TLDR;
- LinkedIn Ads in the UK are expensive (expect £5-£10+ per click), so your course/platform economics need to support a high acquisition cost.
- British audiences hate the "hype" marketing that works in the US; tone down the claims and focus on specific, problem-solving utility.
- Lead Gen Forms almost always outperform landing pages for cold traffic here—reduce friction to get the lead, then nurture them via email.
- We've included a custom ROAS calculator below to help you figure out if your course pricing can actually sustain a LinkedIn campaign.
- The most important piece of advice is to target by "Job Function" + "Seniority" rather than specific job titles, as UK job titles are incredibly inconsistent.
So, you’re looking to get your e-learning platform or online course in front of the right eyes in the UK, and you've decided LinkedIn is the place to be. You're probably right, mostly because if you're selling anything B2B or high-ticket professional education, Facebook can sometimes feel like trying to sell textbooks at a pub. It’s possible, but it’s loud and messy.
However, I’ve seen countless UK businesses—from huge executive education providers in London to scrappy EdTech startups in Manchester—burn through thousands of pounds on LinkedIn without seeing a single enrollment. Why? Because they treat LinkedIn like it's just "Facebook with a tie on." It isn't.
Especially in the UK market. We are a cynical bunch. We don't click on ads that promise to "10x our revenue in 24 hours." We scroll past that rubbish. If you want to make this work, you need a strategy that respects the platform's high costs and the audience's skepticism. I'm going to walk you through exactly how I’d set this up if I were spending my own money.
Is LinkedIn actually right for your course?
Before we even touch the Ads Manager, we need to have a serious look at your maths. LinkedIn is expensive. In the UK, Cost Per Click (CPC) for business-related audiences usually hovers between £4 and £12. Yes, for a single click.
If you are selling a £49 course on "Basic Excel Skills," you are going to lose money. Period. There is no optimising your way out of that maths. The economics just don't stack up.
LinkedIn works best for e-learning platforms where the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is high—think £500 minimum, but ideally £1,000+. This usually means:
- B2B SaaS training platforms.
- Executive education and leadership programmes.
- Accredited professional certifications (marketing, finance, coding).
- Niche technical skills for senior industries (e.g., "AI for Legal Professionals").
If you're unsure about the maths, I've built a little calculator below. You can plug in your course price and see what kind of conversion metrics you'd need to hit to break even. This is often where the dream dies, but it’s better to kill it now than £5k later.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): 5.62x
Who are you actually targeting? (Hint: Not "Everyone")
One of the biggest mistakes I see in accounts is targeting that is way too broad. In the UK, we have very specific hubs. If you are selling a Fintech course, you probably want to be heavy on London and perhaps Leeds or Edinburgh. If you are selling manufacturing compliance training, you might look more towards the Midlands or the North.
But beyond geography, the "Job Title" trap is real. In the UK job market, titles are all over the place. A "Marketing Manager" at a startup in Shoreditch might be doing the same job as a "CMO" at a small family business in Birmingham. If you only target "Marketing Managers," you miss half your audience.
Instead, I prefer using Job Function + Seniority + Skills.
For example, if I'm selling a Data Science course for beginners:
- Don't just target: "Data Analyst" job titles.
- Do target: Job Function: Engineering / IT / Operations AND Seniority: Junior / Entry / Training AND Member Skills: Python, Excel, SQL.
This captures people who are doing the work or want to do the work, regardless of whether their boss calls them an "Analyst" or a "Ninja." For a deeper dive into targeting specifically for education, have a look at our complete playbook for UK EdTech ads.
The "British filter" on your creative
Here’s a thing about the UK market that trips up a lot of international companies: we hate being sold to. If your ad looks like a late-night infomercial shouting "TRANSFORM YOUR CAREER TODAY!!", most Brits will scroll past it out of sheer embarrassment for you.
Your creative needs to be understated, professional, and evidence-based. We value credentials. If your e-learning platform is accredited by a UK body (like CIPD, CIM, or a university), plaster that logo on the image. It builds instant trust.
Video vs. Image?
Video is great, but only if it's high quality. A shaky webcam video of the founder might work on TikTok, but on LinkedIn, it just looks cheap. For courses, "Document Ads" (those slide decks you can scroll through) are performing incredibly well right now. You can give away a "Chapter 1" summary or a checklist as a PDF. It demonstrates expertise before asking for the sale. We've actually written a fair bit about this in our guide on creative blueprints for UK online course ads.
Lead Gen Forms vs. Landing Pages: The GDPR Factor
In the UK (and Europe generally), we are obsessed with privacy and cookie banners. If you send traffic to your website, you lose 20-30% of people immediately because they refuse to click "Accept" on your cookie banner, or the page loads too slow, or they just can't be bothered to fill out a form on their mobile while commuting on the Tube.
This is why LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are usually the winner here. They auto-fill the user's profile data (Name, Email, Job Title) without them leaving the app. The friction is almost zero.
However, there is a catch. The lead quality can be lower because it's too easy. People forget they signed up. You need a really strong email nurture sequence to follow up immediately. If you want to compare the strategies, you might find our comparison of 2024 format strategies for leads helpful.
