Complete guide to LinkedIn ads: ad types, set-up, CRO, CRMs, tips, and more

LinkedIn advertising is daunting. It's almost too perfect of a platform. Billions of people are on LinkedIn and millions of them login daily, ready to ingest work-related materials. Can't say people who log into other social channels are exactly in that mindset!

But despite its popularity, LinkedIn advertising is misunderstood, leaving many to feel burned by the platform and/or avoid it completely. Here's how to find success.

What makes LinkedIn different?

We created Abe because we believe LinkedIn is the most valuable online advertising channel. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of people on it, and they show up in a professional mindset. But LinkedIn also offers: 

• Dynamic targeting (instead of relying on a platform's innate targeting which, by nature, wants to get you to spend money) 
• A uniquely B2B audience (because pretty much every single person working in B2B is on there daily) 
• One of the few places online you can actually get the attention of decision-makers
• Simple set up between CRMs and LinkedIn (more on this later) 

Our internal benchmarks, shown below, show LinkedIn as the most cost-effective platform after only Bing, which doesn't offer the same audience relevance.

Common LinkedIn ad objectives

Top of the Funnel / "Awareness"

This objective is perfect for all of your top of the funnel (TOFU) ad content. The objective of awareness content is to get your brand noticed by the right people. It’s to push yourself to the front of your prospects’ consciousness and show them what you know.

Awareness campaigns are usually impressions-based and designed to increase views, inspire engagement, and grow your LinkedIn audience. Ads that tell a personal story, talk about a trending topic that relates to your industry or aggravate a specific pain point are all powerful ways of driving awareness on LinkedIn.

Best ad formats for brand awareness:

• Text-based ads
• Single image ads
• Carousel ads
• Video ads

Middle of the Funnel / "Consideration"

Conversion ads exist to help you seal the deal. It's bottom of the funnel (BOFU) messaging. Here, your content and intent is based on persuading warm leads to invest in what you have to offer.

Use conversion ads when you want  people to sign up to your email newsletter, book a demo, register for your webinar, earn more subscribers or sell a particular service or product. You can also use conversion-based ads to attract the right applicants if you’re recruiting for a new job role.

Best ad formats…

• Document ads
• Job ads
• Text ads

Bottom of the Funnel / "Conversion"

Conversion ads exist to help you seal the deal. It's bottom of the funnel (BOFU) messaging. Here, your content and intent is based on persuading warm leads to invest in what you have to offer.

Use conversion ads when you want  people to sign up to your email newsletter, book a demo, register for your webinar, earn more subscribers or sell a particular service or product. You can also use conversion-based ads to attract the right applicants if you’re recruiting for a new job role.

• Conversation ads
• Lead gen forms

LinkedIn ad types explained

LinkedIn ads come in many shapes and sizes. At Abe we advise on all of them. The exact mix will always depend on business goals, advertising budget, and brand popularity. We advise on that too.

Here are ad types based on location: 

Ads that show up in the sidebar

LinkedIn text ads contain few visuals, save for a brand logo or other small image. They show up in the sidebar of a user's LinkedIn page on desktop only. You might hear them called "right rail ads". These ads work on a pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) basis and have a simple format:

• A short headline
• A concise description (the main body messaging)
• A hyperlink

These ads are ideal for targeting a precise audience when you’re promoting an email newsletter, an exclusive piece of content or an event (in-person or webinar, for instance).

Ads that show up in the user feed

Sponsored content shows up within the LinkedIn feed, the only thing differentiating them from organic social posts is a small "promoted" label in the top left hand corner.

These types of ads are perfect for promoting your brand in a way that’s non-sales-y, demonstrates your authority, and offers actual value to your prospects. There's no pressure, just good old fun.

You might think of feed ads as a static image, but they actually take many different shapes and forms: 

• Document ads
• Carousel ads
• Video ads
• Static image ads
• Thought leader ads

Ads that show up in the inbox

LinkedIn also gives you the option to slide into your prospects' DMs with targeted messaging about your brand, products or services. When use wisely, these are highly effective. Generally there are two types: 

Message ads

‍These ads look and feel like regular DMs. You can add external links and a CTA to these ads to encourage your recipient to take a specific action.

