Why are global campaigns technically a bad idea?

Another common thing we see when auditing LinkedIn Ads accounts is campaigns targeting the entire world in a single campaign. Especially from accounts managed without real LinkedIn Ads expertise.

You’ll see it with role-based targeting all the time. Companies have a very specific title or buyer they want to go after (e.g. AI roles, Head of Innovation, Heads of Treasury, etc.), so they add the titles and then just target globally.

The job titles are very precise, which is great, but the geo-targeting everywhere is not.

Other times, it's just an oversight, or whoever's managing the account simply doesn't feel like creating multiple campaigns.

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Either way, this small setup oversight 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬:

(1) 𝐒𝐤𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲

LinkedIn starts delivering minutes after you hit active. The first time zone awake gets the impressions, and that's the way it repeats every day. If that’s Asia or Europe, but your priority is the US - you’ve likely burned through most of your budget before the US even logs on.

(2) 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

Costs vary wildly by region. US CPCs can sometimes run 3x+ higher than the next most expensive markets for some roles (cough... CISO's). The bid you need to win share in the US will not be the bid you need in APAC or EMEA.

One global bid means you’re either overpaying in cheaper markets or losing out in expensive ones.

(3) 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬

What works in one region doesn’t always land in EMEA. Wording, tone, even “s” vs “z” in UK vs US English. With a large global campaign, you lose the ability to make the slight changes that make campaigns feel relevant to the region you're targeting - maybe minor details but depending on the market, can mean being ignored.

(4) 𝐒𝐤𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞

Say for example, the target priority regions are - US 50%, EMEA 25%, APAC 25%. If you put all 3 in one campaign, you'll lose control over where the actual spending goes. Generally, it typically flows to wherever CPCs are cheapest, not your priority regions.

We’ve seen this repeatedly: US is the primary target, APAC is secondary, but then large countries like India end up eating the impression share, which looks awful on a leadership report.

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To make sure your impressions are landing in the right places - split campaigns by either:

1. Country priority

2. Time zone/continent

And then...

3. Allocate budget % relative to priority

4. Bid based on the competitiveness in that market

It takes more setup and management, but you get vital control over delivery and can deliver reporting that reflects your intended strategy.

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