Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out!
I understand you're finding it tough to get LinkedIn ads working for lead generation in Aberdeen. It's a common frustration, and honestly, most people go about it the wrong way. They focus on the platform, when the real problem is almost always the targeting and the offer.
I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts based on what we've seen work for other B2B clients. The trick isn't just about finding people in Aberdeen; it's about finding the right people with a problem so urgent they're willing to listen. Let's get into it.
We'll need to look at your customer's nightmare, not their postcode...
Right, first thing's first. Forget "businesses in Aberdeen". It's a useless targeting parameter. It tells you nothing of value and leads to the sort of generic ads that everyone ignores. To stop burning cash, you have to define your customer by their specific, urgent, and expensive pain point.
Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a demographic; it's a problem state. You need to become an expert in their professional nightmare. The Operations Director at a firm in Dyce isn't just a job title; he's a leader terrified of a supply chain failure causing project delays and costing the company millions. The Head of HR at a mid-sized energy service company isn't thinking "I need HR services"; she's up at night worried about losing top engineers to a competitor because their internal processes are a mess. This is the stuff that matters.
Your job is to identify this one, single, painful problem. What keeps them awake? What puts their career at risk? What's the one thing that if you solved it, would make them look like a hero to their boss?
Once you've isolated that nightmare, everything else becomes easier. Your ad copy writes itself. Your targeting gets sharper. You stop selling a service and start selling a solution to a real, painful problem. Most businesses in Aberdeen will have similer problems but the ones in your niche will have very specific ones. You need to nail that down first, or you have no business spending a single pound on ads.
I'd say you need to rethink your entire offer...
Now we get to the second biggest mistake I see: the offer. I'm going to bet your website has a "Contact Us" or "Request a Quote" button. Am I right? This is probably the highest-friction, lowest-value Call to Action you can have. It asks a busy, important person to give up their time to be sold to. It's arrogant, and it immediately puts you in the same bucket as every other generic service provider.
Your offer’s only job is to deliver an "aha!" moment. A moment of undeniable value that makes the prospect sell themselves on your solution. You must solve a small, real problem for them, for free, to earn the right to talk about solving their bigger problems.
What could this look like for a business in Aberdeen?
-> If you're an IT services firm, don't offer a 'consultation'. Offer a free, automated 'Cybersecurity Risk Score' for their company website.
-> If you're a logistics company, don't offer a 'demo'. Offer a 'Free North Sea Route Efficiency Calculator' spreadsheet.
-> If you're a financial consultancy, dont offer a 'call'. Offer a '5-Point Cash Flow Health Check' PDF guide.
These offers are tangible, valuable, and low-friction. They deliver value upfront. They position you as an expert, not a salesperson. I remember one client we worked with was struggling to get leads for their high-ticket industrial products. We switched their offer from "Book a Demo" to a free guide on "Reducing Downtime in Manufacturing". Their lead quality shot up, and their sales team were having much better conversations, because prospects came to them already having recieved value.
You'll need a message they cant ignore...
Once you know their nightmare and have a high-value offer, you can finally write an ad that gets noticed. Stop talking about yourself, your company, or your services. Start talking about their problem.
The best formula for this is Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS).
Problem: State their nightmare in a way that shows you understand it intimately.
Agitate: Poke the bruise. Remind them of the consequences of inaction. What happens if this problem continues?
Solve: Introduce your high-value, low-friction offer as the first step to relief.
It's the difference between an ad that gets ignored and an ad that gets clicked. Here’s a demonstration:
| Ad Type | Example Ad Copy | Why It Fails/Works |
|---|---|---|
| The Bad Ad (Generic) | "ABC Logistics offers premier supply chain solutions for businesses in Aberdeen. With 20 years of experience, we optimise your operations. Contact us for a quote." | Fails because it's all about "us". It's boring, uses corporate speak ("solutions", "optimise"), and asks for a high-commitment action. Nobody cares. |
| The Good Ad (PAS) | "Another shipment delayed out of Peterhead? Your ops manager is firefighting again, and your biggest client is getting impatient. Don't let logistical snags derail your Q4 targets. Download our free 'North Sea Route Efficiency Checklist' and identify your top 3 bottlenecks in 10 minutes." | Works because it starts with their specific problem (Problem), highlights the painful consequences (Agitate), and offers an immediate, valuable, and easy solution (Solve). |
We'll need to look at the real numbers that matter...
