TLDR;
- Stop using "Brand Awareness" or "Video Views" objectives. You're paying LinkedIn to find the worst possible audience. Switch to "Lead Generation" or "Website Conversions" immediately.
- Your ideal customer isn't a job title. It's a person with a specific, expensive, career-threatening problem. Your video must speak directly to that pain, or it's just noise.
- The best videos are often simple, authentic "talking head" style clips. Forget the slick corporate production; your message and expertise are what build trust, not your camera budget.
- Your Call to Action should NOT be "Buy My Course." Offer a free, high-value asset first—like a webinar, a taster module, or a downloadable template—to prove your worth and generate qualified leads.
- This guide includes an interactive calculator to help you figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend to acquire a new student for your course, taking the guesswork out of your ad budget.
Let's be brutally honest. Most LinkedIn video ads for courses are a complete waste of money. They're typically just repurposed sales pitches, polished to a corporate sheen, screaming "BUY MY COURSE!" into a void of professionals who are on the platform to network, learn, and maybe find a new job—not to be sold to.
If your strategy is to just upload a flashy video and boost it, you might as well just set a pile of cash on fire. You'll get some views, sure. Maybe a few vanity likes. But you won't get what actually matters: high-quality leads and enrolled students. The secret isn't a bigger budget or a fancier camera. It's a complete shift in mindset. You need to stop selling and start teaching. You need to stop targeting job titles and start targeting pain.
This guide will walk you through the exact process we use to create LinkedIn video ad campaigns for course creators that actually work, particularly in the crowded UK market. We're going to dismantle some common myths and give you a practical framework that gets results.
So, what's the biggest mistake people make?
Nine times out of ten, it's the campaign objective. So many people pour time and money into creating a great video, only to select "Brand Awareness" or "Video Views" when setting up the campaign on LinkedIn. This seems logical, right? You want people to see your video. The problem is, you're giving the algorithm a very specific, and very flawed, command: "Find me the cheapest possible eyeballs."
And LinkedIn's algorithm is ruthlessly efficient. It will do exactly what you ask. It will seek out the users in your target audience who are serial content consumers but never, ever click, engage, or buy anything. Why? Because their attention is not in demand. It's cheap. You are literally paying one of the world's most powerful advertising platforms to actively find you the worst possible prospects for your course.
Real growth and awareness don't come from empty views. They come from a competitor's student switching to your course and telling their network why. That only happens when you focus on conversion from day one. You need to tell the algorithm to find people who don't just watch, but who take action. This means selecting "Lead Generation" or "Website Conversions" as your objective. Yes, your cost per view will be higher. But you're not paying for views; you're paying for potential customers.
Your Customer is a Problem, Not a Job Title
Once you've fixed your campaign objective, the next step is targeting. And this is where most people go wrong again. They target based on sterile demographics. "Marketing Managers in London with 5-10 years of experience" or "Software Developers in the UK at companies with 500+ employees." This tells you absolutely nothing of value and leads to generic ads that speak to no one.
You have to stop this. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a set of demographics; it's a problem state. It's a nightmare. You need to become an expert in their specific, urgent, and expensive pain.
Let's take a course on 'AI Strategy for Marketing Leaders'.
A bad ICP is: "CMOs in the UK."
A good ICP is: "A CMO at a mid-sized UK tech firm who is secretly terrified. They see competitors launching AI-driven campaigns and know their team lacks the skills. They're worried their board will see them as outdated, and they're desperate for a credible plan to present, fast."
See the difference? The second one gives you everything you need for your ad. You know their fear (being left behind), their desire (a credible plan), and their urgency (fast). Now your video isn't selling a course; it's offering a lifeline. Your entire paid social strategy is built on this foundation of deep customer understanding.
This pain-point focus transforms how you use LinkedIn's targeting tools. Instead of just plugging in job titles, you start thinking differently. Who does this person follow? People like Scott Galloway or Mark Ritson. What groups are they in? Probably groups about MarTech, B2B Marketing, or AI in business. What skills would they have listed on their profile? 'Marketing Strategy', 'Digital Transformation', 'P&L Management'. You layer these on top of the job title and company size to build an audience of people who are not just in the right role, but are far more likely to be feeling the exact pain your course solves.
