When I first ran LinkedIn Ads for a B2B company, I hated the platform.
The CPLs were high. The volume was inconsistent. Leadership questioned whether the leads were worth the cost. And every blog post I read kept saying the same thing: “Just refine your targeting and test creatives.”
That advice nearly killed the channel for us.
What actually changed everything was stopping the mindset of “running LinkedIn Ads” and instead building a structured 3-month acquisition system with clear goals, constraints, and expectations.
LinkedIn is not Meta. You do not launch ads and optimise your way to success in two weeks. If you try, you will burn budget and lose trust internally. What LinkedIn does reward is patience, focus, and disciplined iteration.
This article is a breakdown of exactly how I ran LinkedIn Ads over 90 days, what worked, what didn’t, the CPLs we achieved, and the mistakes I would never repeat.
If you’re a B2B founder, marketing manager, or agency running LinkedIn Ads for clients, this will save you months of trial and error.
The 3-Month LinkedIn Ads System (Why 90 Days Matters)
Before getting into tactics, one mindset shift is critical:
LinkedIn Ads are not a campaign. They are a system.
B2B buyers do not convert on first exposure. LinkedIn’s algorithm also needs time to stabilise. A 3-month structure gave us:
- Time to validate ICP assumptions
- Space to test messaging without panic
- Enough data to make confident optimisation decisions
Here’s how we structured it.
Month 1: Research, Audience Building, and Pilot Campaigns
The Goal of Month 1 (This Is Where Most People Go Wrong)
Month 1 was not about CPL optimisation.
It was about answering three questions:
- Are we targeting the right people?
- Does our message resonate with their real problems?
- Will they exchange their details for our offer?
If you try to scale or aggressively optimise before answering those, you’re guessing.
Audience Targeting: What We Actually Did
Instead of building one large audience, we built multiple small, intentional ones.
Our ICP was mid-market B2B companies selling services with deal sizes above £5k.
Here’s how we structured targeting:
- Company size: 11–50 and 51–200 (separate ad sets)
- Industries: We limited this to 3 (no “All industries” laziness)
- Job targeting:
- Job titles: “Marketing Manager,” “Head of Marketing,” “Founder”
- Seniority: Manager, Director, Owner
Audience sizes ranged from 25,000 to 70,000 per segment. Anything larger diluted relevance.
One early mistake: we tested “Marketing” job function with all seniorities. Engagement looked fine, but lead quality was poor. Titles outperformed functions for us early on.
Creatives & Messaging: What Actually Got Clicks
Our first ads failed because they sounded like marketing.
The breakthrough came when we wrote ads like internal sales notes.
One of our first winners opened with:
“Most B2B companies running LinkedIn Ads are paying £150+ per lead and don’t know why.”
That line alone outperformed anything brand-led we tested.
What worked consistently:
- Calling out costly problems
- Naming the role directly
- Positioning the offer as practical, not educational
Formats we used in Month 1:
- Single image ads (simple, text-led visuals)
- Document ads with short, specific titles
No videos. No carousels. No experiments yet.
The Offer: Why Our First Lead Magnet Almost Failed
Our first lead magnet was a generic “LinkedIn Ads Guide.”
It technically converted, but CPL was high (£120–£140), and sales hated the leads.
We scrapped it and replaced it with a diagnostic-style offer:
“A 5-Point LinkedIn Ads Audit Used to Cut Our CPL by 42%”
Same audience. Same budget. CPL dropped to £78 within two weeks.
Lesson learned:
Generic content attracts curiosity. Specific outcomes attract buyers.
Month 1 Results (Reality Check)
- Average CPL: £85–£110
- Volume: Low but consistent
- Lead quality: Mixed, but improving
- Internal confidence: Still shaky
And that was fine. Month 1 did its job.
Month 2: Scaling What Worked and Cutting What Didn’t
Month 2 is where LinkedIn Ads either become viable or get killed internally.
This is where discipline matters.
What We Paused (Aggressively)
Anything that didn’t produce leads within 14–21 days was paused.
Not tweaked. Not “given more time.” Paused.
This included:
- Broad audiences
- Brand-led ads
- Long-form lead forms
We kept only what showed clear intent.
CPL Targets: How We Set Realistic Benchmarks
Instead of chasing “industry averages,” we worked backwards:
- Average deal value: £7,500
- Close rate from lead to deal: ~12%
- Acceptable CPL: £90–£100
That reframed conversations internally. Suddenly, £80 CPL wasn’t “expensive”—it was profitable.
By mid-Month 2:
- Best ad sets: £65–£75 CPL
- Worst still running: £95–£100 CPL
That range was acceptable.
Creative Testing That Actually Moved CPL
We tested only one variable at a time.
Our biggest CPL drop came from changing headlines, not visuals.
Example:
- “Download Our LinkedIn Ads Playbook”
vs - “How We Generated B2B Leads on LinkedIn Without Increasing Spend”
Same ad. Same audience.
CPL difference: £92 → £68
Small changes compound fast on LinkedIn.
Scaling Budgets (Carefully)
We never increased budgets by more than 25% at a time.
And we only scaled ads that:
- Hit CPL targets for 10–14 days
- Generated leads sales didn’t complain about
Anything else stayed flat.
Month 3: Retargeting, Refinement, and Real ROI
Month 3 is where LinkedIn Ads finally felt predictable.
Retargeting: Where Easy Wins Came From
Once we had traffic and lead data, retargeting was obvious—but powerful.
We built audiences for:
- Website visitors (30–90 days)
- Lead form openers
- Document ad viewers
Retargeting CPLs were consistently 30–40% lower than cold traffic.
Some came in at £45–£55 CPL.
These weren’t cold leads. They knew us.
Fine-Tuning Lead Quality (Not Just CPL)
At this stage, we added custom questions to lead forms:
- Company size range
- Primary challenge related to our service
Volume dropped slightly. Sales quality improved dramatically.
That trade-off was worth it.
Month 3 Results (What Actually Mattered)
By the end of 90 days:
- Blended CPL: £68
- Sales-accepted lead rate: Up significantly
- Pipeline attribution: Clear and defensible
- Leadership confidence: Restored
LinkedIn Ads stopped being “an experiment” and became a channel.
The Biggest Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Repeat Them)
These were not theory mistakes. They cost money.
- Expecting fast wins
- Starting with audiences that were too broad
- Using generic lead magnets
- Optimising before enough data
- Treating LinkedIn like Meta Ads
LinkedIn punishes impatience.
Why This 3-Month System Works for B2B
Because it aligns with how B2B buying actually works.
- Longer consideration cycles
- Higher intent required
- Fewer, better leads
This system respects that reality instead of fighting it.
Final Thoughts & Call to Action
If you’re running LinkedIn Ads and feeling frustrated, the platform probably isn’t the problem.
The structure is.
A disciplined 3-month system turns LinkedIn Ads from an expensive gamble into a controllable growth channel.
And if you don’t want to learn these lessons the hard way, working with specialists who’ve already made the mistakes can accelerate results dramatically.
Grow My SME helps B2B companies and agencies build LinkedIn Ads systems that prioritise lead quality, sustainable CPLs, and revenue—not vanity metrics.
If you want LinkedIn Ads to finally work for your business, get in touch and start with the system—not guesswork.
