How to Make LinkedIn ABM Work for Your Marketing Goals

Why ABM is hard

ABM sounds great on paper. Who wouldn’t want to zero in on accounts that actually matter, instead of casting a wide net and hoping for the best? But getting ABM right—especially on LinkedIn—can be a headache.

For starters, LinkedIn’s a huge platform, and cutting through the noise to reach specific decision-makers takes more than just decent targeting. You need tailored content, standout ads, and a clear way to measure the results of your efforts.

But LinkedIn can work wonders for ABM if you use it right. In this guide, we’ll dig into the best ways to make LinkedIn work for you, from targeting the right people to tracking results that actually mean something.

Understanding LinkedIn’s targeting power for ABM

Here’s why LinkedIn is made for ABM: it’s one of the few platforms where people go to do business. Decision-makers, influencers, and stakeholders aren’t just scrolling mindlessly—they’re there to network, learn, and yes, sometimes buy. If you’re aiming for high-value accounts, LinkedIn gives you tools to hit your target.

First, LinkedIn’s targeting options let you get hyper-specific. You can narrow your audience down by job title, company, industry, location, and even seniority level.

Then there’s custom audiences. LinkedIn lets you upload lists of specific companies or contacts, so you can serve ads directly to those already on your radar. This lets you focus on accounts that have a higher likelihood of converting.

And if you’re wondering if LinkedIn engagement can really deliver, consider this: LinkedIn has some of the best engagement rates for B2B, with 4 out of 5 LinkedIn members driving business decisions at their companies and ad units like Thought Leader Ads delivering up to 40% CTR and above.

These tools make LinkedIn a highly effective tool in any ABM strategy.

Key strategies for marketers to maximize LinkedIn for ABM

Once you’ve narrowed down your target audience, the next step is building a strategy that engages these accounts in a meaningful way. On LinkedIn, this comes down to creating content and ads that speak directly to the decision-makers you want to reach. Here’s how to do that.

1. Create personalized content that feels like a conversation

ABM works because it’s tailored, so your LinkedIn content needs to match that level of personalization. Instead of general messages, focus on creating posts, articles, or even videos that directly address the pain points, industry challenges, or goals of your target accounts and ICPs. 

For example, if you’re targeting financial companies, post about recent trends in fintech or the regulatory changes that could impact their business.

One easy way to personalize content is to mention the industry or company in the copy of your ad. LinkedIn allows for dynamic ads, which pull in user-specific details like job title or company name to make each impression feel more customized. 

It’s not just about getting in front of the right accounts, but about grabbing their attention in a relevant way.

2. Use LinkedIn’s ad formats to their full potential

LinkedIn offers several ad formats that are particularly useful for ABM, including Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail. Each of these can be tailored for different stages of the buyer journey, allowing you to nurture relationships over time.

• Sponsored Content: Ideal for brand awareness, use it to showcase thought leadership or educational material tailored to specific industries. For ABM, try using document ads to share whitepapers, case studies, or reports that are highly relevant to your target accounts. Carousel Ads allow you to tell a story across multiple slides, like a mini case study or showcasing different features of your product.
  
  

• Sponsored InMail: Think of this as LinkedIn’s version of email marketing, but with one big advantage: it only delivers to active users on LinkedIn, making it more visible. Use this for mid-funnel engagement, like inviting contacts to a webinar or sharing a personalized demo offer. We’ve seen open rates of 30% and above.
  
  
  

3. Leverage LinkedIn Analytics for ongoing optimization

ABM isn’t “set it and forget it,” and LinkedIn’s analytics can help you keep tabs on how your strategy is performing. LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager allows you to monitor metrics like click-through rates (CTR), engagement rates, and conversions, so you can tweak your campaigns as needed.

For instance, if you notice certain ads have a much higher CTR than others, dig into why. Is it the content, the targeting, or maybe the ad format? 

LinkedIn also lets you break down results by company and job title, so you can see which accounts are engaging the most. Over time, these insights let you refine your targeting and focus on the accounts that are actually interested.

4. Use LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences feature

Matched Audiences is LinkedIn’s secret weapon for ABM. You can upload a list of companies or email addresses to create a custom audience, which LinkedIn then matches with its user base. This means you can serve ads specifically to people who already know your brand or are on your radar, like existing leads or previous webinar attendees.

You can also retarget users who’ve visited your website, interacted with your LinkedIn content, or signed up for an event. This keeps your brand top-of-mind for high-value accounts and nudges them down the funnel.

5. Collaborate with sales for account-specific insights

ABM is a team sport, and collaboration with sales is essential. Your sales team likely has valuable insights on specific accounts—their pain points, buying processes, or even who the decision-makers are. 

