How I Got Started in LinkedIn Ads

“I worked for a pre-IPO SaaS company for 2.5 years before they decided to let me go. This single event would kickstart the rest of my career and be a major blessing in my life.

At the very beginning of my tenure there, I was tasked by my boss to run Google Ads for the company. In giving me this task, she also said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’d like you to run LinkedIn Ads, too.’

I didn’t want to look incompetent, so I saluted and said ‘Yes, ma’am!’, but then thought to myself, ‘What is a LinkedIn Ad?’

Despite having just learned about the platform for the first time, I dove in and gave it my all to understand how it worked and how to make it successful.

Shortly after launching my first ads, our sales team came to me and said, “AJ, we have no idea what you’re doing, but keep it up! These are some quality leads!”

After digging through our CRM, I found that most, if not all, of these “quality leads” were coming from—you guessed it—LinkedIn Ads.

As I continued investing in the platform, I came to really appreciate it. By far, what I found to be the most valuable was LinkedIn’s robust B2B audience targeting mechanic.

This allowed for high quality leads, even if at a premium price.

To my surprise, though, I seemed to really be the only one in my network seeing success on the channel.

So many weren’t even willing to try it because they were turned off by LinkedIn’s high costs and daunting learning curve.

Fast forward to after I was let go, because of my newfound passion for the channel, I turned to LinkedIn itself and applied to be an evangelist.

Nothing like this position even existed at the time, but I got in touch with those at the head and made my case.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn wasn’t looking to fill this type of role, but that didn’t stop me from pursuing LinkedIn Ads as a career.

I was going to become an evangelist for the platform whether or not LinkedIn was going to hire me to do it.

It was then that I started B2Linked, a digital marketing agency that specializes in LinkedIn Ads.

Nine years later and the company has grown to a team of 12 rockstars. We’ve managed and consulted for 500+ businesses, including half of LinkedIn’s top 10 largest spenders.

We’ve spent 150M+ on the platform, presented on 100+ stages and been a guest on 200+ podcasts, and are one of the few Certified LinkedIn Marketing Partners.

I’m also host of The LinkedIn Ads Show, a podcast dedicated to sharing my learnings and expertise on LinkedIn Ads.

Our goal is to help B2B companies generate more qualified leads and drive business by harnessing the power of LinkedIn Ads.

If this is something you’d like help with, book a discovery call. We’d absolutely love the chance to get to work with you.”