LinkedIn Marketing 101 — Leveraging It for Your Business in 2026

As a marketer or business owner, you likely have a profile set up on LinkedIn. And if so, you aren’t alone. LinkedIn boasts that they have over one billion users that span across 200 countries and territories. This gives you the opportunity to get yourself or your business in front of a lot of people.

When we talk to clients about LinkedIn, we explain that it is the Facebook for professionals. Where you might turn to Facebook to talk about what’s going on or what is important to your personal life, LinkedIn is where you go for career or work-related content. And that’s why we think it’s the perfect place to get in front of people who might be interested in the products or services that your business offers. 

In this article, we’ll look at why LinkedIn plays such a strong role in today’s marketing and advertising plans. You’ll learn why LinkedIn ads matter, how organic efforts support long-term visibility, what challenges marketers often run into, and how to work through them as social media marketing 2026 continues to take shape.

Why LinkedIn Has Become an Essential Marketing Channel in 2026

As we shared above, LinkedIn reaches a global professional audience where business conversations feel natural, not disruptive. Unlike entertainment-first platforms, this platform is built for industry news, peer insights, and relationship building. Decision-makers log in expecting ideas, tools, and solutions that support their work.

Activity on the platform now goes far beyond job searches. Brands and professionals use posts, videos, and long-form content to share perspectives, tell brand stories, and build visibility. Ongoing updates to feeds, video tools, and AI-driven personalization have increased how often users engage with business content.

For B2B teams, expectations around LinkedIn marketing have changed. Many organizations now view it as a performance-driven channel connected directly to pipeline goals. When campaigns follow buyer journeys, teams often report stronger lead quality, clearer attribution, and more consistent results compared to broader social platforms.

Benefits of Marketing on LinkedIn

Marketers have more choices than ever when deciding where to spend time and ad dollars. Between platforms, formats, and audiences, those decisions shape how messages land and who actually sees them. In social media marketing 2026, picking the right channel matters more than sheer volume. 

That’s why LinkedIn has become such a popular option, offering tools built around precision professional targeting, custom and matched audiences, and buyers who are already engaged in business-focused conversations.

Audience Targeting 

LinkedIn marketing gives advertisers access to professional context that most platforms can’t match. Instead of guessing who might be interested, campaigns can be built around how people actually work and make decisions.

• Precision professional targeting: Reach users by job title, industry, company size, seniority, skills, and related criteria.
• Custom and matched audiences: Use CRM data or site traffic and layer in professional filters for tighter relevance.
• Engaged buyers: Many users are actively researching vendors, making each impression more meaningful.

Ad Formats and Campaign Flexibility

Many brands turn to LinkedIn ads because campaigns can be built around specific goals at each stage of the marketing funnel. Whether the focus is awareness, consideration, or conversion, the platform supports different approaches without locking marketers into a single format.

• LinkedIn ad formats: Sponsored content, video ads, document ads, and lead forms align with awareness, consideration, and conversion objectives.
• Campaign flexibility: AI-assisted tools support setup, testing, and ongoing adjustments while reducing manual workload.

Organic Opportunities

Paid campaigns aren’t the only path to visibility on LinkedIn. Organic activity still plays a meaningful role, especially for brands willing to show expertise and personality through people, not just logos.

• Thought leadership and personal branding: Employees and executives can build credibility and reach through consistent posting.
• Content engagement and networking: Posts, articles, and conversations expand reach when ideas align with audience interests and business challenges.

Other Widely Cited Benefits

Beyond targeting and formats, marketers often point to practical business outcomes when discussing LinkedIn’s role in B2B lead generation. These advantages support both short-term campaigns and longer planning cycles.

• Quality of leads: Leads are often professional, informed, and closer to decision-making stages.
• Data insights: Reporting tools help teams adjust messaging, audiences, and spend based on performance trends.

Key Ad Formats to Know on LinkedIn

The numbers behind LinkedIn advertising help explain why marketers keep leaning into the platform. About 43% of consumers now have a LinkedIn profile, and ads on LinkedIn drive a 33% lift in purchase intent for brands. Many advertisers report a 2–3x lift in brand attributes, with conversion rates up to twice as high as other channels. 

Audiences exposed to both brand and acquisition messages are also six times more likely to convert. Those results set the stage for exploring the ad formats that make this possible, from sponsored content and video to lead forms, message ads, and contextual placements.

Sponsored Content 

When you want your brand to appear naturally in professional feeds, sponsored content is often the starting point.

• What it is: Native feed ads including single image, carousel, video, and document formats.
• Best use cases: Building awareness and driving mid-funnel interaction.
• Strategic opportunity: Place brand messages directly into professional conversations without disrupting the feed experience.

Video Ads 

When buyers are moving toward the consideration and purchase phase of the sales funnel, video tends to stick. About 89% of businesses now use video in their marketing, and it’s no surprise because people are far more likely to remember a message they’ve watched than one they’ve skimmed, making video ads especially useful during the consideration phase of the sales funnel.

