Launch Agency Services on LinkedIn
Agency positioning + LinkedIn ads. Thought leadership creative that generates retainer leads.
Scan Your Agency Brand DNA
Run your agency website through mani to extract your positioning, visual identity, and tone. Agency ads need to signal expertise immediately, so the Brand DNA must capture what you do, who you do it for, and the results you deliver.
How to do it
- Paste your agency homepage URL into the Brand DNA scanner. If you have a dedicated services page with case studies, paste that too.
- Review the extracted positioning. Mani should identify your service category (performance marketing, brand strategy, web development, etc.), your target client profile, and your differentiator.
- Check the tone tags. Agency brands on LinkedIn usually land somewhere between "confident expert" and "approachable strategist." If the scanner tagged you as "playful" or "casual," that may not land on LinkedIn unless that is genuinely your positioning.
- Add your top 3 case study results to the brand profile notes. Example: "Grew DTC brand from $200K to $2M revenue in 8 months" or "Reduced CAC by 45% for Series B SaaS company." These become ad proof points.
- Add your primary service packages and price range (even approximate). Mani uses this to generate appropriate CTAs and qualifying language.
What good looks like
The brand profile reads like a pitch deck opening slide. It is clear what you do, who you serve, what results you drive, and how you are different from the 10,000 other agencies on LinkedIn.
Common mistake
Having a brand profile that says "full-service digital agency" without any specificity. That describes everyone and no one. If your Brand DNA does not specify a niche or signature result, your ads will be generic.
Define Your LinkedIn Campaign Objectives
Map your campaign to one of three objectives: brand awareness (you are new and need visibility), lead generation (you want retainer inquiries), or thought leadership (you want to be seen as the expert in your category). Most agencies should start with lead generation.
How to do it
- If you have fewer than 1,000 LinkedIn followers and no inbound leads from LinkedIn, start with awareness. Your first campaign builds recognition.
- If you have an existing audience but want more retainer clients, go with lead generation. This campaign drives traffic to a case study page or a "Work with us" form.
- If you already get inbound but want to move upmarket, thought leadership is the play. This campaign promotes long-form content that demonstrates your strategic thinking.
- For most agencies launching their first LinkedIn campaign, lead generation is the right starting point. It has the clearest ROI and the shortest feedback loop.
- Write down your target outcome: "5 qualified retainer inquiries per month" or "20 case study downloads per month." Having a number prevents you from optimizing for vanity metrics like impressions.
What good looks like
You have one clear objective written down with a target number. You can explain in one sentence why this objective matters more than the other two right now.
Common mistake
Trying to do all three at once with the same campaign. A thought leadership ad ("Here are 5 trends in DTC marketing") and a lead gen ad ("Book a free audit") serve different purposes. Mixing them in one campaign confuses the algorithm and dilutes your budget.
Generate Thought Leadership Ad Creative
Use Campaign Studio to generate 8-10 ad variations that position you as the expert. LinkedIn audiences respond to useful content, not sales pitches. Even if your goal is lead gen, the creative should lead with insight.
How to do it
- Open Campaign Studio and select "New Campaign." Set the platform to LinkedIn.
- Paste the URL of your best case study or your services page. Give mani the context of what you actually deliver.
- In the prompt field, describe your ideal client: "CMOs at DTC brands doing $5M-20M revenue who are frustrated with their current agency or bringing marketing in-house for the first time."
- Generate 8-10 variations. For agency LinkedIn ads, these angles work: industry insight ("Why DTC brands are moving away from agency retainers and what smart ones do instead"), case study teaser ("How we grew [client] from $1M to $5M in 12 months"), contrarian take ("Your agency is not underperforming. Your brief is."), and results-led ("3 changes that cut our client CAC by 40%").
- For each variation, ensure the creative format is appropriate for LinkedIn: single image with bold headline overlay, carousel (multiple slides), or document ad (PDF-style slides). Skip video unless you have footage.
