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Before setting up LinkedIn Ads, make sure you have:

• Admin or account manager permissions in LinkedIn Campaign Manager
• An active Clay workspace
• A table in Clay with contact data ready to sync

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Ok, let’s get into it.

🔐 Step 1: Access LinkedIn Campaign Manager

1. Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager
2. Select the ad account you want to connect
3. Make sure you have admin or account manager permissions

🔗 Step 2: Connect LinkedIn to Clay

1. In Clay, navigate to Integrations in your workspace settings
2. Search for LinkedIn Ads and click Connect
3. Authenticate with your LinkedIn account
4. Select the ad account you want Clay to sync audiences to
5. Grant Clay permission to create and manage matched audiences

✅ Step 3: Verify Connection

1. Go to any Clay table with contact data
2. Click Actions → Create Ad Audience
3. You should see your LinkedIn ad account as an available destination

⚙️ LinkedIn-Specific Settings

LinkedIn Ads has a minimum audience size of 300 contacts, though LinkedIn recommends at least 30K+ contacts for best performance. The match time is approximately 6 hours for initial match rate signals. For security, Clay automatically hashes personal data before syncing using SHA-256 encryption.

💡 Best Practices for LinkedIn Ads

1. Start with Your ICP

LinkedIn works best for B2B targeting. Make sure your audience includes:

• Job titles and seniority levels
• Company size and industry
• Geographic location

2. Build Exclusion Lists

One of your first audiences should be a customer exclusion list. Sync your current customers so you can exclude them from prospecting campaigns immediately.

3. Optimize for Match Rates

LinkedIn matches best when you provide:

• Work email addresses (personal emails work but match less frequently)
• First and last names
• Company names
• Job titles

4. Plan for Match Time

LinkedIn takes approximately 6 hours to process your audience and provide match rate signals. Plan your campaign launches accordingly.

🚀 What's Next

Now that LinkedIn is connected, you can move on to setting up other platforms or start building your first ad audience in Clay.