The 60-Second Video That Actually Converts
Now we get to the video itself. And the good news is, you don't need a Hollywood production budget. In fact, on LinkedIn, authenticity often beats polish. A simple, well-lit video of you (the expert) talking directly to the camera can be incredibly effective. It builds a personal connection and establishes your authority far better than a faceless corporate video with stock footage and cheesy music.
The script is everything. And the best framework for this is a classic: Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS).
1. Problem (0-10 seconds): Hook them immediately by calling out their specific pain. Use a question. For our CMO example: "Worried your marketing team is being left behind by the AI revolution?"
2. Agitate (10-30 seconds): Twist the knife. Make the problem feel more real and urgent. "Are you seeing competitors launch smarter campaigns while you're stuck in endless meetings about it? Are you struggling to build a business case for AI that your CEO will actually approve?"
3. Solve (30-50 seconds): Introduce your solution as the clear, simple path forward. This isn't the full sales pitch. It's a glimpse of the promised land. "I've helped over 50 CMOs build and launch a practical AI strategy in under 90 days. In my 'AI for Leaders' course, we skip the fluff and give you the exact frameworks and templates you need to get started."
4. Call to Action (50-60 seconds): Tell them exactly what to do next. And it should NOT be "Buy now". We'll get to that. "Click the link below to download my free 'AI Strategy on a Page' template. It's the exact one-pager my students use to get board-level buy-in."
Always include captions. Around 85% of social media videos are watched with the sound off. No captions means you're invisible to the vast majority of your audience. Keep it short and punchy. Aim for 60-90 seconds max. Respect their time.
Your Offer is More Important Than Your Ad
We've arrived at the most common point of failure in any advertising campaign: the offer. Asking a busy professional on LinkedIn to click an ad and immediately pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for a course is a huge ask. It's arrogant. It assumes they already trust you, understand the value, and are ready to buy. They aren't.
Your ad's only job is to get them to take a small, low-friction step. Your offer must deliver a moment of undeniable value—an "aha!" moment—that makes the prospect sell themselves on your expertise. You must solve a small, real problem for free to earn the right to solve their whole problem for a price.
Instead of a "Buy Now" button, your video should lead to one of these:
- A Free Taster Module: Give them a genuine, valuable lesson from your course. Let them experience your teaching style and see the quality of your content.
- A High-Value Download: This could be a checklist, a template, a market report, or a 'prospectus' for the course. In our CMO example, it was the 'AI Strategy on a Page' template. This is something they can use immediately.
- A Free Live Webinar: Host a 45-minute webinar where you teach one key concept from your course in depth. This is a powerful way to build authority and answer questions in real-time.
The goal is to trade a piece of high-value content for their email address. Now they are a lead. You've moved them from a passive viewer to an active prospect. You can now nurture them via email, retarget them with testimonial videos, and eventually, make the direct offer to buy the course. It's often a difficult choice between platforms, but when you're selling expertise, properly deciding whether to use Google or LinkedIn Ads is a critical first step based on how your audience searches for solutions.
How Much Can You Actually Afford to Pay for a Student?
This is the question that should drive your entire budget. It's not about getting the lowest Cost Per Lead (CPL). It's about knowing the highest CPL you can profitably afford. The answer lies in calculating your maximum affordable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
For a course, the logic is straightforward. You need to decide on your target Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). A common target is 3:1 or 4:1, meaning for every £1 you spend on ads, you want to get £3 or £4 back in course revenue. A 1:1 ROAS is break-even, and anything less is a loss.
