LinkedIn has introduced its B2B Performance Principles, five connected fundamentals designed to help marketers drive measurable business results on the platform. The framework moves the focus away from metrics such as cost per lead and towards pipeline and revenue.

According to LinkedIn, buyers now research, compare and form opinions about vendors long before they talk to sales, and increasingly ask AI tools to shortlist providers, so much of their evaluation happens where marketers can’t track it.

The five B2B Performance Principles

• Activate signals that deliver pipeline - Pipeline data and first-party signals set the ceiling for campaign performance. Advertisers can feed conversion signals back into LinkedIn through Conversion Tracking, the Conversions API and CRM sync.
• Win the company, not the click - No single person signs a B2B contract, so brands should reach the companies that matter and the people who shape the decision, using company-level targeting, job function and seniority targeting, and matched audiences.
• Match creative to the buying stage - Buyers need different things at different stages, and relevance lowers the cost of reaching them. Formats include Video Ads, Thought Leader Ads, Conversation Ads and Lead Gen Forms.
• Build demand while capturing it - Coordinating activity across awareness, consideration and conversion maximises long-term pipeline impact, through consistent organic presence, executive visibility, Thought Leader Ads and community engagement.
• Learn, measure and prove business impact - Measure against pipeline and revenue, not just leads, using tools such as Companies Hub, Revenue Attribution, Conversion Lift and B2B attribution partners.

Why building early preference matters

• According to Forrester, 68% of B2B buyers start their purchase process with a vendor they already prefer, and 80% go on to buy from that vendor.
• Research from Factors.ai found that buyers begin researching, evaluating and discussing solutions around 124 days before they speak to a seller, with much of that activity happening on LinkedIn.

Checklist for assessing your LinkedIn set-up

• Have you analysed and connected your pipeline-level data to identify best-fit accounts?
• Are you targeting companies rather than individual job titles alone?
• Do you have multiple creative variations matched to different buying stages?
• Are you running always-on campaigns that reach and retarget buyers at every stage of the funnel?
• Have you connected LinkedIn performance data to pipeline and revenue outcomes, rather than tracking leads alone?

For more information, visit linkedin.com.