Setting up Lead Generation Forms for LinkedIn ad campaigns for B2B lead generation
In this 5th entry in our 6-part series on how to set up a lead-gen campaign on LinkedIn, you’ll learn the specifications for Sponsored Content Ads and how to upload and configure them. We’ll also cover how LinkedIn Lead Generation forms work, and how to configure them to the best advantage for your campaign. Saratoga offers this type of LinkedIn lead generation service, or you can do it yourself.
Recap: In Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the series we set up a LinkedIn campaign named “Fortune 500,” within the “Software engineers” campaign group. We limited our list to software engineers based in California. We uploaded an Excel file listing Fortune 500 firms then married the two efforts, creating a LinkedIn campaign targeting software engineers who work in California for Fortune 500 companies.
Now, we’re going to upload an ad and create text above and below the ad in the space allocated by LinkedIn. (Normally you’d upload multiple ads and conduct A/B testing to find which perform best.) This text will serve as a form of headline and caption ― even though the bottom text is labeled “headline” in LinkedIn. We’ll also create a lead generation form that enables you to collect profile information about the LinkedIn members who express an interest in downloading the content you are promoting. The content could be a white paper, video, webcast, case study or the like. In our example, we’re using a white paper as the offer.




Step 4: Now go to the bottom of the page and select “Save and Next.” The next page is “Ads in this campaign,” where you will upload your ad(s) and configure more aspects of your campaign.

When you enter a Destination URL, LinkedIn usually pulls in a graphic from that page. You can replace this graphic with one you created with your graphic designer, unless the graphic is the one you want to use. To replace the default graphic, click on the “x” in the “Ad image” field. Then, upload the image you want to use from your computer or other source.
For Sponsored Content ads, the image should be 1200 x 627 pixels, and can’t be larger than 5MB. It needs to be either a .jpg or .png file.

In the “Form details” section, use the Call-to-action dropdown menu and select “Download.” We’ll be using a white paper as an offer for our ad, so LinkedIn members will be directed to a page where they can download the paper, or view an HTML version. Under “Form,” select “Create new” (or, if you previously created a form, you can re-use that one). Name the form and create an “Offer Headline” and “Offer details.” Then fill in the URL for your website’s Privacy Policy and a brief description of the policy in “Privacy policy text.” Note: these fields will appear on a new LinkedIn page after a prospect clicks on your ad (see image below).

LinkedIn allows you to select up to seven pieces of profile information for each prospect. Below is a form showing the list for the software engineers: First name, Last name, Email address, City, State/Province, Company name, and Company size. Since we already segmented for “software engineer” as a job title, we did not use that in our list of seven pieces of profile info. You could use it as a double-check if you like.

