LinkedIn is expanding access to its AI-powered ad campaign tool, “Accelerate,” designed to automate the entire campaign creation process. Initially launched in limited testing last October, Accelerate is now set to be available to all advertisers globally.

The tool scans the URL provided in your campaign setup and your company’s LinkedIn presence to build a recommended campaign overview.

What Accelerate Offers

According to LinkedIn, Accelerate can recommend an end-to-end campaign in as little as five minutes, complete with automatic optimisations to reach the right B2B audience. Users can fine-tune these recommendations before launching their campaigns.

The AI integration even extends to creative elements, thanks to the inclusion of Microsoft Designer, which helps customise creatives to fit brand needs. Users can describe what they want or upload their own images, and Designer offers multiple options with varied imagery and text overlays.

Enhanced Capabilities

The expanded functionality includes the ability to integrate customer data and exclusion lists into Accelerate campaign targeting. This feature allows marketers to combine their data, such as customer lists or conversions, with LinkedIn’s platform data to find the most likely prospects.

Additionally, the AI marketing assistant within Accelerate can provide recommendations on improving campaigns, such as targeting adjustments and creative enhancements, making it a more comprehensive and valuable tool.

Impact on Campaign Efficiency

LinkedIn claims that Accelerate has increased campaign creation efficiency by 15% while also driving a 52% lower cost per action compared to traditional campaigns.

Campaign efficiency is attributed to the tool’s ability to dynamically adjust campaign targeting and continuously optimise creative, bidding, and placement to maximise return on ad spend. The tool is expected to reduce the campaign creation time from 15 hours to just five minutes.

AI and B2B Marketing Trends

The rollout of Accelerate comes at a time when B2B marketers are increasingly optimistic about their ability to drive revenue, despite tighter budgets and heightened pressure to prove ROI.

According to LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark, nearly 90% of B2B marketers feel confident in their revenue-driving capabilities. The ability to build relationships and collective confidence among buyer groups is crucial, and tools like Accelerate are designed to support these goals by providing efficient, AI-driven campaign management.

New Offerings for B2B Marketers

Complementing Accelerate, LinkedIn has introduced several new offerings to help B2B marketers build their brands and engage with a community of professionals.

Lindsey Edwards, Vice President, Product Management, LinkedIn, July 2024

“That’s why today we’re introducing new offerings to help you – the B2B marketer who knows relationships are critical to success – continue to build your brand, engage with our community of one billion professionals and reach all members of the buying group:

The Wire Program: With 75% of US adults spending up to two hours a day watching short-form video content, and video uploads on LinkedIn increasing 45% year-over-year, we’re testing a new initiative that allows you to promote in-stream video ads alongside trusted publisher content.”

These tools are aimed at helping marketers stay top-of-mind with buyers, particularly in a landscape where only 5% of B2B buyers are in-market for new purchases at any given time.

Practical Applications of Accelerate

Accelerate is currently available for website visits and lead generation campaigns with single image ads. When creating an Accelerate campaign, users provide information about their product or service, which is then analysed by AI to generate a suggested campaign.

Users can review, adjust, and launch the campaign, and use the AI marketing assistant for additional support. After launch, Accelerate enters an optimisation phase, lasting between 10 to 14 days, during which it learns to best optimise the campaign for better performance.

Accelerate vs Classic Campaigns

For advertisers with advanced needs, LinkedIn still offers Classic campaigns, which provide a broader range of objectives and ad formats. Classic campaigns allow for specific campaign group creation, dynamic group budgets, and objectives like brand awareness or video views.

However, Accelerate is geared towards users who want a streamlined, AI-guided campaign creation process that dynamically adjusts targeting to reach the most likely prospects.

AI’s Role in Advertising

AI-powered advertising tools are becoming increasingly popular among marketers due to their ability to streamline the campaign creation process and improve efficiency.

LinkedIn’s aggressive push into AI for advertising reflects a broader trend across digital platforms, with Meta and Google also launching similar AI marketing tools. By reducing the barrier to entry for digital advertising, tools like Accelerate can open up large pools of potential spending for digital platforms.