How to Run Account Lists On LinkedIn: A Practical Guide

When you target an entire industry or broad job titles, your ads reach thousands of people who may not be a good fit for your product. Account-based advertising changes this by narrowing the scope to entities that have a high probability of converting. In a typical account, using a specific list allows for more tailored creative assets that address the unique challenges of those organizations. By speaking directly to the pain points of a specific company, you often see higher engagement rates compared to broad targeting strategies that lack this focus.

Another reason to use this method is the ability to align your marketing and sales departments. When your marketing team targets the same account list that your sales team is actively prospecting, you create a unified experience for the potential buyer. The sales team can reach out to prospects who have already seen your brand in their LinkedIn feed. This repetition builds brand recognition, making the cold outreach process more effective and efficient for your business development representatives as they attempt to start conversations.

Success with account targeting starts with the quality of your CSV file. LinkedIn requires specific identifiers to match your provided data with their internal database. You must include headers in your file to help the platform identify the data types correctly during the upload process. The most reliable data points are company names and company website URLs, as these minimize the chances of an incorrect match during the system processing phase. Ensure that your file is saved in a standard .csv format before attempting to upload it to the platform.

• Include the full legal name of the target company.
• Include the company website URL to improve matching accuracy.
• Remove any special characters or extra spaces in the file.
• Ensure the file contains at least 1,000 companies for optimal performance, though smaller lists are accepted.

To begin, log in to your Campaign Manager account and navigate to the Account Assets section. From there, select Matched Audiences. You will see a button to create an audience, where you can choose the Company/Contact option. Select the Company upload format and attach your prepared CSV file. Once uploaded, LinkedIn will begin the matching process. This process can take up to 48 hours to complete. You will see the status change from ‘Processing’ to ‘Ready’ once the list is available to be used in your campaigns.

One common mistake is uploading outdated data. If your list contains companies that have rebranded or merged, the system may fail to match them, leading to a smaller reach than expected. Always cross-reference your lists against current company profiles before uploading. Additionally, do not over-segment your lists if you are working with a smaller budget. If you slice your audience into too many small groups, your ads will have difficulty gaining traction because they lack the necessary volume for the algorithm to learn effectively.

• Avoid using outdated contact information in your lists.
• Do not segment audiences into groups smaller than the recommended minimum.
• Check your CSV for duplicate entries before uploading.
• Regularly refresh your lists to keep the audience current.

While LinkedIn allows smaller lists, it is recommended to have at least 1,000 companies in your upload. This volume helps the advertising algorithm gather enough data to optimize delivery. If you have a smaller list, you may notice that your ads struggle to spend the allocated budget or achieve the desired frequency due to the limited size of the target audience.

You should update your account lists on a quarterly basis. This ensures that new target companies are added and that companies you no longer want to pursue are removed. Keeping your list current prevents you from spending your budget on accounts that no longer fit your target profile or are no longer valid prospects for your sales team.

Yes, once you have uploaded an account list, you can combine it with other targeting filters. For instance, you can select your account list and then apply a filter for specific job functions or seniority levels. This allows you to show your ads only to the decision-makers at the companies you have selected, rather than to every employee at those firms.

A low match rate is usually caused by incorrect company names or missing website URLs. Try to standardize your company names to match their official LinkedIn profile names and include the domain for every entry. If the match rate remains low, verify that your list is not focused on companies that have a limited presence on the platform.