# LinkedIn Retargeting Ads – How to Use Them for ABM > A practical guide to LinkedIn retargeting ads for ABM, covering audience types, setup, layering with company lists, and budget recommendations. Author: Emilia Korczynska Published: 2026-02-27 Updated: 2026-03-06 Categories: LinkedIn Ads Source: https://zenabm.com/blog/linkedin-retargeting-ads --- ![LinkedIn Retargeting Ads - How to Use Them for ABM cover image for the ZenABM blog post on LinkedIn ads](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/LinkedIn-Retargeting-Ads-How-to-Use-Them-for-ABM.png) LinkedIn retargeting ads let you serve ads to people who have already interacted with your brand – whether they visited your website, engaged with previous ads, or watched your videos. For ABM campaigns, retargeting is where the real pipeline gets built. Cold targeting puts accounts on the map, but retargeting is what moves them toward a conversation with sales. I have spent over $490K on LinkedIn ads running ABM campaigns through [ZenABM](/blog/what-is-zenabm), and retargeting consistently produces the highest conversion rates and lowest cost per opportunity in my campaigns. In this guide, I will show you how to structure LinkedIn retargeting ads for ABM, which retargeting audiences to use, and how to [avoid the mistakes that waste](/blog/linkedin-ads-mistakes) your retargeting budget. ![ZenABM campaigns list with COLD and WARM ABM campaigns highlighted for separating audience segments](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/COLD-WARM-ABM-Campaigns.png) ## LinkedIn Retargeting Ads – Key Takeaways ## - **Retargeting is where** [ABM pipeline gets built. Cold campaigns](/blog/what-is-zenabm) create awareness, but retargeting converts engaged accounts into pipeline. - **Structure retargeting by engagement stage.** Aware accounts get thought leadership, interested [accounts get case studies](/blog/best-abm-examples), engaged accounts get conversion CTAs. - **Allocate 20-30% or more of your budget to retargeting.** This includes ad engagement retargeting, website retargeting, and pipeline reactivation. - **Manage creative frequency carefully.** With small retargeting audiences, creative fatigue hits fast. Rotate 3-5 assets and refresh every 2-3 weeks. - **Closed-lost and churned accounts are your highest-value retargeting audience.** They already know your product and can be re-engaged with targeted messaging. ## Why LinkedIn Retargeting Ads Are Critical for ABM In ABM, you are not trying to generate random leads. You are trying to build awareness, trust, and [engagement with a specific set of accounts](/blog/account-scoring-from-linkedin-ad-data) until they are ready to have a sales conversation. Retargeting ads are what keep your brand in front of accounts after they have shown initial interest. The problem I see with most ABM programs is that they only focus on cold outreach – cold ads, cold emails, cold calls. When an account finally shows interest, the follow-up is manual and inconsistent: *When accounts are starting to engage with your ads and show interest, don’t just leave them to their own devices, engage them.* LinkedIn retargeting ads automate that engagement. When someone from a target account visits your website or clicks on an ad, retargeting keeps them seeing relevant messages without any manual effort from your team. ## Types of LinkedIn Retargeting Ads for ABM ### Website retargeting [Website retargeting shows ads to LinkedIn](/blog/free-b2b-website-visitor-deanonymization-with-linkedin-ads) members who visited specific pages on your website. This requires the [LinkedIn Insight Tag](/blog/revenue-attribution-from-linkedin-abm) to be installed on your site. For ABM, I recommend [creating separate retargeting audiences for different page](/blog/linkedin-ads-landing-pages) types: - **Pricing page visitors** – Highest intent. These people are evaluating your product. - **Case study page visitors** – High intent. They want social proof before making a decision. - **Product/feature page visitors** – Mid-intent. They are learning about what you offer. - **Blog visitors from target accounts** – Lower intent but still engaged. They are consuming your content. You can combine website retargeting with your [company list to create a powerful ABM](/) retargeting audience: people from your target accounts who visited high-intent pages on your site. ![Deanonymized companies table for a high-intent pages retargeting campaign, with company names and ad