Work together to refine your LinkedIn strategy, focusing on the specific needs and goals of each account. This collaboration could be as simple as sharing a list of target accounts, or setting up regular check-ins to adjust your approach based on sales feedback.

Measuring success and fine-tuning your LinkedIn ABM strategy

Once your ABM campaigns are up and running on LinkedIn, the next step is figuring out what’s working. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by LinkedIn’s analytics, but for ABM, you don’t need every metric—just the ones that tell you if you’re hitting the mark with your target accounts. 

Here’s a simple approach to measure and refine your LinkedIn ABM efforts.

1. Focus on engagement metrics

For ABM, the key is quality over quantity. High engagement from a few key accounts is better than hundreds of views from random users. Start by tracking engagement metrics like click-through rates (CTR), likes, comments, and shares specifically from your target accounts.

LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager lets you drill down into engagement by company, job title, and even industry, giving you clear insight into whether your message is resonating with the right people.

If certain ads or pieces of content are performing well with a few key accounts, that’s a good sign you’re on the right track. On the flip side, if your engagement numbers are low across the board, it might be time to revisit your targeting or content strategy.

2. Look at conversion rates and lead quality

The ultimate goal of ABM is to turn high-value prospects into real leads, so conversions are a critical metric to watch. If you’re running a LinkedIn campaign to drive sign-ups, demos, or downloads, pay close attention to conversion rates from specific accounts or account segments. 

LinkedIn lets you track conversions by custom audiences, making it easy to see if your target accounts are actually taking action. It’s also worth digging into lead quality on the backend. Do the leads align with your target personas? Are they decision-makers or influencers within the company? High conversion rates don’t mean much if they’re from the wrong people.

3. Use LinkedIn’s Professional Demographics to refine your targeting

LinkedIn offers Professional Demographics, giving you a snapshot of who interacts with your ads. These insights break down data by job function, seniority, company size, and more.

This is especially useful if your target accounts span different industries or roles, as it lets you fine-tune your messaging and ad formats to better appeal to each segment.

For example, if you see that mid-level managers engage more than senior executives, you might adjust your content to be more strategic and less tactical. Or, if one industry segment is underperforming, consider tailoring content specifically for that group.

4. Test, learn, and iterate with A/B testing

A/B testing isn’t just for broad-based campaigns; it’s crucial for ABM too. Testing different ad formats, messaging, or even creative elements helps you zero in on what resonates most with your target accounts. 

For example, you might run two versions of a Sponsored Content ad—one that focuses on industry trends and another that highlights a specific product feature—and see which gets more engagement from your target accounts.

As you test and learn, keep a record of what works and what doesn’t. Over time, this will give you a playbook for LinkedIn ABM that you can refine and scale.

5. Set regular check-ins to adjust and align with sales

Lastly, make measurement a continuous, team effort. Regularly check in with your sales team to get their perspective on which accounts are warming up, and share your LinkedIn engagement insights in return. 

These feedback loops ensure your ABM strategy stays aligned with what’s happening in the sales funnel, so you can adjust your approach as needed.

Case study: LinkedIn ABM

Alida and InMoment show how LinkedIn can make ABM strategies work when used smartly. Here’s what they did and why it paid off.

Alida’s success: getting 5X more leads

Alida, a company that helps brands understand their customers, switched to ABM to reach the right accounts in the Asia Pacific region. Instead of broad ads, they used LinkedIn Sponsored Content and Lead Gen Forms to target specific companies and roles. Just days into the campaign, they saw five times more leads than they’d gotten from their usual website forms.

One tactic that made a difference was using LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences. By uploading a list of 500 key accounts, they expanded their reach to similar people, eventually hitting over 800,000 relevant profiles. This approach allowed them to focus their budget where it mattered most, reaching the exact decision-makers they needed.

InMoment’s improvement: reaching the full buying team

InMoment, which specializes in customer experience software, wanted to be more precise in their LinkedIn strategy. They teamed up with ABM expert Terminus, and used LinkedIn’s targeting tools to reach not only top decision-makers but entire buying committees. 

This meant they could show ads to everyone involved in making a purchase decision, not just one person. The result? A huge boost in clicks—131% more—while lowering their cost per lead by 63%, without spending any extra money. 

Working closely with LinkedIn account managers helped them to keep fine-tuning their strategy and reach their ABM goals.

Make LinkedIn ABM work for you with Column

If you want results like these, Column is ready to help. Our team specializes in LinkedIn ABM, from building targeted lists to creating tailored content that hits the right accounts. Let us show you how LinkedIn can become a powerful tool for reaching the accounts that matter most.

Get in touch with Column today to get started.