- LinkedIn ads should feel like promoted posts from a smart person in your network, not like banner ads.
What good looks like
Your generated ads read like the best posts in your LinkedIn feed. They offer genuine insight, reference specific results, and make the reader think "this person knows what they are talking about." The CTA feels natural, not forced.
Common mistake
Writing ads that sound like press releases. "Agency X is proud to announce our partnership with..." gets zero engagement on LinkedIn. People follow people, not agencies. Write like a founder or director sharing what they learned, not like a company newsletter.
Generate Lead Capture Ads
Create a second batch of 4-6 ads specifically designed to drive form fills or case study downloads. These are your conversion-focused ads.
How to do it
- In Campaign Studio, start a new campaign. Set the goal to "Lead Generation."
- Use your case study landing page or "Work with us" page as the source URL.
- In the prompt, specify the offer: "Free 30-minute audit of their Meta ad account" or "Download our DTC growth case study" or "Book a strategy call." The offer needs to be specific and valuable.
- Generate 4-6 variations. Strong lead gen angles for agencies: specific offer ("We will audit your top 3 campaigns and show you where you are leaking budget. Free."), social proof ("Join 50+ DTC brands we have scaled past $1M"), qualification ("If you are spending $10K+/month on ads and not hitting 3x ROAS, we should talk"), and ROI framing ("Our average client sees 2.4x ROAS improvement in the first 60 days").
- Use LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms when possible. They pre-fill the user profile data so the prospect does not have to type. Lead Gen Forms typically convert 2-3x better than landing page forms on LinkedIn.
What good looks like
Your lead gen ads make a specific, valuable offer that is hard to say no to. They qualify the reader (so you do not waste time on bad fits) and they reference concrete results. The CTA is clear and the form is short.
Common mistake
Making the offer too vague. "Let us help you grow" is not an offer. "We will review your last 90 days of Meta ad data and identify 3 specific opportunities to improve ROAS, free, 30 minutes" is an offer. Specificity converts.
Curate and Approve in the Swipe Queue
Review all generated ads across both batches. LinkedIn has a higher quality bar than other platforms because the audience is professional and skeptical. Every approved ad needs to earn respect.
How to do it
- Open the Swipe Queue and filter by campaign.
- For thought leadership ads, the quality bar is: "Would a CMO stop scrolling to read this?" If the headline is generic ("5 Marketing Trends to Watch"), reject it. If it is specific ("Why your CAC doubled in 2025 and what the top 10% of DTC brands did about it"), approve it.
- For lead gen ads, the quality bar is: "Would I fill out this form based on this ad?" If the offer does not sound valuable enough to interrupt someone's LinkedIn browsing, reject it.
- Check every ad for specificity. Replace any round numbers with real numbers from your case studies. "Significant growth" becomes "287% revenue increase." "Many clients" becomes "47 brands."
- Approve 5-6 thought leadership ads and 3-4 lead gen ads.
What good looks like
Every approved ad contains at least one specific number, one identifiable client result or industry insight, and a CTA that matches the ad angle. Nothing in the approved pile could be described as "generic agency ad."
Common mistake
Using stock photography in LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn audiences can spot stock photos instantly and it kills credibility. Use real screenshots, real headshots, real data visualizations, or bold typography on a clean background.
Build LinkedIn Campaign Structure and Targeting
Set up your LinkedIn campaigns with precise targeting. LinkedIn is the only platform where you can target by job title, company size, and industry simultaneously. Use it.
How to do it
- Create two campaigns in LinkedIn Campaign Manager: one for thought leadership (Engagement or Website Visits objective), one for lead gen (Lead Generation objective).
- Build your target audience using LinkedIn-specific criteria. Start with: Job Function (Marketing), Job Seniority (VP, Director, C-Suite), Company Size (51-500 for mid-market, 501-5000 for enterprise), and Industry (your client verticals).
- Exclude agencies and marketing service providers from your targeting. You do not want to pay $8 per click for a competitor to study your ads.
