LinkedIn Ads for B2B SaaS: What Works and What Doesn't

LinkedIn ads are the highest-CPM B2B channel and the most targeted B2B channel available. Average CPCs run $8-15 for B2B audiences - 5-10x higher than Facebook. That cost is worth it for high-ACV products where one customer covers 100 clicks. It is not worth it for low-ACV products where you need volume to be profitable. The decision isn't about whether LinkedIn is good - it's about whether LinkedIn's specific tradeoffs match your product's economics.

Why this happens

LinkedIn lets you target by job title, company size, seniority, and industry simultaneously. For a product selling to VPs of Sales at 100-500 person companies, no other channel reaches that exact audience at scale. Facebook has more volume; Google has higher intent; LinkedIn has precision. If your ICP is that specific, that precision is worth a 5-10x premium on CPCs.

The problem is that most founders use LinkedIn's targeting correctly and everything else incorrectly. They reach exactly the right person with exactly the wrong message. The most common failure mode: a cold ad asking a VP of Sales who has never heard of the product to book a 30-minute demo. That CTA asks for too much commitment before delivering any value. The prospect has no reason to trade 30 minutes of their time for an unknown product they encountered in a sponsored post.

What to check first

Before running LinkedIn ads, run through these diagnostic questions:

Is your ACV above $5,000 annually? Below that threshold, LinkedIn's CPCs make the math difficult at typical SaaS conversion rates. You'd need to convert 1 in 100 clicks to a customer at a $10 CPC and $5,000 ACV just to break even on ad spend - before accounting for CAC payback period.
Can you define your ICP by job title, company size, and industry? If your ICP is "any B2B company," LinkedIn's targeting gives you no advantage. The channel's value is precision - it only pays off if you know exactly who you're targeting.
Do you have creative that would stop a professional mid-scroll? LinkedIn's feed is full of sponsored content. Generic ads with stock imagery and vague value propositions are invisible. Your creative needs a specific number, a sharp point of view, or a visual that makes your ICP pause.
Have you validated your conversion funnel with organic traffic first? LinkedIn will drive clicks. If your landing page doesn't convert, you'll spend $5,000 to confirm that your landing page doesn't convert.

How to fix it

Start with Thought Leadership Ads before running traditional Lead Gen campaigns. Thought Leadership Ads boost posts from personal profiles - a founder, a practitioner, a customer. They look like organic content rather than ads, they get higher engagement rates, and they're lower risk because you're spending less per impression while testing what resonates.

The sequence that works: run Thought Leadership Ads with a value-first asset (a guide, a data report, a benchmark) for 30 days to build awareness with your target audience. Retarget everyone who engaged with that content with a more direct conversion offer - a trial, a free audit, a live demo. Cold audiences need a reason to trust you before they'll book time with you.

For creative, lead with a specific number or a counterintuitive claim in the first line. "67% of RevOps teams are measuring the wrong thing" outperforms "The RevOps platform that drives revenue" because the first line creates curiosity and signals you know your ICP's world.

Keep targeting tight - 50,000-200,000 people maximum for most B2B SaaS products. Broad targeting inflates impressions and destroys precision, which is the only reason to use LinkedIn over a cheaper channel.

Remove the guesswork

LinkedIn attribution is notoriously unreliable without dedicated instrumentation. RightAd connects LinkedIn ad spend to actual pipeline and revenue so you can see which campaigns, audiences, and creative are driving customers - not just clicks.

See how RightAd works