Conversation ads

This format is slightly more interactive (and has a little more pizazz) than a classic message ad. With a conversation ad, you can target users when they’re most active on the platform and spark an interaction. You can also add multiple CTAs to give your prospects a choice of potential actions to take based on your interactions.

Off-platform ads

Not everyone knows this so consider yourself the chosen few. You can actually use LinkedIn to run ads that show up before somebody streams a video on channels like YouTube, Hulu, Hoopla, and more. They're called CTV ads and they're unmatched for brand awareness, as humans are visual creatures.

How to create a LinkedIn ad campaign

💡Tip: You can only use one ad type per LinkedIn campaign. If you want to test different formats, you'll need separate campaigns, even if the goal and audience is the same.

1. Surf on over to LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager.

2. Set up and label a new Campaign Group.
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3. Within your Campaign Group, create a campaign. When selecting "Campaign", you'll be prompted to either use "Streamlined campaign creation" or "Classic".

In LinkedIn, a Campaign Group is for organizing ad initiatives. A Campaign is an initiative within the Campaign Group. An Ad is the single ad within the Campaign working towards this initiative.

💡Tip: At Abe, we usually use "Classic", but it's really a personal preference! 

4. (In Classic Mode), you'll be asked to name your Campaign and set your target audience.

💡Tip: Instead of relying on the list that LinkedIn auto-populates, we highly recommend that you use your own audience. At Abe, we build all of our customer's audience list by hand, verifying that each account we're targeting is actually a good fit.
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5  (Optional) If you use UTMs, you can enter them here.

6. Choose whether you'd like your ads placed on only LinkedIn, or also on LinkedIn Audience Network.

💡Tip: We typically don't recommend expanding reach beyond LinkedIn, but it will depend on the individual campaign or goals.
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7. Set your ad budget.

💡Tip: LinkedIn will recommend a minimum daily budget based on your audience size and campaign goals. However, we recommend setting your own budget based on financial modeling and expected ROI.
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8. Review, tweak, and hit the publishing button.

9. Track your results, analyze them (see the next paragraph), and iterate upon them! 

How to measure LinkedIn ads

You can see basic performance metrics in LinkedIn's Campaign Manager, but for more in-depth analysis you'll want to connect to your CRM.

For awareness campaigns:

Focus on Impressions, Reach, and Engagement Rate (likes, shares, comments divided by impressions).

These numbers tell you how visible your brand is and whether your content is actually resonating.

For consideration campaigns:

Prioritize Clicks, Click-Through Rate (CTR), and Landing Page Views (you’ll need the LinkedIn Insight Tag installed on your site to track this).

If you're using video, look at View Rate, Completion Rate, and Views at 50%/75%/100% to understand drop-off points.

For conversion campaigns:

Use Lead Gen Form Opens and Submissions (built directly into Campaign Manager).

Or, if you're sending traffic to your site, track Conversions, Cost Per Conversion, and Conversion Rate via the Insight Tag and your CRM/analytics tool.

How to connect LinkedIn with your CRM 

Hubspot

LinkedIn ads

1. Connect Your LinkedIn Ad Account to HubSpot
2. In HubSpot, go to Marketing > Ads.
3. Click "Connect Account" and choose LinkedIn. You’ll be prompted to log into your LinkedIn Ads account and grant permissions.
4. Select the ad accounts you want to link. Done.
5. Enable Auto-Tracking

Once connected, HubSpot automatically adds tracking parameters (UTMs) to your LinkedIn ads, so clicks are attributed to the right campaigns inside your CRM. Make sure auto-tracking is toggled ON for every campaign.

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

1. Go to Marketing > Ads > Lead syncing.
2. Under "Lead Syncing," enable sync for LinkedIn.

HubSpot will now automatically pull in any leads submitted through LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms. These leads will show up as new contacts, complete with ad campaign metadata (ad name, form name, campaign, etc.).

Zoho

LinkedIn Ads

1. In Zoho Marketing Automation, go to Lead Generation and then LinkedIn Ads.
2. Click "Connect" and sign into your LinkedIn Ads account. Grant the necessary permissions.
3. Select the ad account you'd like to sync.

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

1. In Zoho Marketing Automation, go to Lead Generation and then Lead Forms.
2. Click "Manage Forms" and enable sync for LinkedIn.
3. Choose the form(s) you want to sync and map the fields to Zoho CRM.

