Using LinkedIn Ads to Fill the Top of Your B2B Lead Funnel

Hello, and welcome to the Cognisus Marketing Solutions blog. Are you having a hard time bringing in high-quality leads at the top of your B2B funnel? You’re not alone. Without clear targeting and a relevant offer, most awareness-stage efforts fall flat. LinkedIn Ads can help solve that problem—if you use them with the right strategy.

In this blog, we’ll explain how to use LinkedIn Ads to drive awareness-stage traffic, generate early interest, and lay the foundation for smarter, more effective lead generation efforts down the line.

Before we dive in, keep in mind: your LinkedIn Ads strategy shouldn’t operate in a vacuum. It should work in tandem with the rest of your B2B marketing plan—aligned with annual goals, buyer journey stages, and content strategies. Ads are just one piece of the puzzle, and the best results come when everything is connected.

Why LinkedIn Ads Are Perfect for B2B TOFU Campaigns

LinkedIn’s biggest advantage? Professional context and precise targeting. Here’s why the platform stands out:

• Hyper-Specific Targeting: Segment audiences by industry, job title, skills, seniority, company size, and more. You can market directly to “Marketing Directors at mid-sized SaaS companies” instead of just vague interest groups.
• Business Mindset: People use LinkedIn to learn, network, and solve problems—which makes them more open to relevant, helpful content.
• Proven Performance: According to LinkedIn, B2B marketers see 2x higher conversion rates on LinkedIn compared to other platforms.

How to Set Up LinkedIn Ads That Drive Awareness (Step-by-Step)

Ready to get hands-on? Let’s walk through setting up a campaign designed to attract top-of-funnel leads using the Campaign Manager tool.

Step 1: Access LinkedIn Campaign Manager

• Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
• Choose your ad account or create a new one for your business.
• Click the “Create campaign” button to begin.

Step 2: Choose a TOFU Campaign Objective

You’ll be asked to choose your campaign objective. For awareness-stage campaigns, pick one of the following:

• Brand Awareness: To increase visibility and introduce your brand to a broad, relevant audience.
• Website Visits: If you’re driving traffic to a landing page or valuable resource like a blog post or guide.

Click “Next” to move forward.

Note: Remember, avoid objectives like “Lead Generation” or “Conversions” at this initial stage—those are best for mid- or bottom-funnel goals when prospects are further down your sales pipeline.

Step 3: Define Your Target Audience

On the “Audience” tab, select “Create new audience.” Use LinkedIn’s precise filters to build your ideal customer profile:

• Location (required): e.g., United States, North America, specific states or cities.
• Job Titles: e.g., “Director of Operations,” “VP of Marketing,” “Head of Product.”
• Industry: e.g., “SaaS,” “Healthcare,” “Manufacturing,” “Financial Services.”
• Company Size: e.g., “51–200 employees,” “201–500 employees.”
• Seniority: e.g., “Manager,” “Director,” “VP,” “Owner.”

You can further narrow or exclude based on job functions, specific skills, education, and more. If you plan to use this audience again, click “Save as template.”

Step 4: Set Budget and Schedule

Choose either a Daily Budget or a Lifetime Budget. For top-of-funnel testing, we recommend starting conservatively.

• Daily Budget: You specify how much you want to spend per day. It offers flexibility, and you can pause or adjust your campaign as you monitor performance.
• Lifetime Budget: You set a total budget for the entire campaign duration. LinkedIn will spend the amount evenly or dynamically over the set dates.

Our recommendation: Start with a Daily Budget of $50–$100/day.

• $50/day is good for testing reach and engagement.
• $100/day allows for faster learning and stronger initial traction if you have a little more room to spend.

Set run dates to either run continuously or choose a fixed range (e.g., 10–14 days).

• Fixed dates are better if you’re testing messaging or working with a limited budget/time.
• Continuous is ideal if you’re building long-term brand visibility and want LinkedIn to optimize delivery over time.

For your bidding strategy, use Maximum Delivery at this stage. This allows LinkedIn to optimize your campaign for the widest reach within your budget.

Bidding strategy is when LinkedIn uses your budget to compete for ad placements in front of your target audience. With Maximum Delivery, LinkedIn automatically adjusts bids in real time to maximize impressions, ensuring your ads are seen by as many relevant users as possible without requiring manual input.

Then, click “Next” to proceed.

Step 5: Choose the Right Ad Format

Pick a format that best supports engagement and visibility for awareness campaigns:

• Single Image Ad: Simple, clean, and ideal for promoting guides, blog posts, or checklists.
• Carousel Image Ad: Great for showcasing multiple insights, statistics, or steps in a process.
• Video Ad: Use if you have a short, engaging explainer video or a thought leadership piece.

Click “Next.”

Step 6: Build Your Ad Creative

This is where your ad comes to life. Upload your ad creative (image or video) and craft your message:

• Headline: Keep it compelling (e.g., “Free Guide: 2025 B2B Sales Trends,” or “Unlock Better Lead Qualification”).
• Description: Write a short, benefit-driven description (under 150 characters).
• Landing Page URL: This should lead directly to a top-of-funnel-friendly asset, such as:
  • An industry report
  • A valuable thought leadership blog post
  • A free resource or checklist
• Call to Action (CTA): Choose a strong, clear CTA that matches your content, like “Download,” “Learn More,” or “See Insights.”

Step 7: Launch and Monitor

Review all your campaign settings one final time.

• Once everything looks good, click “Launch Campaign.” Remember, launching is just the beginning.
• Monitor performance daily—keep a close eye on CTR (click-through rate), impressions, and audience engagement.
• Actively use A/B testing to experiment with different creatives, headlines, or audience segments to continually optimize your ad’s effectiveness.

At Cognisus Marketing Solutions, we help B2B businesses run smarter, better-targeted LinkedIn ad campaigns that actually move the needle. Want to talk about how to put LinkedIn Ads to work? Reach out to us today, and we’d love to help!

Coming up next, we’ll be turning our focus to your digital storefront—your website. From performance to design to conversions, we’ll explore what it takes to build a site that not only looks great but also drives results.