4.1. Fix your location setting first
By default LinkedIn often uses "Recent or permanent location". For B2B campaigns, especially when you sell in specific regions, switch to "Permanent location". That way a construction CIO visiting a conference in your country doesn't suddenly get treated as part of your core market.
4.2. AND vs OR: the most expensive mistake in LinkedIn targeting
Say you want Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting, Company size: 51 to 200, and Job title: Operations Director. If you stack all three in one targeting box, LinkedIn treats them as Industry OR Company size OR Job title. So you target all Ops Directors in any industry, all companies of that size in any sector, and all IT service companies with any role. Your spend spreads into places you never intended.
To build tight audiences you need AND logic:
- Add the industry
- Click "Narrow" and add company size
- Click "Narrow further" and add job titles
The difference in relevance, and cost per qualified lead, is huge.
4.3. A clean B2B targeting example
For a company selling project management software to mid-market business services firms, a clean first-touch audience might be:
- Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting, Business Consulting and Services
- Company size: 51 to 200, 201 to 500, 501 to 1,000
- Job titles: Operations Director, Head of Operations, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Project Management
- Exclude: titles like "Assistant", "Intern", "Student"; external marketing providers if they're not buyers; very large enterprises if you focus on mid-market
- Turn OFF Audience Expansion and the LinkedIn Audience Network (unless you have a specific test)
Save as: ICP | Operations Leaders | Business Services | EU Mid-Market. That's how you build B2B-ready audiences: focused, intentional, and scalable.
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