Leads submitted through LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms will now flow into Zoho CRM automatically. 

Looking for Salesforce?

If you're using Salesforce as your CRM, you'll need a connector like Zapier to connect LinkedIn Ads and Lead Gen Forms with Salesforce. The platforms don't natively integrate.

How to A/B test on LinkedIn

If your ads aren't performing:

On LinkedIn, an ad that isn't performing typically has high impressions but low clicks or conversions. If this is happening to you, something’s likely off with the intent or mechanics of your ad. Try testing one of the following:

→ Audience
→ Offer

How to read your A/B test findings: 

If you test a new audience and your Click-Through-Rate (CTR) improves but conversions stay low, your offer might be the issue. Test that next.

If you test a new offer and conversions improve, you’re on the right track. The problem was in the value prop, not the targeting.

If your ads are under-performing: 

An underperforming ad on LinkedIn gets some impressions, clicks, and conversions, but in general is more expensive and less effective than LinkedIn benchmarks.

The good news is that if you are seeing some performance, there are small things you can test that take less of a lift than ads that aren't performing. You could test one of the following:
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→ Hook / headline
→ CTA
→ Creative
→ Audience segmentation

What you’re aiming for is a more efficient, less costly campaign. If none of these tweaks improve performance, it might be time to revisit your offer or audience targeting.

12 LinkedIn advertising tips from Abe

1. Don't use LinkedIn's built-in targeting. Instead, manually build and verify your own list (we promise it's worth it, we do it for every client at Abe)
2. Avoid sending users to external landing pages by taking advantage of LinkedIn's native Lead Gen Forms.
3.  Provide an incentive with your Conversation Ads. This gives prospects that extra push to show up for the initial meeting with your sales team, who can then work their magic!
4. Don't just rely on one ad type. Instead, focus on a mix of content that spans the entire funnel, weighted for your brand maturity.
5. Be honest with yourself about your brand awareness. When in doubt, invest in ad types that help foster your brand recognition.
6. Don't become over-reliant on industry targeting. This is self-reported on LinkedIn and can be inaccurate.
7. Be uniform with your brand creative. Your audience should be able to recognize an ad as yours upon first glance.
8. Use a number of personas that is relevant to your ad spend. If you're spending $20k or less per month, you can use one persona at a time.
9. Focus on building the symbiosis between your sales and marketing teams. The more they know about what each other is up to, the more they can work together to coordinate sales call techniques and ad language.
10. Refresh your list of target accounts on the regular to keep things fresh with your audience.
11. If you're sending leads to a landing page, iterate upon it and see if your changes improve performance. A/B testing doesn't stop at the ad!
12. Sync up your ad campaigns with your product roadmap. The best time to tell customers about new features is when they're hot off the press! 
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Abe is the top LinkedIn advertising consultancy

Abe was created with one vision in mind: to run the best possible LinkedIn ad campaigns for B2B companies. We've given you a lot of information here, but you're not in it alone. Book a call and we can chat about how we can turn your vision into measurable growth.

LinkedIn Conversation ("Convo") Ads empower businesses to have highly-personalized chatbot-esque interactions with their target audience directly within the LinkedIn platform. Think of it as the flexibility of email marketing with the specificity of LinkedIn targeting.

The most unique attribute of Conversation Ads is the number of Call-to-Actions (CTAs). Conversation Ads allow you to craft multiple CTAs and give your target more options.

What are Conversation Ads? 

Conversation Ads are an interactive ad format that allows brands (like yours!) to start real-time, value-driven conversations with decision-makers, guiding them toward a demo, a resource, or even a direct meeting.

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One of the biggest advantages of LinkedIn Conversation Ads is the ability to leverage native LinkedIn targeting to reach the right professionals with the right message. Unlike static ads that can be easily ignored, well-crafted Conversation Ads feel personalized and engaging. When done right, they also:

• Bring in higher quality leads by (dis)qualifying prospects early
• Quicken lead generation by instantly sharing your USPs and solutions
• Build stronger relationships through real-time, interactive conversations
• Improve down-funnel conversion rates by speaking to unique audience segments
• Deliver lower cost per lead (compared to other LinkedIn ad formats)
• Expand reach and enhance brand perception with clear, value-driven messaging

Convo Ads vs. Sponsored InMail

The key difference between LinkedIn Conversation Ads and Sponsored InMail (now called Message Ads) comes down to interactivity. Sponsored InMail is essentially a one-way message—delivered to a prospect’s inbox like an email, with a single CTA.