• What it is: Video ads play automatically as people scroll through their LinkedIn feed and can include built-in lead forms, making it easy for viewers to watch, engage, and share their information without leaving the platform.
• Best use cases: Product demos, thought leadership, brand narratives, and engagement-focused campaigns.
• Strategic opportunity: Capture attention quickly while explaining ideas that benefit from visual context.

Carousel Ads

LinkedIn carousel ads let you feature up to 10 images in a single placement, each with its own link. That extra creative space makes it easier to highlight multiple services, products, or offers, or to tell a brand story that unfolds as members swipe from one image to the next.

• What it is: Multi-card ads that allow users to swipe through a sequence of panels.
• Best use cases: Feature comparisons, step-by-step explanations, or layered messaging.
• Strategic opportunity: Control pacing and guide viewers through a structured story.

Lead Generation Forms

Lead Gen Forms are designed to remove extra steps by using pre-filled LinkedIn profile data. With just a few clicks, members can share accurate professional information, making it easier for brands to collect leads without sending users away from the platform.

• What it is: Built-in forms that collect user information without leaving LinkedIn.
• Best use cases: Gated assets, demo requests, and email subscriptions.
• Strategic opportunity: Capture leads efficiently while keeping tracking and reporting centralized.

Conversation and Message Ads

Conversation and message ads open the door to two-way engagement at moments when professionals are ready to respond. Member-initiated conversations allow brands to present multiple calls to action in a single ad, guiding prospects to content like whitepapers or event pages. By adding qualifying questions and Lead Gen Forms, these ads help move higher-quality leads into the pipeline faster.

• What it is: Personalized messages delivered through inbox or chat-style formats.
• Best use cases: These ads are useful for reaching people who are already showing signs of interest, such as reading related content or exploring solutions, and guiding them toward a clear next step like downloading a resource or registering for an event.
• Strategic opportunity: Guide prospects through interactive paths that mirror real business conversations.

Sponsored InMail / Messaging Ads

Character limits can be super frustrating. Thankfully, message ads give brands room to communicate their objective. This means no need to worry about space limitations. And, by placing messages directly in LinkedIn inboxes through Sponsored InMail, outreach appears in a setting where professionals expect business communication. Adding a Lead Gen Form allows prospects to respond and share details without leaving the platform.

• What it is: Paid messages delivered directly to LinkedIn inboxes.
• Best use cases: These ads are a great choice for promoting events, sharing offers tailored to specific audiences, or reaching out directly to professionals with messages that feel timely and relevant rather than mass-produced.
• Strategic opportunity: This approach creates intentional moments for interaction, giving prospects a clear reason to respond and move the conversation forward instead of scrolling past the message.

Other Formats (Contextual)

Beyond the feed, LinkedIn continues to expand how brands show up across the platform.

• What this entails: Event ads, document ads, newsletter ads, and connected TV placements.
• Best use cases: Extending visibility across different content environments.
• Strategic opportunity: Build broader exposure while keeping campaigns connected within one ecosystem.

Challenges of Marketing on LinkedIn

Every advertising channel comes with trade-offs. As a marketing agency focused on helping advertisers generate strong returns, it’s just as important to talk through the limitations as it is the upside. LinkedIn offers powerful opportunities, but success depends on understanding where challenges can surface and planning accordingly.

Higher Cost per Interaction

Advertising on LinkedIn often costs more than many social platforms. Advertisers commonly pay $2.00–$3.00 per click, $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions, and $0.26–$0.50 per send. Those costs require careful funnel planning, refined targeting, and clear goals. When campaigns are too broad, ad dollars can disappear quickly without much to show for it. Keeping audiences, messaging, and goals tightly defined helps control spend and puts your ads in front of people who are more likely to care and respond.

Creative and Messaging Demands

Professional audiences expect substance, not generic social ads. Messaging needs to offer insight, relevance, or perspective tied to real business challenges. Thought leadership performs best when it sounds human and credible, rather than overly polished or corporate. This raises the bar for copy, creative direction, and ongoing content development.

Campaign Complexity

Strong results on LinkedIn often come from strategies with a few moving parts. You may need different ads for different stages, multiple creative versions, and carefully defined audiences. All of that takes time to plan. For smaller teams, limited data or budget can make testing and scaling feel more challenging.

Measurement and Attribution Nuances

Measuring impact on LinkedIn can be tricky when relying only on last-touch attribution. Awareness and mid-funnel interactions often influence decisions later in the journey. Clear insights typically come from broader attribution models and alignment with analytics platforms, CRM systems, and other marketing tools already in use.

LinkedIn Marketing Deserves a Place in Your 2026 Strategy

We believe wholeheartedly that LinkedIn absolutely serves a place in your B2B marketing strategy. And why not? It’s the perfect place to get in front of business professionals who are also key buyers for their organization. This means that LinkedIn puts you in a prime place in front of an audience looking for the best possible products and services to help their company grow. 

Further, when campaigns align with clear goals, thoughtful messaging, and realistic expectations, the platform can support meaningful growth. If you’re looking to build or refine your LinkedIn marketing approach, LAMA Marketing can help you plan, execute, and evaluate campaigns that fit your business goals.