Kevin Veitia
LinkedIn Ads Agency Account Setup: Your No-BS Guide to B2B Success in 2025
Look, I've been in the trenches with LinkedIn ads for over a decade, and I'm going to tell you something that might surprise you: LinkedIn is absolutely crushing it right now. We're talking 113% return on ad spend – the ONLY major platform actually delivering positive ROI according to the latest benchmark studies.
But here's the kicker – most agencies are screwing it up.
They're treating LinkedIn like it's just another Facebook or Google, and that's costing their clients serious money. Let me show you exactly how to set up your LinkedIn ads agency account the right way, and why you might want to ditch the traditional agency model altogether.
Why LinkedIn Ads Agency Account Setup Actually Matters in 2025
Here's what's changed: LinkedIn launched Business Manager in 2024, and it's completely transformed how we need to think about account setup. Gone are the days when you could just fire up Campaign Manager and start throwing money at the wall.
The numbers don't lie:
B2B budget allocation to LinkedIn jumped from 31% to 39% in 2024
LinkedIn is now the single largest ad spend channel for B2B (yes, bigger than individual Google networks)
The platform influences 36% of SQL generation and 35% of closed deals
But most people are still setting up their accounts like it's 2020. That's leaving massive money on the table.
The Foundation: Getting Your LinkedIn Ads Agency Account Right
Step 1: Business Manager Setup (Not Campaign Manager) First things first – forget everything you knew about Campaign Manager. You need to start with LinkedIn Business Manager at linkedin.com/businessmanager/create. This isn't optional anymore; it's the only way to get proper asset management for agency work.
Critical requirements:
Business verification (they're strict about this now)
Two-factor authentication on everything
Verified business email addresses
Proper company page associations
Step 2: Billing That Makes Sense You've got three options here:
Credit card: Instant activation, but limited
Monthly invoicing: Need $3,000+ spend over two months
Insertion orders: $25,000 quarterly minimum with dedicated support
Pro tip: If you're managing multiple clients, go straight for monthly invoicing. The credit card limits will bite you in the ass when you start scaling.
Step 3: Permission Management (Don't Mess This Up) This is where most people screw themselves. You need:
Minimum two admin-level managers (trust me on this)
Granular roles for team members
First-degree connections for Message Ads senders
I've seen agencies get locked out of million-dollar accounts because they only had one admin who left the company. Don't be that agency.
The Real Talk on B2B LinkedIn Ads Best Practices
After running hundreds of LinkedIn campaigns, here's what actually works versus what the "gurus" tell you:
Targeting That Actually Converts
The Sweet Spot: 50,000-300,000 member audiences. Smaller than that and you're fighting the algorithm. Larger and you're wasting money on irrelevant clicks.
Skills beat titles every time. Instead of targeting "Sales Operations," go for "Salesforce Administration." It's way more specific and the quality is night and day different.
Account-based marketing isn't optional anymore. Upload those company lists. If you're not doing ABM on LinkedIn in 2025, you're basically throwing money away.
Creative That Doesn't Suck
Thought Leader Ads are crushing it – 2.3x higher CTRs than regular single-image ads. But here's the thing: they need to look native, not like polished corporate BS.
Video content gets 5x more engagement, but keep it under 30 seconds. I know, I know, everyone wants to tell their whole story. Resist the urge.
Document Ads work for detailed B2B content, but optimize for mobile because 80% of views happen on phones.
The Mistakes That Are Killing Your ROI
Let me save you some pain here. These are the mistakes I see over and over:
Targeting too broad – "Marketing Professionals" without layering seniority, company size, industry
Wrong campaign objectives – choosing "Website Visits" when you want leads (LinkedIn's algorithm literally can't help you)
Spreading budget too thin – need $25+ daily minimum per campaign for the algorithm to learn
Missing the Insight Tag – no retargeting, no proper tracking, no ability to optimize
Chasing vanity metrics instead of qualified leads
LinkedIn Advertising Pricing: What You Actually Need to Know
LinkedIn is expensive. Let's just get that out of the way. But expensive doesn't mean bad ROI if you know what you're doing.
Current 2025 Pricing Reality
Cost-per-click: $5.58-$12.00 for advanced B2B targeting
Senior decision-makers: $6.40 average
Junior employees: $4.40 average
Premium segments can hit $12+ CPC
CPM ranges: $33.80-$55.00 for targeted B2B campaigns
Seasonal variations: Q3 is most expensive ($15.72 CPC), Q1 is cheapest ($10.48 CPC)
Budget Recommendations That Actually Work
Startups/Small Business: $500-$1,000/month
Focus exclusively on retargeting website traffic
Build your audience before going cold
Mid-market: $2,000-$5,000/month
Cold prospecting + retargeting
Can test multiple audience segments
Enterprise: $5,000+/month
Full-funnel approach
Advanced segmentation and testing
Agency vs. Consultant: The Math That'll Surprise You
Here's where things get interesting. Traditional agencies charge 15-30% of ad spend plus setup fees. For a $10,000/month LinkedIn budget, you're looking at:
Agency costs:
Management fee: $1,500-$3,000/month
Setup: $750-$2,500
Minimum 3-6 month contracts
Consultant costs:
Hourly: $150-$400
Monthly retainer: $1,500-$12,000 (based on complexity, not ad spend)
No setup fees, flexible terms
The consultant model delivers 20-40% cost savings with better results. Why? Because you're getting the actual strategist, not some junior account manager.
