LinkedIn vs. Meta Ads: EdTech Paid Ad Strategy

The "LinkedIn vs Meta" debate for EdTech is a distraction. It’s the wrong question. I’ve seen countless founders burn through funding by picking a platform based on industry gossip rather than cold, hard strategy. The truth is, both platforms can work spectacularly for EdTech, and both can be a bonfire for your cash. The difference isn't the platform; it's the thinking that happens before you ever create a campaign.

The right platform depends entirely on who you sell to, what you're selling, how much it costs, and the specific, urgent pain you solve for them. Get that wrong, and it doesn't matter how slick your ads are. This guide will walk you through the framework we use to make this decision, moving from the abstract to the actionable, so you can stop guessing and start acquiring customers profitably.

So, who are you actually selling to?

Forget the bland personas. "Sarah, a 35-year-old marketing manager" tells you nothing. It leads to generic ads that get ignored. You need to get under their skin. You need to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) not by their demographics, but by their professional nightmare.

Your customer isn't a job title; they're in a specific, painful "problem state". What keeps them awake at 3 AM? What's the one thing that, if it goes wrong, could get them fired or make them look incompetent in front of their boss? That's what you're selling a solution to.

Let’s make this real for EdTech:

The Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ICP: This is often the individual professional or consumer. It's the junior graphic designer who sees AI art generators all over his Instagram feed and is terrified his job will be obsolete in two years. His nightmare is irrelevance. He's not actively searching for a "strategic design thinking course," but when he sees an ad promising to make him 'AI-proof' with a new skillset, the emotional pull is immense. He’s buying for himself, on his own credit card. This is a prosumer sale, driven by fear or aspiration.

The LinkedIn ICP: This is the B2B buyer. It's the Head of Learning & Development at a 500-person tech company. Her nightmare is her CEO asking why the sales team missed its quarterly target and she has no answer. She's under immense pressure to find a scalable, effective sales training program before the next quarter. She isn't scrolling for inspiration; she is actively looking for credible, enterprise-ready solutions. She needs case studies, data, and a seamless procurement process. She is not spending her own money, and the decision involves multiple stakeholders.

See the difference? One is a B2C/prosumer emotional sale, perfect for Meta's visual, discovery-based feed. The other is a B2B logical sale, perfect for LinkedIn's professional context and precision targeting. If you don't know which of these two people you're selling to, you have no business running ads yet.

When does Meta make sense for an EdTech business?

Meta is a discovery engine. People are not there to make considered, high-ticket purchases. They're there to be distracted, entertained, and to connect with friends. Your ad needs to interrupt their scrolling with something that hits a raw nerve.

It's the ideal platform if your EdTech product is:

• Lower-priced (sub £500): This is the impulse-buy threshold. A £49 course on "Mastering ChatGPT for Marketers" is an easy yes. A £5,000 corporate training license is not.
• B2C or "Prosumer": You're selling to individuals who are paying out of their own pocket to advance their careers or hobbies. Think language learning apps, coding bootcamps, digital art courses, exam prep guides.
• Visually Appealing: Your success stories can be shown, not just told. Before-and-afters of student projects, testimonials from happy customers, a charismatic instructor on camera. Video is king here.

One of our most successful campaigns was for an online course creator, generating $115k in revenue in just six weeks, and that was almost entirely on Meta. It worked because the offer was compelling and the price point was accessible for an individual.

The targeting on Meta is broad, based on interests, behaviours, and demographics. You can't target by job title reliably. You target the *proxy* for your ideal customer. For the scared graphic designer, you'd target interests like "Adobe Creative Suite," "UX Design," followers of specific design influencers, and then layer that with behaviors that suggest they are career-focused. It's less precise, but for B2C, that scale is what you need. Many buisnesses struggle with this and find their ads get traffic but don't convert, often requiring a deeper look into the alignment between your ad's promise and your landing page's delivery.

And when is LinkedIn the right tool for the job?

LinkedIn is a surgical tool. It's expensive, the user base is smaller and less engaged, but the targeting is a B2B marketer's dream. You pay a premium to get your message in front of the exact person with the budget and authority to buy your £50,000 corporate training solution.

You should be on LinkedIn if your EdTech product is:

• High-Ticket (over £1,000 per sale): The higher cost per lead is easily justified when a single customer is worth tens of thousands of pounds.
• Pure B2B: You sell to companies, universities, or institutions, not individuals. Think enterprise LMS platforms, compliance training modules, or executive coaching services.
• A Considered Purchase: The sales cycle is long and involves multiple decision-makers. Your goal isn't an immediate sale; it's to start a conversation, book a demo, or get them to download a high-value resource.

LinkedIn's superpower is its targeting. You can target by: Company Name, Company Size, Industry, Job Title, Job Function, Seniority, Member Skills, and more. For that Head of L&D, you can create a campaign that *only* shows ads to people with the title "Head of Learning & Development" or "Chief Learning Officer" at UK companies in the "Technology, Information and Media" sector with 500-5,000 employees. That level of precision is impossible on Meta.