- Set geographic targeting to where your clients are. If you serve US-based DTC brands, target United States. Do not target "Worldwide" unless you genuinely serve global clients.
- Enable audience expansion only on the thought leadership campaign. For lead gen, keep targeting tight.
What good looks like
Your thought leadership campaign targets a broad decision-maker audience (50K-200K people). Your lead gen campaign targets a narrow, high-intent audience (10K-50K people). Both exclude competitors and irrelevant industries.
Common mistake
Targeting too broadly. LinkedIn is expensive ($5-15 per click). "Marketing professionals in the United States" is 20M+ people. You need to narrow by seniority and company size at minimum, or you will spend $5,000 reaching junior coordinators who cannot sign a retainer.
Set Budget and Bidding for LinkedIn
Configure your LinkedIn budget knowing that this is the most expensive advertising platform per click. The economics work because the leads are higher quality and the deal sizes are larger.
How to do it
- Set your thought leadership campaign budget to $30-50/day. This funds awareness across your target audience.
- Set your lead gen campaign budget to $50-100/day. This is where your ROI comes from.
- Use "Maximum Delivery" bid strategy (LinkedIn equivalent of Lowest Cost). Do not manually set bid caps until you have 2 weeks of data.
- Expect these LinkedIn benchmarks for agency ads: CPM $30-80, CPC $5-15, Cost Per Lead $30-150 for Lead Gen Forms, and higher for landing page forms.
- Calculate your allowable Cost Per Lead: if your average retainer is $5,000/month with a 12-month average retention, one client is worth $60,000. A $100 Cost Per Lead with a 5% lead-to-client conversion rate means $2,000 to acquire a $60,000 client. The math works.
- Commit to running for at least 30 days. LinkedIn campaigns take longer to optimize than Meta because the audience is smaller and the buying cycle is longer.
What good looks like
Total daily spend of $80-150 across both campaigns. You have calculated your allowable CPL based on client lifetime value. You are mentally committed to 30 days before making a keep/kill decision.
Common mistake
Comparing LinkedIn CPLs to Meta CPLs and panicking. A $100 LinkedIn lead from a VP of Marketing at a $20M DTC brand is not the same as a $5 Meta lead from someone who clicked because your image was pretty. Judge LinkedIn by lead quality and close rate, not by CPL alone.
Launch, Measure, and Iterate Monthly
Publish both campaigns, review at day 14, and set a monthly creative refresh cycle. LinkedIn campaigns are slower to optimize but more stable once they find their groove.
How to do it
- Launch both campaigns. Do not touch them for 7 days.
- At day 7, do a health check: Is budget spending? Are impressions delivering to the right audience (check demographics in Campaign Manager)? If the audience skews junior or the wrong industry, tighten targeting.
- At day 14, evaluate performance: CTR (above 0.4% is good for LinkedIn), CPL (compare to your allowable CPL), and lead quality (manually review the first 10-20 leads, are they decision makers at the right companies?).
- Kill ads with CTR below 0.3% and CPL more than 2x your target. Generate new creative in mani to replace them.
- Set a monthly creative refresh cadence. LinkedIn audiences are smaller than Meta audiences, so creative fatigue happens faster (every 4-6 weeks). Use Brand Radar to track competitor creative trends on LinkedIn.
- Track the full funnel monthly: Spend, Impressions, Clicks, Leads, Calls Booked, Proposals Sent, Retainers Signed, Revenue. The metric that matters is Cost Per Retainer Signed.
What good looks like
After 30 days, you have 15-30 qualified leads, 3-5 sales conversations, and a clear picture of which ad angles and audiences produce the highest quality leads. You have a monthly refresh cadence in your calendar.
Common mistake
Giving up after 2 weeks because you only got 5 leads. LinkedIn lead gen is a volume game at a higher price point. You need 30-60 days of data to evaluate properly. Five leads in week two could turn into three retainer clients, which could be $15K+/month in recurring revenue.