You’ve set up your LinkedIn campaigns, spent a decent chunk of your marketing budget, and waited for the leads to roll in. But instead of conversions, you’re getting crickets. Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing about LinkedIn advertising: when it works, it’s incredibly powerful for B2B marketing. But when it doesn’t, it can feel like throwing money into a black hole. The platform’s complexity means there are dozens of points where things can go sideways.
I’ve audited hundreds of LinkedIn campaigns, and I’ve noticed that most failing campaigns suffer from the same handful of issues. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the six most common reasons LinkedIn ads underperform and show you exactly how to fix each one.
1. Are we targeting the right people?
Even the most brilliant ad creative fails if you’re showing it to the wrong audience. LinkedIn offers incredibly precise targeting options, but this precision only helps if it actually matches your ideal customer profile (ICP).
Where to look in LinkedIn
Start by checking your targeting parameters:
- Go to Campaign Manager → Edit Targeting → Audience summary – Confirm that Job Functions, Job Titles, Seniority, Company Size, Industry, and Geography all match your latest ICP. I often find clients targeting “Marketing” as a job function when they really need to reach “Digital Marketing Managers” specifically.
- Review your Matched Audiences and Lists – Spot-check any uploaded contact lists or lookalike audiences for potential drift or stale contacts. Lists from six months ago might include companies that are no longer prospects.
- Check if Audience Expansion is enabled – This should be OFF unless you’re intentionally trying to broaden your reach. LinkedIn will often turn this on by default, diluting your carefully crafted targeting.
Quick fixes
- Tighten job title targeting to eliminate irrelevant positions
- Exclude job functions that don’t make buying decisions for your product
- Layer interest or group targeting on top of job titles for better precision
- Refresh your exclusion lists to filter out current customers or poor-fit companies
- Create separate campaigns for different segments rather than trying to reach everyone with one campaign
2. Are the right people actually seeing our ads?
Just because you’ve set up targeting correctly doesn’t mean your ads are actually reaching those people. LinkedIn’s auction system can sometimes bias delivery toward cheaper, lower-value impressions.
Where to look
- Campaign Manager → Demographics tab – Switch views to look at Company, Job Function, and Seniority. Verify that the segments with the highest spend and impressions actually align with your ICP. You might be surprised how often these don’t match.
- Company Engagement Report – Check which specific accounts have high impression volume compared to the accounts your sales team actually cares about. I’ve seen campaigns where 80% of spend went to companies that weren’t even on the target account list.
- Review your bid type and caps – CPC (cost-per-click) versus CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) bidding can dramatically affect which audience segments see your ads. CPM often biases toward people less likely to click.
Quick fixes
- Add bid multipliers (up to +50%) for your highest-priority segments
- Block non-ICP accounts via company exclusions
- Split your campaigns by tier (e.g., enterprise vs. mid-market) with separate budgets
- Switch from automated bidding to manual if LinkedIn is consistently reaching the wrong people
3. Are we showing them the right message?
Even perfect targeting falls flat when the message doesn’t resonate. A mismatch between your ad content and what your market actually cares about will kill engagement instantly.
Where to look
- Use the Ad Preview pane – Read your Primary Text, Headline, and Creative side-by-side with your documented persona pains and desired outcomes. Does your message actually address what keeps them up at night?
- Check your value propositions – Are you using the same language your prospects use? Industry insiders often use different buzzwords and acronyms than marketers do. Your ads should speak the audience’s language, not yours.
- Validate against real conversations – Compare your ad copy with transcripts from recent customer interviews or sales calls. The gap between marketing language and customer language is often enormous.
Quick fixes
- Name your audience explicitly in the headline (“Attention, CISOs:”)
- Sharpen the “so what” by focusing on outcomes, not features
- Swap static images for video when explaining complex topics
- Localise imagery and examples to match your target geography
- Lead with the problem, not your solution
4. Are the ads getting noticed and driving action?
Low attention metrics often indicate creative fatigue or placement issues. Over time, even high-performing ads stop getting noticed.
Where to look
- Campaign Manager → Performance chart (Ad level) – Check your CTR, Engagement Rate, and Cost per Engagement. Compare these to LinkedIn benchmarks (CTR should be ≥0.45% for Sponsored Content and ≥1.5% for Message Ads).
- For Video Ads – Look at View-Through Rate and completion rates at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Videos that lose 80% of viewers in the first 15 seconds need reworking.
- Break down performance by Placement and Device – Sometimes ads perform dramatically differently on mobile versus desktop, or in the feed versus the sidebar.
