Home › Targeting & audiences
Targeting and audiences
In one sentence
LinkedIn targets on what members say about their own jobs. Build audiences of 50k+ from function + seniority + company, add your own lists, exclude the people who never buy.
300minimum to serve1,000for stable delivery50k+LinkedIn's advice for feed15k+for the inbox100values per facet
How one audience is built — Boolean logic
Location · requiredGermany OR Austria OR Switzerland
AND
Job functionFinance OR Accounting
AND
SeniorityManager OR Director OR VP
AND
Company size201–500 OR 501–1k OR 1k–5k
AND NOT
Exclusionsown employees, competitors, existing customers
Inside one box: OR (any of them). Between boxes: AND (all of them). Exclusions: AND NOT. Max 100 values per box.
LinkedIn's difference from Google (intent) and Meta (interest): targeting on first-party, self-declared professional data. This is the sentence to say to every client.
The targeting facets
| Group | Facets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Location (required) | Country → region → city/metro; "recent or permanent" vs "permanent" | Choose permanent to avoid travellers; DACH = DE + AT + CH (CH is not EU but is EEA-adjacent for messaging rules) |
| Profile language | Language the member's profile is written in | English matches all profiles for Sponsored Content, only English profiles for Sponsored Messaging |
| Company | Name, industry, size, growth rate, category (Fortune, etc.), followers, connections, revenue | Company size bands: 1, 2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500, 501–1k, 1k–5k, 5k–10k, 10k+ |
| Job experience | Job function, seniority, job title, skills, years of experience | Function + seniority ≈ 3× the audience of titles; seniority levels: Unpaid, Training, Entry, Senior, Manager, Director, VP, CXO, Partner, Owner |
| Education | Degrees, fields of study, schools | |
| Demographics | Age, gender (inferred) | Restricted in EU; avoid |
| Interests & traits | Member interests, member traits (e.g. job seeker, frequent traveller), Groups | Group targeting unavailable for EU members (DSA) |
| Buyer groups (new) | Standardised product-category buying committees, e.g. "Cybersecurity software" | Added to the targeting API in 2026 |
Matched Audiences (first-party)
| Source | How | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Company list upload | CSV of company names/domains/Page URLs | Up to 300,000 companies; 60–90% match typical |
| Contact list upload | CSV of emails (work email matches best) — hashed | Needs ≥ 300 matched members to serve; match rates often 20–50% |
| Website retargeting | Insight Tag; all visitors or URL pattern | Lookback 30–365 days |
| Engagement retargeting | Single image / document / carousel engagers; video quartiles (25/50/75/97%); LGF opened or submitted; event, Page, TLA, conversation-ad engagers | Lookback up to 365 days; video 50%+ is the useful signal |
| Conversions API events | Any server-side event (e.g. "Opportunity created") becomes an audience | Turns CRM stages into LinkedIn audiences and exclusions |
| CRM segments | Native Salesforce / HubSpot / Pipedrive connection; more via Business Manager partners | |
| Predictive audiences | AI expansion of a matched audience (replaced lookalikes in 2024) | Needs a source of ≥ 300 members |
Sizing rules
300minimum matched members to serve at all
≥ 1,000for stable delivery
50k+LinkedIn's recommendation for Sponsored Content
15k+LinkedIn's recommendation for Sponsored Messaging
< 100kexpert ceiling for a cold feed ad set so frequency stays readable
Two boxes ticked by default
- Audience Expansion — adds members LinkedIn deems similar. Widens reach, dilutes a deliberate list.
- LinkedIn Audience Network — off-platform placements. Cheaper impressions, weaker landing-page clicks.
- Exam answer: they extend reach. Field answer: check the client's intent before leaving them on.
Exclusions clients forget
- Own employees, competitors' companies
- Students / entry level, functions that click but never buy
- Existing customers (CRM list) on acquisition campaigns
- Companies already in pipeline (Companies tab → list)
Boolean logic: facets within one category are OR; across categories AND; exclusions are AND NOT. Max 100 attributes per facet. The forecast panel updates audience size and expected results as you build.
Remember
- Within a facet OR, across facets AND, exclusions AND NOT.
- Function + seniority gives about three times the audience of job titles.
- Audience Expansion and the Audience Network are on by default — switch them off on account-list campaigns.