Who the budget reachesRule 06

Watch for budget drifting to junior roles

Junior roles click more and cost less, so a campaign with mixed seniorities slowly shifts its budget to them.

The rule

Where to move past the default.

The default

Seniority is a targeting option, and delivery is optimized toward the result you choose, such as clicks or leads.

LinkedIn Campaign Manager

What the Standard adds

When delivery shows the drift, decision-makers get their own campaign and budget, so cheaper clicks can't take it.

Why it holds

Junior researchers often click two to three times more than VPs, while VPs cost more per impression. Optimizing for the cheapest result follows whoever acts most, so a mixed audience drifts junior unless you split it.

When it matters less

One blended campaign is fine when every seniority in it can buy, or while the budget is too small to split (rule 05).

Decision triggers

Spot it, then act on it.

You seeDo this
Junior seniorities take a large share of impressionsPut decision-makers in their own campaign, with their own budget and bid.
Cost per lead falling while the junior share risesCheck lead quality by seniority before calling it a win.
Lead quality varies by seniority, all in one campaignSplit senior titles out so their budget is set on purpose.

What experts say

Where people in the field stand on it.

  • Where this is an issue, I like to break seniorities up into separate ad sets. LinkedIn can't cheat you by giving you too many junior folks in an ad set that's set up only for junior roles.

    AJ Wilcox B2Linked

  • Often it's not really a junior position but a practitioner or end-user role. For example, Data Architect and Data Scientist count as Entry in job seniority. ... I tend to segment by practitioners, their leaders (management or upper-level leadership), and then executives.

    Joshua Stout Beyond The Funnel

  • Seniority isn't a reliable indicator. A specialist can sometimes be quite a senior decision-maker but still be tagged as a specialist. I rely more on specific job titles than on seniority.

    Ivars Krutainis Otter

  • Agree. Judge on qualified leads and pipeline, not cost per click.

    Ivan Falco Frontal

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