Month: October 2025

By AJ Wilcox

What Is Audience Penetration in LinkedIn Ads?

Audience penetration measures the percentage of your target audience that has seen at least one impression of your ad. It’s calculated by dividing the unique reach of your campaign by the total audience size. This metric provides a clear view of how well your ads are reaching the people you care about.

Hack #1: Calculate Your Total Audience Size

LinkedIn only gives an estimated audience size when you’re setting up a campaign. By using the audience penetration metric together with your unique reach data, you can reverse-engineer the actual size of your audience. For example, if your campaign has reached 5,000 unique people and your penetration rate is 5%, you know your true audience size is around 100,000 people.

Hack #2: Understand How Bids Affect Reach

Audience penetration also helps you test the effect of your bid on reach. Start with a baseline bid, then gradually raise or lower your bid while tracking the penetration rate. If increasing your bid results in more reach, you’ll see penetration rise; if not, you might be hitting a ceiling or encountering diminishing returns. This hack helps you allocate budget more efficiently.

Hack #3: Measure Audience Overlap

You can use audience penetration to see whether two campaigns are hitting the same people. By comparing the penetration rates for different audience segments, you can estimate how much overlap exists between them. This insight lets you refine your targeting, avoid wasting budget on duplicate impressions, and ensure you’re reaching unique segments.

Get Expert Help From B2Linked

Want to make sure you’re leveraging audience penetration and other advanced metrics correctly? Reach out to the B2Linked LinkedIn ads specialists. Their team has managed over $150 million in spend and can help you set up campaigns, interpret metrics and scale results. They’ll also introduce you to our LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community for ongoing support.

Watch the Full Episode & Join the Conversation

Watch the full episode below, then share your thoughts. Have you tried using the audience penetration metric yet?

Blog Posting Guidelines for Repurposing Long-Form Videos – learn our process for repurposing long-form videos into articles.What insights have you gained? Drop your experiences or questions in the comments—we might feature them on a future show.

How to Build a Unique Personal Brand in 2024 – strategies for building your brand and using vertical or horizontal videos.

Related Articles: How to Build a Unique Personal Brand in 2024 – strategies for building your brand with vertical or horizontal videos. Blog Posting Guidelines for Repurposing Long-Form Videos – learn our process for repurposing long-form videos into articles.

By AJ Wilcox

Identify the Viral Lead Magnet Trend

Think lead magnets are outdated? Think again. On this episode of The LinkedIn Ads Show, I sit down with lead‑magnet expert Ian Nelson to uncover the secret sauce behind the viral “comment‑to‑get” lead magnet trend taking over LinkedIn. We explain why this strategy is exploding right now and how top creators are building irresistible lead magnets every week using AI (www.youtube.com). If you want to fill your calendar with qualified leads, you’ll love the insights we share.

Unlock the AI‑Powered Lead Magnet Strategy

We break down how to design lead magnets that deliver real value and how to repurpose them across your marketing channels. Ian shares his process for leveraging AI tools to draft, iterate and scale new offers at speed. Most importantly, we show you how to turn all that engagement into real sales opportunities (www.youtube.com).

Get Expert Help From B2Linked and Ian Nelson

If you’d like expert help creating or promoting lead magnets on LinkedIn, reach out to the B2Linked LinkedIn ads specialists. We’ve spent over $150 million on LinkedIn Ads and can help you build a campaign strategy that works. You can also connect with our guest Ian Nelson on his website to learn more about his approach. We’re here to help you generate leads that convert.

Watch the Full Episode & Join the Conversation

Watch the full episode below, then join the conversation in the comments. What types of lead magnets have worked best for you on LinkedIn? Share your experiences or questions—we’d love to feature them on a future episode.

Related Articles: How to Build a Unique Personal Brand in 2024 – strategies for building your brand with vertical or horizontal videos. Blog Posting Guidelines for Repurposing Long-Form Videos – learn our process for repurposing long-form videos into articles.

By AJ Wilcox

Why Horizontal Video Wins on LinkedIn

There’s a common belief that vertical video performs best on social platforms because it takes up more screen space on mobile. But after analyzing over $140,000 in LinkedIn ad spend across multiple campaigns, we discovered that horizontal (16:9) video dramatically outperformed vertical (9:16) and square (1:1) formats. Horizontal videos achieved two to four times better view rates, completion rates and cost efficiency than their vertical and square counterparts. In other words, horizontal videos delivered a better return on spend.

Key Learnings from the Experiment

Horizontal video likely wins because LinkedIn’s feed is largely consumed on desktop screens and because the format allows for more context and on-screen text. Our experiments showed that horizontal videos kept viewers engaged longer and drove more conversions. The results underline that advertisers should prioritize horizontal creatives on LinkedIn, even though vertical video dominates other social platforms. The key takeaway: always test creative formats rather than blindly following trends.

What Should Advertisers Do?

For your next LinkedIn campaign, test horizontal creative alongside vertical or square variations to see what resonates with your audience. Focus on strong opening hooks, clear messaging and captions to capture attention. And don't assume vertical is better just because it's trendy—our data shows the opposite. Use data-driven experiments to guide your video strategy.

Get Expert Help from B2Linked and Chandler Quinton

If you'd like help maximizing your LinkedIn video campaigns, reach out to the B2Linked LinkedIn ads specialists. They’ve spent over $150 million on LinkedIn Ads and know how to create high-performing creative. You can also connect with Chandler Quinton on LinkedIn or his site funb2bads.com for more video insights. We're here to help you build ads that stand out and convert.