People often get fixated on the cost per lead (CPL) on LinkedIn. "It's too expensive!" they say. This is the wrong question. The real question is, "How much can I afford to pay for a great customer?" The answer is found in their Lifetime Value (LTV).
Before you spend another penny, you must calculate this. It's simpler than you think.
1. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): What's an average client worth to you per year? Let's say it's £15,000.
2. Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that? Let's say it's 60%.
3. Customer Lifetime (Years): How long does an average client stay with you? Let's say it's 3 years.
The calculation is just: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) * Lifetime
So, in this example: LTV = (£15,000 * 0.60) * 3 = £27,000. Each new customer is worth £27,000 in gross margin to your business.
Suddenly, that £50 or even £100 lead from LinkedIn doesn't seem so expensive, does it? If you have a decent sales process, say you close 1 in 10 qualified leads, you could afford to pay up to £270 per lead and still be very profitable (based on a 10:1 LTV:CAC ratio). We've run campaigns for B2B clients where we've achieved a CPL of around £18 for decision makers on LinkedIn. Knowing your LTV is what gives you the confidence to invest properly in growth.
I'd say you need the right campaign mechanics...
Finally, let's talk about how to set this up on LinkedIn. Your main goal is lead generation, so you have two primary options for Sponsored Content campaigns:
1. LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms: These are pop-up forms that open directly on LinkedIn when a user clicks your ad. They're pre-filled with the user's profile information, which makes submitting them very easy.
-> Pros: Generally a lower cost per lead because it's so frictionless. Great for getting a high volume of leads quickly.
-> Cons: The lead quality can be lower. Because it's so easy, you might get people who aren't that serious. You'll need a solid process to qualify them afterwards.
2. Ads to a Landing Page: This is where you send traffic from the ad to a dedicated page on your website where they can fill out a form to get your high-value offer.
-> Pros: The leads are almost always higher quality. The fact that they took the time to leave LinkedIn, visit your site, and fill out a form shows much higher intent.
-> Cons: Higher cost per lead. There's more friction, so your conversion rate will be lower, meaning you pay more for each one.
Which one should you chose? I'd always recommend testing both. Start with a Lead Gen Form campaign to gather data and get some initial conversations going. At the same time, run a smaller budget to a dedicated landing page. You'll quickley see which approach generates leads that actually turn into buisness.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Step | Action | Why It's Important |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Define The Nightmare | Stop targeting by location/industry. Identify the single most urgent, expensive problem your ideal customer in Aberdeen faces. | This is the foundation for everything. It makes your messaging relevant and your targeting precise. Without it, you're just shouting into the void. |
| 2. Create a Real Offer | Delete "Contact Us". Build a high-value, low-friction offer (a checklist, a calculator, a free audit) that solves a small piece of their nightmare for free. | This builds trust, demonstrates expertise, and makes prospects sell themselves on your value before you even speak to them. |
| 3. Write Pain-Point Ads | Use the Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) formula for all your ad copy. Speak directly to their pain, highlight the consequences, and present your offer as the solution. | This grabs attention in a crowded feed and connects with the prospect on an emotional level, driving action far more effectively than feature lists. |
| 4. Calculate Your LTV | Work out what an average customer is worth to you over their lifetime. Be honest and conservative with your numbers. | This frees you from the tyranny of 'cheap leads'. It gives you the financial clarity to invest confidently in acquiring high-value customers. |
| 5. Test Campaign Types | Run simultaneous tests with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms and ads that click through to a dedicated landing page on your site. | This lets the data decide your strategy, balancing the trade-off between lead volume (Lead Gen Forms) and lead quality (Landing Page). |
As you can probably tell, getting this right is more involved than just boosting a few posts. It's a strategic process that requires a deep understanding of psychology, copywriting, and the specific mechanics of the ad platforms. It takes time and expertise to define the ICP, build the right offer, write compelling copy, and manage the campaigns to get a positive return.
This is where expert help can make a huge difference, especialy in a competitive local market. We do this day-in, day-out for B2B companies and have seen what works and what doesn't.
If you'd like to go over your specific situation in more detail, we offer a free, no-obligation initial strategy session where we can take a look at your business and give you some more tailored advice. It might be helpful to get a second pair of eyes on things.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