Conversation Ads, on the other hand, are dynamic and interactive, allowing you to create a branched experience where prospects can choose their own path based on multiple response options. This makes Conversation Ads feel more like a real dialogue rather than a cold pitch.

Setting up Conversation Ads

1. Set Your Objective

Before you start building your ads, sit down with your team’s stakeholders and decide exactly what you want to get from your campaign. Conversation Ads allow for two different goal types: website visits (for middle-of-the-funnel objectives) and lead generation forms (for bottom-of-the-funnel objectives).

Example of goal setting:

• Bad goal: Get more people to attend our webinar
• Okay goal: Increase webinar sign-ups
• Good goal: Increase webinar attendance by 35%

2. Decide Which Audience to Target

Ads that speak to specific pain points are the most effective. You can target your audience by:

• Sector or industry
• Seniority or job title
• Specific LinkedIn user groups
• Geographical location
• User demographics (age, language, etc.)

Avoid targeting prospects you've engaged with before using similar messaging. It will offer little return for your efforts and could hurt your brand reputation.

3. Create Your Conversational Flow

LinkedIn offers conversational flow templates, but avoid using generic options. Your message needs to be succinct, punchy, and offer personal value.

Conversational Flow Example:

Hi, [Name],

How are you?

I noticed you're interested in [User's Interest]. It’s a space that we at [Brand Name] specialize in—and something we’re hugely passionate about.

Our platform [Solution Name] is designed to help [Job Title] like you [Benefit] by [Explanation of Solution].

Would you like to find out more about [Solution Name] and how we can help you [user goal or pain point] specifically?

Possible User Responses and Follow-Up Messages:

1. Yes, I'm interested: Great! I was hoping you’d say that. Let's talk about how we can help you achieve your goals. Would you be interested in a quick demo or learning more about our case studies? Or would you like to ask a question here? If so, fire away.
2. Tell me more: [Solution Name] helps you [Benefit 1], [Benefit 2], and [Benefit 3]. Would you like to learn more about how it works or ask any specific questions about [Solution Name]?
3. I'm not interested: No problem. Let us know if you have any questions about what we do here at [Brand Name].

Convo Ads + B2B

LinkedIn Conversation Ads are a powerful tool for B2B marketers looking to engage decision-makers in a more direct and interactive way. Unlike traditional static ads, Convo Ads feel like real conversations, allowing prospects to choose their own path based on their interests. This makes them especially effective for driving high-intent actions like booking demos, downloading whitepapers, or registering for events. With LinkedIn’s advanced targeting, you can reach the right professionals at the right time.

Elements of high-performing Conversation Ads

Lead with a hook, not a pitch

Start like a human, not a marketer. Open with a question or a statement that makes them think, not roll their eyes. Skip the robotic intros—nobody wants to read, “Hi [First Name], I’d love to introduce you to our cutting-edge solution.” Instead, try something that taps into their reality: “Managing pipeline getting messier? You’re not alone.”

Make it feel like a real chat

‍Nobody wants to read a wall of text. Keep messages short, punchy, and natural—like how you’d text a colleague. Instead of “Our platform optimizes workflows to improve operational efficiency,” say “We help you cut the busywork so your team can focus on closing deals.” Keep the flow smooth and let them pick their path.

Write for one person, not an audience

‍Great ads feel like a 1:1 conversation, not a mass blast. Know your ICP and talk to their specific problems, not vague industry trends. If your ideal buyer is a VP of Sales, focus on revenue and pipeline—not generic business efficiency.

Guide, don't sell

‍Give them choices that feel useful, not salesy. Instead of just one CTA, offer multiple paths: “Want the quick version? Grab the PDF. Prefer to chat? Let’s book a time.” The goal is to make engaging feel easy, not like committing to a sales pitch.

Make the next step obvious

‍No one should have to guess what happens after they click. Spell it out: “Grab the guide and get key takeaways in under 5 minutes.” or “Book a time, and I’ll show you exactly how this works in your world.” Clear, direct, and no surprises.