I've visualised the trade-off below. It's a classic case of quantity vs. intent.
Lead Gen Form vs. Website Conversion (UK Data)
The "Cold to Sold" Strategy for UK Courses
You can't just run one ad and expect a sale. Especially for a £1,000 course. No one buys that on impulse while scrolling LinkedIn on their lunch break. You need a funnel.
Here is a structure that works well for the executive education space:
Phase 1: The "Problem Awareness" Layer (Cold Traffic)
Target your broad ideal persona. Don't sell the course. Sell the solution to a nightmare they have.
Example Ad: "Struggling to navigate the new UK AI regulations in your legal practice? Here is a 5-point checklist."
Format: Document Ad or Single Image.
Goal: Clicks or Lead Gen (download the checklist).
Phase 2: The "Authority" Layer (Retargeting)
Retarget anyone who opened the Lead Gen form or visited the website. Show them why you are the expert.
Example Ad: "See how [Instructor Name] helped Barclays implementation teams save 20 hours a week."
Format: Video Ad (Case Study / Testimonial).
Goal: Trust.
Phase 3: The "Offer" Layer (High Intent)
Retarget the most engaged users (visited pricing page, watched 50% of video).
Example Ad: "Enrollment for the Q3 cohort closes in 48 hours. Secure your spot."
Format: Single Image or Text Ad.
Goal: Conversion.
This is crucial because LinkedIn allows you to retarget based on interaction. If someone opened your Lead Gen form but didn't submit, you can retarget them! That is a goldmine that so many people ignore.
Bidding Strategy: Don't let LinkedIn spend your money for you
By default, LinkedIn will set your bid to "Maximum Delivery." This basically means "Take my money and run." It’s great for LinkedIn, bad for you.
I almost always switch to Manual Bidding (Enhanced CPC). It allows you to set a cap. If LinkedIn says the suggested bid is £8.50, try bidding £5.50. You might get less traffic, but it will be cheaper. If you aren't spending your budget, you can inch it up slowly. But never start at the top recommended bid unless you have money to burn.
Also, keep an eye on the "Audience Network." This is where LinkedIn shows your ads on other websites. It's often cheaper, but the quality can be utter rubbish. For a start, I’d turn it off. Keep your ads on the LinkedIn feed where you know the context is professional.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid in the UK Market
1. Ignoring VAT
Remember, LinkedIn bills from Ireland. If you are a VAT-registered business in the UK, you need to add your VAT number to the ad account, or you might get charged VAT when you shouldn't (reverse charge mechanism usually applies). I'm not an accountant, but check this. It's an extra 20% cost if you mess it up.
2. American Spelling
It sounds petty, but it matters. If you spell "programme" as "program" or "optimise" as "optimize," educated UK buyers subconsciously tag you as "foreign/generic." Localise your copy. Use £ symbols, not $. Reference UK laws or standards if relevant.
3. Assuming London is everything
While London is huge, costs are higher there. If your course is online and valid for anyone, try excluding London in a separate campaign test. You might find your CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) drops significantly in Manchester, Birmingham, or Glasgow because there is less competition for those eyeballs.
For those of you targeting really high-end niches, check out our guide on high-ticket blueprints for LinkedIn ads.
My Recommended Setup (The Cheatsheet)
If I had to set up a campaign for you today, blindly, here is exactly how I would configure the settings for a UK audience.
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Objective | Lead Generation (if using forms) or Website Conversions. Never "Brand Awareness". |
| Location | United Kingdom (Test excluding London if budget is tight). |
| Language | English (UK) - ensure your profile language is set to this too. |
| Audience Size | Aim for 30,000 to 100,000 for cold traffic. Anything smaller is too expensive; anything bigger is too broad. |
| Targeting Logic | Job Function + Seniority (e.g., Marketing + Senior/Manager) OR Member Groups. |
| Audience Expansion | UNCHECK THIS. Do not let LinkedIn expand your audience. They will show your ads to irrelevant people. |
| Placement | LinkedIn Feed only. Uncheck "Audience Network". |
| Bidding | Manual Bid (Enhanced CPC). Start low, scale up if no impressions. |
| Ad Format | Single Image (for clicks) or Document Ad (for engagement/leads). |
Is it worth hiring an agency?
Look, LinkedIn ads are a bit of a beast. You can definitely do it yourself, and if your budget is under £1k/month, you probably should do it yourself because an agency fee would eat up all your margins. But if you are looking to scale, or if you're spending £3k+ and not seeing results, the nuances of bidding and audience segmentation become critical.
We see a lot of accounts where the owner has done a "good enough" job, but they are wasting 30% of their budget on the Audience Network or targeting the wrong seniority level. Fixing those small leaks often pays for the expert help itself. If you're scratching your head looking at your campaign manager right now, maybe it's time for a second pair of eyes.
We offer a free initial consultation where we can look at your current setup (or your plan) and give you a brutal, honest assessment of whether it’s going to fly in the UK market. No sales pitch, just a look under the hood.
Hope this helps!