Performance Benchmarks: What Good Actually Looks Like
Let me give you some real numbers so you know if your campaigns are working:
Click-Through Rates
Average: 0.44%-0.65%
Good: 1%+
Excellent: 1.5%+
Carousel ads consistently outperform single images, and Thought Leader Ads are in a league of their own.
Lead Generation Performance
Cost-per-lead by industry:
Software & IT: $125 average
Manufacturing: $100 average
Corporate Services: $60 average
Form completion rates above 35% indicate top performance. Most campaigns I see are stuck at 15-25% because they're not optimizing properly.
The ROI Reality Check
LinkedIn's 113% ROAS crushes Google Search (78%) and Meta (29%). But here's the kicker – the average B2B customer journey is 211 days from first impression to revenue.
Quarterly performance patterns:
Q3: Best pipeline ROI (6.01x)
Q4: Highest revenue ROI (2.46x)
Q2: Most cost-effective (2.53x pipeline ROI)
Why Consultants Are Eating Agencies' Lunch on LinkedIn
I've been both an agency guy and a consultant, so I can tell you exactly why the consultant model is winning:
The Attention Factor
Consultants: 5-15 clients max Agencies: 20-50+ accounts per team
Guess who gets more strategic thinking time?
Decision Speed
Need to pivot because your competitor just launched something? With a consultant, it happens same day. With an agency, it goes through account manager → senior strategist → approval → implementation. By then, the opportunity's gone.
Industry Specialization
Most LinkedIn advertising consultants are former agency folks who went deep on the platform. They know every quirk, every optimization trick, every new feature before it hits the mainstream.
Real Campaign Results That'll Make You Rethink Everything
Let me share some actual results from consultant-led campaigns:
Paragon (SaaS integration platform):
2.1x ROI in 15 days
$73,285 spend → $153,000+ in closed deals
17,000 qualified clicks
AI assistant company:
523 meetings booked at $46.21 per meeting
3x conversion improvement
Hyper-targeted creative by persona
Manufacturing (Dassault Systèmes):
Document Ads: 2x higher completion rates
25% lower cost-per-lead
38% higher lead quality
HR tech scale-up:
Scaled from $10,000 to $100,000 monthly spend
60% cold prospecting, 40% retargeting
Consistent ROI throughout scale
The pattern? Specialized expertise, direct client relationships, and platform-specific optimization.
The 2025 LinkedIn Ads Landscape: What's Coming
Here's what you need to know about where LinkedIn advertising is heading:
AI Integration That Actually Works
LinkedIn Accelerate launched in Q1 2025 with AI-driven campaign creation. But here's the thing – you need to understand how to feed it the right inputs, or it'll just optimize for vanity metrics.
Predictive Audiences replaced lookalike targeting. Early adopters see 21% lower cost-per-lead, but only if they understand LinkedIn's unique data signals.
Video and Connected TV
LinkedIn's CTV integration with Roku, Samsung, and Paramount is opening up new B2B opportunities. 90% of B2B marketers using CTV found it effective in 2024.
Video best practices for 2025:
Under 30 seconds for 23% higher engagement
Live video gets 3x longer viewing times
Video now represents 28% of all LinkedIn impressions (up from 17%)
Account-Based Marketing Evolution
Companies using ABM generate 208% more revenue. LinkedIn's sophisticated targeting makes this possible, but you need specialized knowledge to implement it right.
My Take: Consultant vs. Agency for Your LinkedIn Ads
After managing millions in LinkedIn ad spend, here's my honest assessment:
Go with an agency if:
You're spending $15,000+/month on LinkedIn
You need full-service marketing support
You have complex organizational approval processes
Go with a consultant if:
You're spending under $15,000/month
You want direct access to the strategist
You value transparency and cost-effectiveness
You want to build internal capabilities
The consultant model wins for most B2B companies because LinkedIn advertising requires specialized platform knowledge, not generalist marketing expertise.
Getting Started: Your Next Steps
Here's exactly what you should do:
Set up Business Manager properly (not Campaign Manager)
Start with retargeting your website traffic
Test Thought Leader Ads with native-looking creative
Focus on skills-based targeting over job titles
Implement the Insight Tag for proper tracking
Budget minimum $25/day per campaign
And honestly? If you're spending under $15,000/month on LinkedIn ads, find a specialized consultant instead of an agency. The ROI difference will pay for itself in the first month.
The LinkedIn advertising game has changed dramatically in 2025. The platform rewards sophistication and punishes generic approaches. Whether you go agency or consultant route, make sure they understand LinkedIn's unique B2B ecosystem – because that's where the real money is made.
Ready to stop wasting money on LinkedIn ads? The platform's 113% ROAS is waiting for you – but only if you set things up right from the start.