of $10. Your actual cost depends on your bidding strategy, ad format, and the competitiveness of your target audience.

Do I need a LinkedIn Company Page to run ads?

Yes, you need an active LinkedIn Company Page for most ad formats. Your Page anchors the Sponsored Content and Sponsored Messaging that Campaign Manager runs on your behalf.

Which LinkedIn ad format should I start with?

Single image ads work well for a first campaign. They are simple to set up, and you can promote a post that has already performed well with your existing followers.

Can I target a specific audience on LinkedIn?

Yes. Campaign Manager lets you target by company name, company size, job title, skills, member interests, and more, so your ad reaches the right professionals.

How do I track whether my LinkedIn ads are working?

Campaign Manager tracks conversions through the Insight Tag, Conversions API, or CSV upload. Once connected, you can measure conversions, cost per conversion, and lead volume directly in your dashboard.