LinkedIn Introduces Generative AI-Powered Tool for B2B Marketers

Among its early benefits, generative AI has proven to save time in the campaign creation process and speed up ad optimization for marketers.

This utilization comes to LinkedIn—which was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016—with its latest AI offering to marketers: Accelerate.  

In a bid to assist B2B marketers in achieving more precise targeting, LinkedIn’s latest AI-driven solution recommends an end-to-end campaign and automatic optimizations. With this, marketers can reach their B2B audiences using tailored creative content in as little as five minutes, Abhishek Shrivastava, vp of product, LinkedIn, told Adweek.

The business network deploys generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write campaign headlines and ad copy while generating images using Shutterstock. Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, and Shutterstock expanded its generative AI deal with OpenAI in July.

LinkedIn’s marketing automation tool Assist, part of Accelerate, also uses generative AI to provide marketers with recommendations to improve campaign performance by asking it questions such as “Why was this budget recommended?” or “What are some best practices for targeting?”

“We know that 84% of marketers believe AI will support them with their work,” said Shrivastava, citing research conducted by Censuswide of nearly 30,000 professionals. “And saving time in the campaign creation process is a great place to start.”

Of the company’s $13.8 billion revenue in 2022, LinkedIn generated nearly $6 billion in ad dollars, according to Statista, and is expected to further grow to reach $10.35 billion by 2027. The business platform is responsible for roughly 0.9 percent of Microsoft’s global ad revenue. Meanwhile, with an audience size of over 950 million, the company has seen a 42% year over year increase from 2021 to 2023 in public conversations, according to LinkedIn.

AI efficacy remains to be seen

The newly introduced ad tool is built on LinkedIn’s preexisting AI capabilities, including automated placement, which has shown a remarkable 47% enhancement in cost per conversion, as well as Predictive Audiences, leading to a significant 21% improvement in cost per lead, according to company estimates.

Available as a pilot to a limited number of ad agencies, such as Brainlabs and Closed Loop, marketers can use Accelerate with as little information as a product URL. The AI then analyzes website details, alongside the brand’s LinkedIn page and previous LinkedIn ads, to recommend campaign assets and target audiences.

“Ultimately, humans are in charge and can tweak campaigns [like targeting parameters],” said Shrivastava. “AI is just playing helping a role.”

Michael Ruby, founder and CCO at B2B marketing agency Park and Battery, sees LinkedIn’s latest features as potential solutions to alleviate the burdensome tasks involved in campaign setup such as data entry.

However, the true measure of its effectiveness will hinge upon how adeptly the AI can decipher multiple data points, including a brand’s prior ads and LinkedIn page performance.

“This becomes particularly crucial when a campaign setup involves a website landing page with multiple offerings,” Ruby pointed out. “The precise translation of these offerings into website clicks by the AI remains uncertain.”

Meanwhile, given that AI operates most efficiently when fed with substantial data, Ruby suggested that B2B companies should bolster their presence on LinkedIn to enhance their returns with Accelerate.

LinkedIn plans to roll out Accelerate to the Indian and Australian markets in the coming weeks, with the goal of making it accessible globally by 2024.

Despite the evolving nature of user interactions on the platform, where personal and professional conversations often overlap, LinkedIn remains a professional network, Shrivastava emphasized.