Unlock the intent signals hidden outside native LinkedIn Ads targeting

Running LinkedIn ads without proper targeting is like firing darts in the dark. It’s expensive, ineffective, and discouraging. For small B2B SaaS businesses trying to make every pound work harder, this is a make-or-break issue.

In this blog, we’ll break down how to properly target your LinkedIn ads, so you get seen by the right people and avoid pouring budget down the drain. This is part two of a three-part series on LinkedIn ads, based on a conversation between Ryan and Jamie from Rocket SaaS.

Start With Your Own Data, Not a Guess

The biggest mistake most SaaS companies make is deciding their target audience in a boardroom. It often goes like this: “Let’s go after enterprise. We landed a big one two years ago. Let’s get more like that.”

But guesswork is not strategy. Jamie suggests going straight to your CRM, customer list, or opportunity pipeline and analysing what’s already worked. What sectors are converting? What company sizes? What job titles are typically in the buying group?

Even if you’re early-stage and haven’t closed many deals, your late-stage pipeline or warm leads are the best place to start. These are people who seriously considered buying. That’s valuable insight.

“Always start with where you have traction. It’s easier to scale what’s already working than to break into an entirely new segment cold,” Jamie says.

Use Pivot Tables to Find Patterns

Once you’ve exported your CRM data, create a basic pivot table. Start identifying trends around:

• Company size
• Industry
• Job title or department
• Region

You’ll often find your real ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) sitting in plain sight. Maybe 80% of your deals are with UK-based software companies with 50 to 200 employees, where the first touchpoint is someone in operations.

That’s your targeting starting point.

From there, you can build campaigns around your actual customer behaviour rather than internal hunches.

LinkedIn’s Native Filters: Useful, But Limited

Once you know who you’re targeting, you’ll want to replicate that audience using LinkedIn’s native filters. These include:

• Company size
• Industry
• Job title or department
• Seniority
• Location

These filters are relatively accurate, especially compared to Meta or Google. That’s because LinkedIn users usually enter their job title, company and location when they sign up. But it’s not perfect.

Company industries, for example, are self-reported and often misleading. A FinTech company might list their industry as “Financial Services” rather than “Software”, which means your ads might miss them entirely if you filter by industry.

Advanced Targeting With Tools Like Clay

To improve precision, you can use tools like Clay to build a custom list of accounts and contacts based on your own criteria. Unlike LinkedIn filters, these tools can:

• Scrape company websites to detect keywords (e.g. “commercial construction” vs “residential”)
• Enrich data from multiple sources
• Verify that the companies on your list meet the exact conditions you’re looking for

Once you’ve built this list, you can upload it into LinkedIn as a matched audience. It’s more work upfront, but it gives you complete control over who sees your ads.

Layer on Intent Signals for Laser Focus

Once you’ve nailed your core audience, you can take targeting even further by adding intent data. For example:

• Funding rounds: Target B2B SaaS companies that have recently raised seed or Series A funding. These companies often need to scale fast and are actively hiring or investing in tools.
• Hiring signals: If a company is hiring for roles in HR, Finance, or Sales, they’re probably investing in those functions. That may be the perfect time to get in front of them.

These signals can be layered into your custom audiences to create incredibly relevant campaigns that feel perfectly timed.

Create Campaigns That Speak Directly to Each Segment

Once you have these lists, the magic happens in the messaging.

Let’s say you’re targeting SaaS companies that just raised funding. Your ad might say:

“Just raised funding? Ramp up your SaaS growth with marketing campaigns that convert.”

It speaks directly to the moment they’re in, rather than offering a generic value proposition. That’s when your ads start performing.

Retargeting: Where the Real Results Happen

If you’re only running cold ads on LinkedIn and not retargeting, you’re wasting budget. The reality is: cold prospects rarely book a demo immediately. Retargeting is how you move people through the funnel.

You can retarget people who:

• Visited your website
• Engaged with your previous ads
• Viewed your company page

Then you can serve them different content depending on how recently they engaged. For example:

• Visited pricing page recently? Serve an ad that handles pricing objections.
• Demo page visitor? Serve a testimonial-based ad.
• Longer inactivity window? Use softer thought leadership content to stay top-of-mind.

LinkedIn lets you break audiences down by recency (e.g. 14, 30, 90 days) so you can tailor the nurture accordingly.

Quick Note: You Need 300 Visitors to Start Retargeting

To run a retargeting campaign on LinkedIn, you need at least 300 website visitors in a set time frame. These don’t have to come from LinkedIn ads – they can be from SEO, Google Ads, Meta, or anywhere else.

So even if you’re not running full funnel LinkedIn ads yet, get the Insight Tag installed on your site right now and start building your retargeting pool.

Final Thought: Be Where Your Buyers Are, When They’re Ready

People buy SaaS products in their own time. Your job is to show up, build familiarity, and be top of mind for when they’re ready. That’s what smart targeting and retargeting on LinkedIn allows you to do.

By using your own data to define your ICP, building precise audiences, and combining cold and retargeting campaigns, you’ll avoid the most common pitfall: wasting budget targeting the wrong people with the wrong message.

Need help building LinkedIn campaigns that actually generate leads?

Rocket SaaS can handle your full funnel strategy, from ICP definition to ad creation, landing pages, and retargeting. Book a free marketing strategy call and let’s chat.

Get free ✨ SaaS marketing strategies and campaign ideas in your inbox every Thursday

By Ryan James

Founder of Rocket SaaS