LinkedIn gives you three bidding strategies – maximum delivery, cost cap, and manual bidding – and the difference between them can mean paying $2 per click or $20 for the same audience. Most advertisers default to maximum delivery because LinkedIn makes it the default option. That is usually a mistake, especially for ABM campaigns.
Over the past 2+ years, I’ve used LinkedIn ads testing all three strategies. In this guide, I will give you a direct side-by-side comparison of maximum delivery, cost cap, and manual bidding, complete with pros/cons, performance data from ZenABM’s 2026 ABM Benchmarks Report, and a decision tree to help you choose the right one. Plus expert commentary from a former LinkedIn employee who knows exactly how the auction system works.
Before comparing strategies, here is how LinkedIn determines which ads win the auction. LinkedIn uses a second-price auction where your position is determined by:
Ad Rank = Bid x Ad Relevance Score
You pay just enough to beat the next highest bidder, not your full bid. Your ad relevance score is based on predicted CTR, engagement signals, and post-click performance. This means two things:
With that foundation, let me compare all three strategies.
| Feature | Maximum Delivery | Cost Cap | Manual Bidding (CPC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | LinkedIn sets bids automatically to spend your full budget | You set an average cost target; LinkedIn adjusts bids around it | You set the maximum bid per click |
| Cost control | None – LinkedIn decides | Medium – average target, individual bids vary | Full – you set the ceiling |
| Budget utilization | Highest – LinkedIn spends your full budget | Medium – may underspend if cap is too low | Varies – depends on bid competitiveness |
| CPC predictability | Unpredictable – can spike | Somewhat predictable on average | Predictable – never exceeds your bid |
| Audience reach | Broadest – reaches everyone it can | Medium | Narrower – prioritizes high-engagement subset |
| LinkedIn’s default | Yes (this is what LinkedIn prefers you use) | No | No (LinkedIn hides this option) |
| Best for ABM | Rarely | Rarely | Almost always |
Maximum delivery is LinkedIn’s default bidding strategy. When you create a new campaign, this is what LinkedIn selects for you. It gives LinkedIn full control over your bids, and the algorithm’s goal is simple: spend your entire daily budget as fast as possible while trying to maximize “results” (however LinkedIn defines results for your objective).
“Maximum delivery… most people don’t like it, myself included. It’s most likely costing you more money than manual bidding. It optimizes according to LinkedIn for maximum ad delivery within your budget, but you will always be charged for impressions.” – Max Herzeg, former LinkedIn employee
Gabriel Ehrlich from Remotion highlights the specific danger for ABM:
If you just doubled [budget], and your CPM went up because of that, then that’s a problem. Maybe you had maximum delivery as your bidding strategy, and if you do that and just add budget, there’s a very decent chance that LinkedIn will waste your budget.” –= Gabriel Ehrlich, Remotion
For ABM campaigns where you are targeting a specific account list and every dollar needs to count, maximum delivery’s “spend everything” approach is usually the wrong choice.
Cost cap bidding sits between maximum delivery and manual bidding. You set an average cost target (e.g., “I want to pay an average of $10 per click”), and LinkedIn adjusts individual bids to try to hit that average. Some clicks may cost $15, others $5 — as long as the average stays near your cap.
“No one ever talks about [cost cap]. I don’t recommend it personally.” – Max Herzeg
When you set a cost cap, LinkedIn’s algorithm evaluates each auction opportunity. It bids higher for users it predicts are more likely to convert and lower for less likely users. Over time, it tries to balance these high and low bids to maintain your average target.
The problem for ABM is that your audience is small and specific. LinkedIn’s algorithm has limited data to predict which users in your target account list are most likely to convert. Without enough data, the algorithm makes suboptimal decisions – sometimes overpaying, sometimes under-delivering.
Manual CPC bidding gives you full control. You set the maximum amount you are willing to pay per click. LinkedIn enters auctions on your behalf up to that amount, and because of the second-price auction, you typically pay less than your max bid.
Manual bidding basically covers most cases. It’s so good that LinkedIn actually hides it from you.” – Max Herzeg, co-founder of Kamrat & former LinkedIn employee
I pretty much only use manual CPC bidding. LinkedIn’s algorithm then optimizes for audiences that are more high-intent and more likely to actually engage and click.
Max Herzeg’s approach:
What I would always do is 30% below the recommendation of the range.” – Max Herzeg, former LinkedIn employee
Start 30% below LinkedIn’s suggested range, wait 2-3 days, and adjust based on delivery. If your spend is below 80% of your daily budget, increase by 10-15%. If you are hitting your budget, hold steady and focus on optimizing creative.