Let's do the maths:
Course Price: £1,500
Target ROAS: 4x (or 400%)
Maximum Affordable CAC = Course Price / Target ROAS
Maximum Affordable CAC = £1,500 / 4 = £375
This means you can afford to spend up to £375 to get one person to buy your £1,500 course and still hit your goal. Now you can work backwards. If your landing page converts leads into customers at a rate of 10%, you can afford to pay up to £37.50 per lead (£375 * 10%). Suddenly, that £35 CPL from LinkedIn doesn't seem so expensive, does it? It looks like a profitable machine. This is the maths that unlocks scalable growth. Use the calculator below to find your number.
Of course, this all has to be tracked properly with the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your website, with conversion events set up for both the initial lead (e.g., 'Prospectus Download') and the final sale. Without accurate tracking, you're flying blind.
Bringing It All Together: Your Funnel
So what does this look like in practice? It's a multi-step funnel, not a single ad.
Top of Funnel (ToFu): This is your 'Teach, Don't Sell' video ad. You run it to a cold audience you've built based on their pain points. The objective is Lead Generation, and the call to action is to download your high-value freebie. You might find that looking at the ad creatives that work best for courses in London can give you some inspiration here.
Middle of Funnel (MoFu): Now you have a list of leads. You retarget them. These people have shown interest. You can show them different video ads: student testimonials, a short clip explaining a particularly powerful module in the course, or an 'ask me anything' style video. The goal here is to build more trust and keep your course top of mind. Often, you find leads that seem interested just don't convert, and understanding how to fix things if your leads aren't converting is a seperate skill in itself.
Bottom of Funnel (BoFu): This is where you make the sale. You retarget people who are highly engaged (e.g., visited the course sales page, watched 75% of your testimonial video) with a direct offer. This ad can finally say "Enrol now." You might add some urgency with a limited-time bonus or an upcoming price increase. This is especially true when you are focussed on selling high-ticket courses specifically, where the consideration phase is much longer.
This entire process should be supported by an email nurture sequence. Once someone downloads your freebie, they should recieve a series of automated emails that continue to provide value and gently guide them towards the course.
The Final Word
Running successful LinkedIn video ads for courses is less about advertising and more about strategic education. It's about deeply understanding your ideal student's biggest professional anxieties and positioning your course as the most credible solution. It requires a disciplined, funnel-based approach, a commitment to providing value before you ask for a sale, and a solid understanding of the numbers that actually drive profitable growth.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Component | Actionable Advice | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Objective | Use 'Lead Generation' or 'Website Conversions'. NEVER use 'Video Views' or 'Brand Awareness' for direct response. | Forces the algorithm to find users who take action, not just passive viewers, leading to higher quality traffic. |
| Audience Targeting | Define your audience by their specific, urgent PAIN, not just their job title. Use skills, group memberships, and followed influencers to layer your targeting. | Creates a hyper-relevant audience, making your ad's message resonate deeply and stand out from generic corporate ads. |
| Video Creative | Use the Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) framework. Keep it under 90 seconds. Be authentic; a simple 'talking head' video is often best. Always add captions. | Quickly builds trust and authority by demonstrating you understand their problem before you even mention your solution. |
| The Offer (CTA) | Offer a high-value freebie (template, webinar, taster module) in exchange for an email. Do NOT ask for the sale on the first touch. | Lowers the barrier to entry, proves your expertise, and generates qualified leads you can nurture towards a sale. |
| Measurement | Calculate your Maximum Affordable CAC based on your course price and target ROAS. Track CPL and final CPA meticulously. | Allows you to make data-driven decisions on budget and scaling, ensuring your campaigns are always profitable. |
As you can probably tell, this isn't a simple 'set it and forget it' process. It takes time, expertise, and constant testing and optimisation to get right. It involves copywriting, video production, technical setup, and data analysis. If you're a course creator, your time is probably better spent improving your course and teaching your students.
If you're serious about growing your course enrollment but don't have the time or deep expertise to build and manage a complex advertising funnel like this, it might be worth getting expert help. Properly vetting an expert to run your campaigns is definately the most important step. We specialise in this. We live and breathe B2B advertising for high-value services and courses. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your strategy, we offer a completely free, no-obligation consultation where we can look at what you're doing and provide some actionable advice. Feel free to reach out if that sounds helpful.
Hope this helps!