We've run campaigns for B2B SaaS clients getting leads from decision-makers for as low as $22 per lead on LinkedIn. This sounds expensive compared to Meta, but when the deal size is massive, it's incredibly profitable. For anyone selling to businesses, it is essential to understand the fundamental differences in strategy between Meta and LinkedIn.

The mistake many make is trying to use Meta tactics on LinkedIn. UGC-style videos and "Buy Now!" calls to action fall flat. The context is professional. Your ads need to offer value and build authority. Think invitations to webinars, downloadable industry reports, and detailed case studies. You are courting them, not shouting at them.

The Maths That Actually Matters: What's a Customer Worth to You?

This is where most founders get it wrong. They obsess over Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Lead (CPL) without knowing the most important number: Lifetime Value (LTV). Your LTV tells you how much gross margin a customer will generate for you over their entire relationship with your business. Once you know this, you know exactly how much you can afford to spend to acquire them (your Customer Acquisition Cost, or CAC).

A healthy business aims for an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3:1. Meaning, for every £1 you spend to acquire a customer, you should expect to get at least £3 back in gross margin over their lifetime.

Let's calculate it. You need three numbers:

1. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much a customer pays you per month/year.
2. Gross Margin %: Your revenue minus the direct costs of servicing that customer. For software, this is often very high (80-90%).
3. Monthly Churn Rate %: The percentage of customers who cancel each month.

The formula is: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

Suddenly, a £150 lead from LinkedIn for your corporate training platform doesn't seem so expensive if you know each customer is worth £25,000. It's a bargain. Conversely, paying £10 for a lead on Meta for a £99 course is a disaster. This simple calculation should dictate your entire marketing budget and platform strategy. I've built a simple calculator below to help you figure this out for your own business.

Stop Selling Demos and Start Solving Problems

Now for the most common point of failure: your offer. I see this everyday. Founders with a great product, the right audience, and the right platform, but their ads just don't work. Why? Because their call to action is "Request a Demo".

This is the most arrogant, self-serving offer in marketing. It screams, "Give me 45 minutes of your valuable time so my salesperson can pitch you." It offers zero value to the prospect upfront. It's high friction and low reward. It's lazy. And in the competitive EdTech space, it's a death sentence for your ad budget.

Your offer's only job is to provide an "aha!" moment. It must solve a small, tangible piece of their big, expensive nightmare for free. You give them a taste of the solution so they can't help but want the whole meal. For us, it's a free ad account audit. We solve a real problem (failing campaigns) for free to earn the right to solve the bigger problem.

Better Offers for EdTech on Meta (B2C/Prosumer):

• -> A free, 30-minute live workshop on the "3 AI Tools Every Marketer Must Master".
• -> A downloadable PDF guide: "The Aspiring Coder's Roadmap: From Zero to Your First Job".
• -> Access to the first module of your bestselling course, completely free. No credit card required.

Better Offers for EdTech on LinkedIn (B2B):

• -> A free, automated "Team Skills Gap Analysis" tool that a manager can use with their team.
• -> A comprehensive, data-backed industry report on "The Future of Corporate Learning in the AI Era".
• -> An invitation to an exclusive, C-level roundtable discussion (virtual) on a pressing industry topic.

These offers deliver value immediately. They build trust and position you as an expert, not just another vendor. They get your foot in the door without a fight. If your ads aren't working, fix your offer before you blame the platform.

What now? A simple framework to get started.

By now, the choice should be clearer. It's not about the platforms' features in a vacuum; it's about aligning your customer's pain, your LTV, and your offer with the right environment. One of the biggest challenges we see is founders trying to apply a one-size-fits-all approach, which is why we've put together a comprehensive guide for B2B founders navigating paid social.

Here's the final summary:

Choose Meta Ads if:
You sell directly to individuals (B2C/Prosumer).
Your price point is under £500.
Your sales cycle is short and emotionally driven.
You have strong visual content (especially video testimonials).
Your offer is a low-friction entry point like a free workshop or a guide.

Choose LinkedIn Ads if:
You sell to other businesses (B2B).
Your price point is high (thousands per customer).
Your sales cycle is long and involves multiple decision-makers.
Your targeting needs to be precise (job title, company size, industry).
Your offer is a high-value asset like an industry report or an exclusive webinar.

Making the right choice here is critical, especially in a competitive market like London where ad costs can be higher. For EdTech businesses specifically targeting course leaders or corporate clients in the capital, a tailored LinkedIn strategy is often the only viable path.

This isn't just theory. This is the exact framework that has allowed us to scale EdTech businesses from zero to tens of thousands of users and achieve massive returns for our clients. But it requires discipline. It requires doing the hard strategic work before you spend a single pound on ads. It's a complex process, and getting it wrong is expensive.

If you're an EdTech founder and you're still unsure which path is right for you, or if you're running ads and not seeing the results you need, it might be time for an expert opinion. We offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session where we'll look at your business, your offer, and your goals, and give you a brutally honest assessment of what you should be doing next. It’s a chance to get clarity and an actionable plan from people who do this all day, every day.

If you'd like to book one, feel free to get in touch.