Start With the Right Goal—and Let It Guide Everything Else

Every marketing campaign needs a solid starting point, and that usually comes down to one deceptively simple question: what exactly are you trying to achieve?

Are you raising awareness? Driving sign-ups? Booking demos? Without a clear answer, it’s easy to scatter your efforts across platforms and formats that don’t quite align. Before you even think about budgets or creatives, clarify your goal—and be specific. “More leads” is vague. “Generate 250 qualified sign-ups for our webinar” is focused.

Once you have that locked in, choosing the right ad format becomes much easier. LinkedIn offers a variety of tools—each with strengths that fit different objectives.

Match Format to Function

Not all ad formats are created equal, and not every campaign needs all of them. The key is understanding where each one fits in the funnel.

• Sponsored Content is the workhorse. Great for building awareness, promoting articles, or sharing product updates.
   
• Video Ads can showcase your product, explain complex ideas, or bring customer testimonials to life.
   
• Carousel Ads let you tell a story or highlight multiple features—perfect for deeper engagement.
   
• Message Ads (formerly InMail) are best for high-intent outreach. These are personal, targeted, and can feel like a direct tap on the shoulder.
   
• Dynamic Ads offer a personalized experience that’s best used in nurture sequences or for roles you know you want to target with tailored CTAs.

The point isn’t to use every format—it’s to use the right one, at the right time, for the right message.

Budgets Should Reflect Intent (and Reality)

Once your formats are chosen, it’s time to talk money. Budgeting across channels and formats shouldn’t just be based on what looks good on a spreadsheet. It should reflect both the intent of your campaign and the cost realities of each format.

For example, if lead gen is your goal, it might make sense to allocate more toward Message Ads or Lead Gen Forms, where intent is higher. But you still might need a small slice of budget for video or sponsored content to warm up colder audiences.

Balancing brand-building with conversion-focused content is part of the game. Just be honest about what each portion of your campaign is really doing—and how much budget it needs to do it well.

Don’t Silo LinkedIn—Make It Part of the Bigger Picture

Too many brands treat LinkedIn as a standalone channel, separate from their email marketing, web content, or other paid efforts. But the magic really happens when it’s part of a broader system.

Maybe you’re promoting a blog post on LinkedIn while also using snippets from that post in your weekly newsletter. Or you’re running a video ad campaign and then retargeting viewers with a Message Ad that pushes them toward a product demo.

That’s how synergy works—it’s about building familiarity, reinforcing your message, and showing up consistently. Your audience should feel like they’re hearing the same story, just in different ways depending on where they are and what they’re ready for.

And if you’re working with a Linkedin advertising agency, make sure they’re not treating LinkedIn like a bubble either. The best results come from integrated strategies that stretch across channels and use LinkedIn as one key piece—not the whole puzzle.

When the Click Comes: Is Your Product Page Pulling Its Weight?

Let’s say everything clicks. Your audience sees your ad, they’re intrigued, and they land on your product page. What happens next?

If that page isn’t dialed in, you risk losing the momentum you just paid to build. A great product page isn’t just a list of features—it’s a continuation of the ad. It should reflect the tone, promise, and benefit that drew someone in to begin with.

Start with a clear headline that speaks to the user’s pain point or goal. Back it up with benefits, not just features. Use real customer quotes if you have them—nothing sells quite like social proof. And don’t be afraid of white space. A cluttered page overwhelms. A focused page converts.

Every detail matters here: the CTA button copy, the page load speed, the layout on mobile. Because once someone’s made it this far, the last thing you want is to lose them over something fixable.

The Takeaway

Smart campaigns are built with intention, not just ambition. They start with a clear goal, use the right formats to support that goal, allocate budgets based on value, and tie everything together into a story that continues after the click.

Whether you're doing this in-house or leaning on a trusted linkedin advertising agency, the focus should always be on clarity, relevance, and seamless execution. That’s what moves the needle—not just impressions or clicks, but actual results.

We’re passionate about what we do and about making an impact on your business
All the best things these days start out as side projects.
Digital Rhinos was no different.

For the first 2 years it was around, Digital Rhinos was a consulting business that founder Adrian Cordiner ran on the side while working in-house. It gave him a chance to step outside the day job and solve problems for other companies. It allowed him the freedom to come up with strategies and tactics of his own that he could use to help these companies grow. As Adrian fine-tuned his tactics and strategies for helping businesses grow, his business grew. And, as it did, the side hustle took over and became the main hustle.