Convo Ad Dos

Do keep it personal and human

People want to talk to people, not robots. Use conversational language and keep things casual, like you're chatting with a colleague, not pitching a product. Personalize your messages, and make sure it feels like a one-on-one conversation.

Do focus on the prospect's needs

‍Your message should speak directly to their pain points, not your product features. Instead of "We offer the best SaaS solution for businesses," say "Struggling with manual processes? Here’s how to make life easier."

Do offer choices, not just a one-way path

Give people options to engage, not just a single CTA. You don’t want them to feel trapped. Options like “Want to chat? Book a time” or “Need resources? Download the guide” keep things flexible and less salesy.

Do keep your messaging simple and clear

‍No jargon, no fluff. People are busy, so make sure your messages are easy to understand and straight to the point. Stick to a simple flow, and don’t make them guess what to do next.

Do optimize for mobile

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Most users will engage on their phones, so make sure your messages are short, scannable, and easy to respond to. If they have to scroll too much, they’ll just bail.

Conversation Ads 'Don'ts'

Don’t be overly formal or stiff

Nobody likes getting hit with a stiff, corporate message. Ditch the corporate speak and don’t try to sound "professional" just for the sake of it. Keep it natural, friendly, and approachable.

Don’t push too hard with the CTA

‍If your CTA feels like a high-pressure sales pitch, you’ll lose people fast. Instead of “Sign up now or miss out!”, try something low-pressure like “Let’s chat and see if this could be a good fit for you.”

Don’t overcomplicate the conversation

‍Keep things simple. Don’t try to cram too many offers or questions into one message. If your first message feels like a mini sales presentation, you’ve already lost them. Stick to one clear ask.

Don’t ignore the prospect’s experience

‍If you’re coming off too robotic or scripted, they’ll sense it. Pay attention to how your ad feels for the user. If it’s too pushy, complex, or out of sync with their expectations, they’ll tune out.

Don’t send irrelevant follow-ups

‍If someone engages with your ad, make sure your follow-up is relevant and aligned with their interests. Sending the wrong info, or bombarding them with irrelevant offers, will kill the relationship fast.

15 LinkedIn Conversation Ads best practices

1. Make the offer irresistible by using strong incentives like monetary rewards or exclusive access to boost engagement.
2. Lead with value in your copy by making the first message personal, engaging, and curiosity-driven.
3. Use personalization by adding the recipient’s name or referencing their industry to increase relevance and response rates.
4. Avoid over-segmenting by focusing on broader pain points instead of narrowing your targeting too much.
5. Test and iterate by running A/B tests on offers, CTAs, and messaging styles to refine your approach.
6. Keep it conversational by making your ad feel like a real dialogue rather than a scripted sales pitch.
7. Use multiple response paths to let recipients choose how they want to engage with your message.
8. Avoid overloading with text by keeping messages concise and easy to read.
9. Time your messages right by testing different days and hours to find when your audience is most responsive.
10. Align with buyer intent by tailoring your messaging based on where the prospect is in the buying journey.
11. Use clear and direct CTAs to make the next step obvious and easy to take.
12. Leverage LinkedIn’s native targeting to ensure your message reaches the right people without over-narrowing.
13. Avoid jargon and buzzwords by writing in a simple, human, and relatable way.
14. Optimize for mobile by keeping messages short and easy to scan.
15. Track and measure success by monitoring response rates, CTRs, and conversions to adjust your strategy.

How to measure Conversation Ad performance

Lead Generation Metrics

Lead generation metrics help you assess how efficiently your LinkedIn Conversation Ads convert prospects into leads. Tracking these KPIs ensures you're optimizing cost, messaging, and targeting for maximum impact.

• Cost per lead (CPL)
• Average order value (AOV)
• Lead quality score

Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics measure how effectively your Conversation Ads capture attention and encourage interaction. A lower engagement rate may signal issues with personalization, messaging, or targeting.

• Conversation length
• Response rate
• Time to conversion

Conversion Metrics

Conversion metrics evaluate how well leads from Conversation Ads turn into customers. Strong performance here indicates your ads are driving real business results, not just clicks.

