The Pros & Cons of LinkedIn Ads: What B2B Businesses Need to Know

Should you be using LinkedIn Ads? Do LinkedIn Ads Work?

Unfortunately, the answer is not always straightforward.

To be transparent, we don’t recommend LinkedIn Ads very much anymore, and it comes down to opportunity cost.

Most companies have very limited marketing budgets in general, let alone paid social media budgets. There are a lot of better places for those ad dollars to be spent than a platform like LinkedIn.

That being said, if you have the advertising budget to focus on LinkedIn, then it can be an effective top-of-funnel tool for your organization to use. By utilizing your best-of-the-best content and using a focused audience, you can reach new people that your other marketing efforts might not be able to reach.

This blog breaks down the main LinkedIn ad formats, along with their pros and cons, so you can make smart, strategic ad channel decisions.

LinkedIn Statistics to Consider

Here are some general LinkedIn (not just ads) statistics to consider:

• 44% of B2B marketers rank LinkedIn as their top social platform (for networking).
• LinkedIn drives 80% of B2B social media leads (when consistently posting on LinkedIn).
• Targeting includes specific ranges like job title, company size, skills, seniority, and more.

Although for LinkedIn Ads, the average cost-per-click (CPC) is $5-$10, up to 10x more than Facebook.

General Pros of LinkedIn Ads

1. Targeting Options Other Platforms Don’t Have

LinkedIn advertising has different ad targeting options. While they lack some options that you may be used to (we’ll talk about that in the cons section), there are some areas where LinkedIn’s targeting is far better, specifically in targeting people based on their jobs.

While these options are available on other platforms, such as META Ads, they are not very accurate. This is because most people don’t list their job or company on Facebook (based on social media privacy concerns) or don’t update it very often. LinkedIn, however, is made for these professional connections. This means that the data is very accurate, and you can easily find people using their job title, company, or industry, and their experience.

Additionally, you can target people based on more detailed parts of their profile, such as which college they went to, what groups they are a part of, and what topics they typically follow professionally, among others. This allows you to get creative with how you approach targeting while still keeping things on a professional level.

2. Simple, Easy-to-Use Interface

While platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads are extremely powerful and robust, new users can get confused very quickly. LinkedIn Ads, while not quite as robust, is much easier to use for someone new to PPC (Pay-Per-Click). They make it very easy to build new campaigns, understand the targeting options, and build the advertisements themselves.

3. Creativity for All Kinds of Businesses

When most people think of LinkedIn, their mind typically goes right to B2B businesses. And while yes, LinkedIn Ads are primarily used to sell professional services and products, it doesn’t have to be limited to that.

At the end of the day, everyone who works in business goes home and does other things. I know… CRAZY right? Because of this, we have seen some creative campaigns on LinkedIn that leverage the fact that many of the clients also work in business.

For example, let’s say you are a personal trainer in a downtown area. I would assume that many of your clients work in the city and have some kind of corporate job. If you can identify trends in the types of jobs people have, you could potentially target them on LinkedIn with a campaign talking about the importance of health and how it can impact your work.

So while many of the businesses that we recommend LinkedIn Ads for are in the B2B space, LinkedIn Ads do give you the flexibility to target those people differently and get creative with the message you put into the marketplace.

General Cons of LinkedIn Ads

1. More Expensive Than Other Social Media Ad Platforms

The biggest con of using LinkedIn Ads is the cost. We often talk about how META Ads are relatively cheap, and you can get a lot of bang for your buck. This is because there are a lot of people on Facebook and Instagram, and there are a lot of placements for your advertisement (newsfeed, groups, Reels, stories, audience network, the list goes on and on).

LinkedIn doesn’t have that luxury. There are far fewer people who use LinkedIn overall, and even then, there are very few places where an advertisement can be placed.

For those reasons, LinkedIn Ads typically range between $5-$10+ per click when compared to <$.20 per click on a platform like META. This means you need a bigger budget to get started and need to be willing to spend more, with a more specific audience.

2. Not Many Targeting Options Overall

One of the reasons that META Ads are so powerful is the sheer amount of data they have collected from all of their users. Even though this amount of data has decreased dramatically as of late, they are still more about you than you might think.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, doesn’t have that much data and just focuses on one part of a person’s life – their work. So while targeting people based on their job title, work experience, and college is something that is uniquely LinkedIn, they cannot dig deeper into a person’s other interests outside of work.

Long story short, if you are looking to target CEOs who love the Milwaukee Bucks or playing chess, you won’t be able to do that as easily.

3. Lacks Advanced Features of Other Ad Platforms

Early on, we talked about how one of the pros of LinkedIn Ads is how easy the platform is to use. While this is a great advantage of the platform, it also speaks to one of its biggest weaknesses– its lack of advanced optimization options.

For example, on META Ads, you can optimize your ads to be shown to people who are more likely to take a number of different actions. While many of them are available on LinkedIn as well, there are certain ones, such as purchases, add-to-carts, and others, that don’t exist. While you can still get close and put some logic together to make your ads more effective, it is far from being as advanced as some other platforms.

Now let’s break down the pros and cons of specific LinkedIn Ad formats.

LinkedIn Ad Formats: Pros and Cons

1. Sponsored Content

These are native Ads that appear in users’ feeds. They can be images, videos, carousels, or document posts. These can support Lead Gen forums.

2. Sponsored Messaging (Message & Conversation Ads)

These are Ads delivered via LinkedIn messages. Message Ads are single pitches into users’ inboxes. These conversation Ads allow interactive paths.

3. Text Ads (Sidebar Only)

These are simple headline and text Ads in LinkedIn’s desktop sidebar (CPC or CPM).

4. Dynamic Ads (Personalized Sidebar)

These are personalized sidebar Ads that include the viewer’s name/photo. These are generally used for company page follows, job promotions, or content spotlights.

Should Your B2B Business Use LinkedIn Ads?

LinkedIn Ads can be powerful, but they’re not plug-and-play. They require thoughtful content, precise targeting, and solid offers to deliver results that justify the cost.

Smart B2B businesses:

• Use sponsored content to build trust and capture leads.
• Deploy message Ads sparingly with targeted offers.
• Add text Ads for cheaper visibility.
• Test dynamic Ads for follower growth or recruitment.

If you have a budget for LinkedIn Ads, it might be worth investing in. Just be prepared to optimize accordingly. If you don’t have the budget, there are plenty of other options we recommend to our clients.

SocialSurge’s PPC Management team specializes in building high-impact, data-driven Ad campaigns that speak directly to your ideal audience. From strategy to creative to ongoing optimization, we’ll make sure your ad spend works harder, so you get the qualified leads and measurable ROI your business deserves.

Get your FREE consultation today!