For reference, here are the median CPCs by ad format from ZenABM’s benchmarks:
Based on data from ZenABM’s 2026 ABM Benchmarks Report and the experiences shared during the ABM Bootcamp, here is how the three strategies compare in practice:
| Metric | Maximum Delivery | Cost Cap | Manual CPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical CPM | $90-120+ | $75-95 | $65-85 |
| CPC Consistency | High variance day-to-day | Moderate variance | Low variance |
| Budget Utilization | 95-100% of daily budget | 70-90% (can stall) | 60-95% (depends on bid) |
| Audience Penetration | Highest | Medium | Lower (but higher quality) |
| Setup Difficulty | Easy (default) | Moderate | Moderate (requires benchmarks) |
The median CPM across ABM campaigns is $78. Maximum delivery campaigns tend to run above this median, while well-optimized manual bidding campaigns run at or below it. The difference compounds over months – a 20% CPM premium from maximum delivery costs you thousands in wasted spend.
Here is a decision tree to help you choose:
Step 1: Are you running ABM campaigns with a target account list?
Step 2: How large is your audience?
Step 3: What is your campaign objective?
Step 4: How hands-on can you be?
Step 5: Is speed critical?
This is the most common and most costly mistake. LinkedIn sets maximum delivery as the default because it maximizes their revenue, not yours. Always actively switch to manual bidding when creating a new campaign.
If you choose cost cap and set it too aggressively, LinkedIn will simply stop serving your ads. Unlike manual bidding, where low bids still reach a subset of your audience, cost cap can completely stall delivery. There is no gradual degradation – it either works or it does not.
Gabriel Ehrlich’s warning bears repeating: if you are on maximum delivery and you increase your budget, LinkedIn will often just increase your CPM rather than reaching more people. You spend more but get proportionally less. Always check whether a budget increase translates to proportional reach increase.
Manual bidding is simpler than it appears. Set your bid at 30% below the suggested range, check delivery after 2-3 days, and adjust by 10-15% if needed. That is it. The setup takes 5 minutes and saves you significant budget over time.
If you select manual bidding but leave this option checked, LinkedIn can override your bid. This defeats the purpose of manual bidding. Always uncheck this setting.
Veronika Vebere shared a useful framework for budget allocation during the ZenABM ABM Bootcamp:
“I like to start with 5-10% of the total marketing budget. That should be allocated to experiments.” – Veronika Vebere, fractional CMO/Growth Lead, founder of Inbound House
If you want to test whether cost cap or maximum delivery might outperform manual bidding for your specific situation, allocate 5-10% of your ABM budget to the test. Run the alternative strategy alongside your manual bidding campaign for 2-3 weeks and compare results.
Use this formula to estimate your budget needs: Audience size x Reachable % x CPM x Frequency goal = monthly budget. This formula works regardless of bidding strategy, but your actual CPM will be lower with manual bidding, meaning the same budget stretches further.
Veronika also sets clear ROAS expectations: “Going after a 3 to 4 times return on ad spend would be conservative.” With manual bidding keeping your CPMs in check, hitting that 3-4x ROAS target becomes much more achievable than with maximum delivery’s inflated costs.
Use manual CPC bidding when:
Consider maximum delivery when:
Consider cost cap when:
Maximum delivery lets LinkedIn set your bids automatically to spend your full budget. Manual bidding lets you set the maximum you will pay per click. Maximum delivery prioritizes spending your budget; manual bidding prioritizes cost control. For ABM, manual bidding almost always delivers better results at lower costs.
For most ABM campaigns, no. Cost cap sits between maximum delivery and manual bidding in terms of control, but it lacks the precision of manual bidding and the data/adoption of maximum delivery. Max Herzeg, a former LinkedIn employee, says: “I don’t recommend it personally. Stick to manual bidding.”
Because maximum delivery spends your full budget, which maximizes LinkedIn’s ad revenue. LinkedIn has financial incentives to keep you on automated bidding. Manual bidding gives you control that can result in lower spend – which is better for you but generates less revenue for LinkedIn.
Yes, you can change your bidding strategy on an existing campaign. However, give any new strategy 2-3 days to stabilize before evaluating results. Switching frequently creates noise that makes optimization impossible. If you want to compare strategies, run parallel campaigns with different bidding approaches.
Based on ABM campaign data, manual bidding typically delivers CPMs in the $65-85 range, while maximum delivery runs $90-120+. That is roughly a 20-40% cost premium for maximum delivery. Over a $5,000/month campaign, that is $1,000-2,000 in wasted spend per month.
LinkedIn will still serve your ads, but to a smaller subset of your audience – the people most likely to click. This means higher frequency with fewer people. For ABM, this can actually be an advantage at the awareness stage, as you build frequency with your most engaged prospects first. If delivery is too low, increase your bid by 10-15% every 2-3 days.