Watch the Full Episode & Join the Conversation

Watch the full episode below, then share your thoughts. Have you tested different video aspect ratios on LinkedIn? What results have you seen? Comment with your experiences or questions—we might feature them on a future show.

Related Articles: How to Build a Unique Personal Brand in 2024 – strategies for building your brand with vertical or horizontal videos. Blog Posting Guidelines for Repurposing Long-Form Videos – learn our process for repurposing long-form videos into articles.

By AJ Wilcox

Identify What LinkedIn Ads Still Lacks

LinkedIn is investing heavily in video and creator content, but the platform still lacks some of the automation and optimization features advertisers expect. Features like algorithmic bidding, better conversion tracking and the ability to import offline conversions are table stakes on Meta and Google yet missing on LinkedIn. AJ notes that LinkedIn’s API is expanding and the company is pouring money into the creator economy, so he believes these features will eventually roll out. In the meantime, advertisers should focus on fundamentals: crafting clear offers, honing audience targeting and creating ads that speak directly to decision‑makers.

Get Expert Help From B2Linked

If you want help maximizing your return from LinkedIn Ads, reach out to the B2Linked LinkedIn ads specialists. With over $150 million spent across hundreds of accounts, they know how to squeeze value from the platform and can help you build a strategy that works today while preparing for tomorrow’s features.

Watch the Episode & Share Your Thoughts

Watch the full episode below and then join the conversation: what features do you think LinkedIn Ads still needs to become a true tier‑one platform? Share your thoughts in the comments or reach out to the B2Linked team if you’d like expert help crafting and optimizing your LinkedIn Ads campaigns.

LinkedIn’s advertising platform just rolled out a major upgrade to its event ads format. In a recent episode of The LinkedIn Ads Show, AJ Wilcox sat down with Gina Kleiner, LinkedIn’s lead product marketing manager for the LinkedIn Ads ecosystem, to discuss the new Live Event Ads. The conversation reveals how the new format helps B2B marketers promote webinars, conferences and live streams across the entire event lifecycle.

Gina explains that LinkedIn has created a varied video ecosystem across organic and paid placements. Live events are a natural fit for LinkedIn’s professional audience. The new Live Event Ads allow advertisers to run a single campaign that automatically adjusts as the event approaches, is happening or has concluded. Before the event, the ad drives awareness and registrations. During the event, it dynamically updates the creative and call‑to‑action to encourage people to watch the live stream, with delivery accelerated to maximize live views. Afterwards, the ad automatically switches to nurturing and retargeting attendees based on how much of the event they watched, driving them to the next step.

This dynamic functionality solves a common complaint about the old event ads, which would still invite people to register even after the event had ended. The new ads include a 30 second preview, giving prospects a taste of your content and encouraging them to tune in. Because the call‑to‑action changes automatically, there’s no need to pause or replace campaigns as the event date passes.

AJ and Gina also discuss strategy: use these ads to build momentum ahead of your event, accelerate delivery during the live window, and follow up with tailored offers based on attendee engagement. It’s another example of how LinkedIn is investing in video and creator‑led content for B2B marketers.

If you want help setting up Live Event Ads or building a holistic LinkedIn Ads strategy, reach out to the B2Linked LinkedIn ads specialists: https://b2linked.com They specialize exclusively in LinkedIn Ads and have been mastering the platform since 2014.

Watch the full interview below to learn all the details.

By AJ Wilcox

By AJ Wilcox

Choose the Right LinkedIn Ads Budget

LinkedIn offers three budgeting options: daily, lifetime and a mix of both. A daily budget lets you control pace and spend without burning through cash too quickly, while a lifetime budget caps overall spend so you don’t overshoot. Combining them can balance control and scale. AJ explains when each makes sense and why there isn’t a single “right” number—your budget should reflect the value of a lead for your business.

Key Factors That Influence Spend

AJ highlights that how much you can spend depends on five things: the size of your audience, your bid strategy, the objective you select, your relevance score and the frequency at which the ad is shown. A small, niche audience can’t absorb spend as fast as a broad one, and a highly engaged audience can burn through a lifetime cap quickly. Experiment with objectives and adjust bids to see what delivers the best results.

Need Help With Your LinkedIn Ads?

If you’d like expert support developing your strategy, the B2Linked team of LinkedIn ads specialists can help you craft a plan and manage campaigns. AJ and his agency run campaigns for B2B brands and can advise you on budgets, creatives and optimization so you get more from every dollar spent.

Watch the Full Episode & Join the Conversation

Watch the full episode below and then join the conversation: what budget strategies have worked for you on LinkedIn? Share your thoughts in the comments or reach out to the B2Linked team to discuss your campaign goals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BKbppeC6Oc

He then walks through the five factors that determine how much your campaign can spend: audience size, bid strategy, objective, relevance score and frequency. A small niche audience can’t spend as quickly as a large broad one. AJ shares examples of how a daily budget of $30 paired with a $3,000 lifetime cap can allow a campaign to run for roughly 100 days, but warns that if your audience is very engaged it could spend much faster.

The episode also offers practical tips on pacing: monitor your results daily, adjust bids to avoid overspending, and experiment with different objectives to see how they affect delivery. AJ stresses that there is no “magic number” for budget; instead, marketers should determine how much a conversion is worth to their business and reverse‑engineer the budget from there.

If you’d like expert help with budgeting and campaign strategy, AJ’s agency B2Linked has managed over $150 million in LinkedIn ad spend. They offer custom strategies and reporting capabilities that even LinkedIn doesn’t provide, and they always aim to save clients more than they charge. You can learn more at B2Linked.com.

Watch the full episode below to hear AJ’s detailed explanations and real‑world examples.