Quick fixes
- Refresh creative every 4-6 weeks to combat ad fatigue
- Rotate between different formats (single image, carousel, video)
- Shorten primary text to get to the point faster
- Retest high-performing historic ads that worked before
- Test bright, contrasting colours in images to stop the scroll
5. Is the destination right for the current awareness level?
The journey shouldn’t end when someone clicks your ad. A cold prospect needs proper context; a warm one needs detailed information. When there’s a mismatch, people bounce.
Where to look
- Ad Preview → Click-through to the landing page – Verify that it loads quickly (under 3 seconds) and clearly delivers on the promise made in your ad (“message match”). Does the headline of your landing page align with your ad headline?
- Check Insight Tag data – Look at Website Demographics and Conversions to assess bounce rate and scroll depth. Are people actually engaging with your content?
- Test mobile rendering and localisation – Many B2B pages are designed for desktop but viewed on mobile, creating a poor experience.
Quick fixes
- Tighten your hero copy to immediately reinforce the ad’s promise
- Surface social proof earlier on the page
- A/B test form length (fewer fields often means more completions)
- Add ungated preview content for top-funnel offers
- Ensure the page answers the specific question raised in your ad
6. Is the CTA right for the customer journey?
Over-aggressive calls to action scare away early-stage buyers, while weak CTAs waste high-intent traffic. Getting this balance right is crucial.
Where to look
- Check your Objective and Optimization Goal – Make sure it matches both the funnel stage and your client brief. “Website Conversions” isn’t always the right choice for awareness campaigns.
- For Lead Gen Forms – Check completion rate against LinkedIn’s baseline (around 10%). A 2% completion rate suggests your form asks too much too soon.
- Review Conversion tracking – Verify that you’re tracking the right events with appropriate LinkedIn ads attribution windows. LinkedIn’s default 30-day click attribution might not make sense for your sales cycle.
Quick fixes
- For cold audiences, swap aggressive CTAs (“Book a demo”) for softer ones (“Watch a 2-minute walkthrough”)
- Add mid-funnel retargeting campaigns with stronger offers for people who’ve engaged with your content
- Reduce Lead Gen form fields to the absolute minimum you need
- Test different conversion actions that match your funnel stage
- Create separate campaigns for different CTAs rather than testing multiple CTAs in one campaign
Using this troubleshooting checklist
The most effective way to use this framework is to work through it systematically, from top to bottom. As soon as you identify a material issue, fix it, relaunch your campaign, and then re-evaluate before moving on to the next potential problem.
Document every change you make in the Campaign Notes column. This creates a valuable record of what worked and what didn’t – knowledge that becomes incredibly useful for future campaigns.
Remember that LinkedIn advertising isn’t “set it and forget it.” The best-performing campaigns receive regular attention and optimisation. Even small adjustments can dramatically improve performance over time.
When to consider bigger changes
If you’ve worked through all six checks and your campaigns still aren’t performing, it might be time to consider more fundamental changes:
- Re-evaluate product-market fit: Maybe there’s limited demand for your offering within LinkedIn’s user base
- Test different objectives: Switch from lead generation to brand awareness or website visits
- Reconsider your budget: LinkedIn often requires higher spend than other platforms to deliver meaningful results
- Try thought leadership first: Sometimes building authority through personal content works better than direct advertising
The truth is, not every product or service is right for LinkedIn advertising. But before you write off the platform completely, make sure you’ve truly optimised your campaigns using this checklist. More often than not, the problem isn’t LinkedIn itself – it’s how we’re using it.
LinkedIn Ads Not Working: FAQs
What’s a good CTR benchmark for LinkedIn ads?
For Sponsored Content (the most common format), aim for at least 0.45-0.65%. Message Ads should hit 1.5% or higher. Video ads typically see 0.3-0.5% CTR, but completion rates matter more. These benchmarks vary by industry – professional services often see higher engagement than technology or manufacturing.
How long should I run a LinkedIn campaign before deciding it’s not working?
Give campaigns at least two weeks of data before making major changes. LinkedIn’s algorithm needs time to optimise, especially with smaller audiences. That said, if you’re seeing truly abysmal performance (CTR below 0.1%), you can make adjustments sooner.
Why are my LinkedIn ads so expensive compared to other platforms?
LinkedIn’s higher CPCs (often £5-15) reflect its premium B2B audience and precise targeting capabilities. The platform has less inventory than Facebook or Google, and its users are primarily business professionals with purchasing power. This makes it valuable but expensive. If your cost per lead exceeds £200, though, something likely needs optimization.
Should I use automated or manual bidding on LinkedIn?
Start with automated bidding to establish benchmarks, then switch to manual once you understand performance patterns. Manual bidding works best when you have clear data on what a lead is worth to your business. For niche B2B companies targeting very specific decision-makers, manual bidding with aggressive bids often outperforms automated options.