• Conversion rate
• Lead-to-customer rate
• LTV:CAC ratio

How much do Convo Ads cost?

A down-funnel way to measure Convo Ads is through Cost Per Lead (CPL). You know the drill — this can vary. But you can expect a number between $500 to $1,200.

Conversation Ad Benchmarks

Source: Abe's internal benchmark library.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

• High: $5
• Median: $3
• Low: $2

Click Through Rate (CTR)

• High: 48%
• Median: 35%
• Low: 2%

Open rate

• High: 50%
• Median: 45%
• Low: 40%

Cost Per Mile (CPM)

• High: $1,300
• Median: $600
• Low: $120

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

• High: $1,100
• Median: $985
• Low: $559

Lead to MQL conversion rate

• High: 95%
• Median: 74%
• Low: 67%

MQL to SQL conversion rate

• High: 69%
• Median: 46%
• Low: 31%

Level up your LinkedIn with Abe

LinkedIn Conversation Ads are cost-effective and offer higher conversion rates than many other ad formats. With the right approach, you can generate high-quality leads and connect with prospects in a way that provides endless value.

Book an introductory call to see how Abe can help your team hit LinkedIn advertising goals.

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LinkedIn ABM marketing is the best way to target the enterprise accounts on your "most-wanted" list.

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Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has become a go-to strategy for B2B companies looking to drive revenue by focusing on high-value accounts. Instead of casting a wide net, ABM narrows the focus to the accounts that matter most—aligning marketing and sales for maximum impact.

What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

ABM is a highly targeted B2B marketing strategy that treats individual accounts as markets of one. It involves personalized campaigns tailored to specific companies, leveraging data and insights to engage decision-makers and accelerate deal velocity.

Unlike traditional marketing strategies that prioritize volume, ABM focuses on quality. The goal is to build meaningful relationships with high-value accounts, ensuring marketing and sales efforts are strategically aligned to drive revenue growth.

ABM vs. Conversation Ads

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and LinkedIn Conversation Ads both focus on targeted outreach, but they take different approaches. ABM is a long-game strategy — highly personalized, multi-channel, and built around nurturing key accounts with tailored content and engagement. It’s about precision and relationship-building at scale.

Conversation Ads, on the other hand, are a more immediate, interactive way to engage prospects in real time. They create a chat-like experience in LinkedIn’s messaging inbox, guiding users through a decision tree of responses. While ABM is about sustained influence across a buying committee, Conversation Ads offer a quick way to qualify leads and drive action.

Ideally, the two should work together. Conversation Ads can be a high-impact touchpoint within a larger ABM strategy, helping warm up decision-makers and drive engagement at key moments.

ABM specs

In contrast to other LinkedIn ad types, ABM (Account-Based Marketing) doesn't have the same specific technical requirements. However, audience targeting is crucial for ABM's success.

Tailoring your approach to high-value accounts and leveraging detailed segmentation is key. With Abe's TAM production process, we emphasize precise targeting — refining your ideal customer profile (ICP) and prioritizing key accounts based on factors like industry, company size, and specific pain points. This ensures you're investing resources in the most impactful segments, maximizing ROI and driving stronger engagement from your most promising prospects.

ABM + B2B = made for each other

B2B sales cycles are long and involve multiple decision-makers, making effective engagement crucial. ABM helps align marketing and sales teams to target the right people at the right time, which can shorten sales cycles and increase deal sizes. It is especially effective in industries like Enterprise SaaS, Financial Services, Cybersecurity, and Healthcare Tech, where personalized outreach drives results.

ABM works for B2B by fostering better sales and marketing alignment, with both teams focusing on the same high-value accounts. This leads to higher close rates and increased deal sizes as personalized engagement boosts conversion and targets high-value prospects.

Dos and Don'ts of ABM

Do align marketing and sales teams

ABM works best when everyone is on the same page. Get your marketing and sales teams to sync up, share data, and collaborate on strategy. It’s a partnership, not a competition.

Do personalize your outreach

Stop sending generic messages. Use data to speak directly to the challenges and needs of your target accounts. The more personalized, the better the results.

Do use data to inform your strategy

ABM isn’t a gut-feeling game. Use firmographic data, intent signals, and account activity to guide your strategy and targeting. The more insights you have, the sharper your aim.

Don't treat ABM like traditional demand gen

ABM is not just about generating leads. It’s about building deep relationships with your target accounts. Don’t think of it as “filling the funnel”—it’s about quality, not quantity.

Don't forget about existing accounts

Don’t just chase new logos. Account expansion is key. Upsell and cross-sell within your existing customer base to drive growth and deepen relationships.

Don't underestimate the power of multi-touch engagement

One email won’t cut it. Engage with your accounts across multiple channels and touchpoints — social, email, content, direct mail. The more consistent your outreach, the better your chances.

Abe's tactics for...ABM

1. Focus on defining and targeting your ideal customer profile (ICP) to the point where you're absolutely certain you know what they care about
2. Personalize all of your outreach to make it feel less "cookie cutter" 
3. Align marketing and sales teams to ensure shared commitment to the strategy from every angle
4. Use data to identify when target accounts are actively researching solutions and engage them at the right time
5. Engage with target accounts across multiple channels, not just LinkedIn!
6. Foster a culture of "first party data" into your business to reduce your reliance on third-party sources
7. Create value-driven content that speaks to your ICP's JTBD (you can use this both as a download incentive and as sales enablement) 
8. Segment your accounts based on how good of a fit they are for your brand, not based on how badly you want them as a customer
9. Involve all internal stakeholders in the KPI setting process so that you can all agree on what success looks like
10. Treat ABM as a relationship-building strategy, not just a lead generation approach
11. Optimize and iteration on a more frequent basis than you would with other ad types
12. Double, triple, and quadruple check copy — you never want to make the mistake of mentioning the wrong company name!
13. Nurture multiple stakeholders within an account, not just a single decision-maker
14. On that subject, be very sure about who your decision-maker is (it's not always who you think)
15. Be patient with ABM — it’s a long-term strategy that requires consistent effort and engagement to see significant results.

How to measure ABM peformance

Awareness KPIs

Awareness KPIs evaluate how well your ABM campaigns grab attention and establish brand recognition within your target accounts. A solid awareness strategy ensures that when prospects are ready to buy, they already know your brand and trust it. This leads to reduced acquisition costs and improved conversion rates as prospects move through the sales funnel.

Engagement KPIs

Engagement KPIs track how effectively your content keeps prospects interested and prompts them to interact with your brand. High engagement signals strong account interest and can lead to deeper connections, while poor engagement may suggest a need for refined targeting, messaging, or user experience.

• Scroll Depth
• Time on Page
• Bounce Rate
• Completion Rate

Lead Generation KPIs

Lead generation KPIs measure how well your ads are capturing high-intent prospects. A low Cost-Per-Lead (CPL) indicates cost-effective customer acquisition, while an increase in qualified leads and form submissions shows that your targeting and messaging are on point. Optimizing these KPIs ensures your ad spend is driving meaningful engagement with prospects who are more likely to convert into customers.

• Cost-Per-Lead (CPL)
• Qualified Leads
• Form Submissions

Conversion KPIs

Conversion KPIs assess how well your ads turn engaged prospects into customers. A high conversion rate reflects strong ad performance and audience alignment, while a low Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) indicates efficient spending. Assisted conversions reveal the importance of multiple touchpoints throughout the buyer's journey, showing how your ads contribute beyond just last-click attribution.

• Conversion Rate
• Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA)
• Assisted Conversions

How much does Account-Based Marketing (ABM) cost?

The cost of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) can vary widely depending on factors like your target market, campaign scale, and the tools you use. For smaller businesses or highly targeted campaigns, ABM can cost between $5,000 and $25,000 per year. This typically includes advertising spend, content creation, and basic marketing automation tools. For mid-market companies, costs can range from $50,000 to $100,000 per year, with more advanced targeting, personalized content, and a more robust tech stack.

It's important to think of ABM in terms of Return-On-Investment (ROI). It's only worthwhile to spend a large amount of money on ABM if you can expect to get more in return.

ABM demystified

Ready to take your B2B marketing to the next level? Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is the game-changer you’ve been waiting for. At Abe, we specialize in turning targeted accounts into loyal customers with personalized, high-impact strategies. If you're looking to scale faster, build stronger relationships, and drive real revenue, let’s talk. Contact us today and discover how ABM can transform your business.

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