metrics](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Companies-denonymized-form-high-intent-pages-retargeting-with-text-ads-on-LinkedIn-1-scaled.png) ### Video view retargeting If you run LinkedIn video ads, you can retarget people who watched 25%, 50%, 75%, or 97% of your video. This is useful for ABM because video completion signals genuine interest – someone who watched 75% of a 60-second video about your product is far more engaged than someone who scrolled past a static ad. ![Userpilot LinkedIn ad asking if your Product Experience Platform is up for renewal, targeting Pendo users](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/userpilot-pend-video-ad-linkedin.png) ### Lead gen form retargeting LinkedIn lets you retarget people who opened your [lead](/faq/push-linkedin-ad-leads-into-marketo) gen form but did not submit it. These are people who were interested enough to click but dropped off before converting. Retarget them with a different offer or a lower-friction CTA. ### Single image ad engagement retargeting You can retarget people who engaged with your [LinkedIn single image ads](/blog/linkedin-single-image-ads-best-practices-for-abm) – clicks, likes, comments, or shares. This creates a warm audience of people who actively interacted with your content. ### Company page engagement retargeting Target people who visited your [LinkedIn Company Page or engaged](/faq/see-companies-engaging-with-linkedin-ads) with your organic posts. This audience has shown interest in your company specifically, making them warmer than general ad clickers. ## How to Structure LinkedIn Retargeting Ads for ABM The key to effective ABM retargeting is matching your [ad message to the engagement](/blog/measure-linkedin-ad-engagement-target-accounts) stage of the account. At ZenABM, we use a stage-based framework: ![ZenABM Edit Stage modal showing HubSpot Lifecycle Stage as the stage condition for ABM account stages](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-ABM-stages.png) ### Stage 1: Aware (50+ impressions) ![ZenABM stage reports with bar charts of ABM campaign progress and companies moving between ABM stages](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Flowfuse-ABM-Stages-reports-ZenABM.png) Our ‘aware’ stage is typically based on 50-plus impressions. Accounts at this stage have seen your [ads but have not engaged](/blog/linkedin-ad-engagement-account-level) meaningfully. Your retargeting ads should focus on educational content and thought leadership. Use [thought leader ads](/blog/linkedin-thought-leader-ads-for-abm) to build credibility and trust. ### Stage 2: Interested (3+ clicks in 30 days + website visits) ![ZenABM abm stages](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Linkedin-metrics-or-lifecycle-stages.png) Our interested stage is built based upon 3-plus clicks in the last 30 days plus website visits. These accounts are actively engaging. Your retargeting ads should shift toward product-specific content, case studies, and social proof. This is also where you should activate your [sales team for outbound outreach](/blog/intent-based-outbound). ### Stage 3: Engaged (multi-channel signals) Accounts showing engagement across multiple channels — ad clicks, website visits, email opens, content downloads — are ready for conversion-focused retargeting. Offer demos, free trials, or consultations. We’re pushing all the interested stage accounts into Clay, and we have a workflow that searches for ICPs. This integration between retargeting and outbound is what makes ABM retargeting different from standard remarketing. You are not just showing ads to warm audiences — you are coordinating ads with sales outreach for maximum impact. ## LinkedIn Retargeting Ads Budget Allocation How much of your LinkedIn ads budget should go to retargeting? The general benchmark is to keep 20-30% of your budget reserved for retargeting audiences. But for ABM, I would argue the split should be even more aggressive toward retargeting. Here is how I typically allocate [ABM budgets](/blog/how-to-estimate-how-much-budget-you-will-need-for-your-abm-campaigns): | Campaign Type | Budget % | Audience Type | Goal | | Cold awareness | 40-50% | Target account list (cold) | Build awareness and initial impressions | | Engagement retargeting | 25-30% | [Ad engagers](/blog/linkedin-ad-engagement-analytics-zenabm), video viewers | Deepen engagement, build trust | | Website retargeting | 15-20% | Website visitors from target accounts | Drive conversions | | Pipeline retargeting | 10-15% | Closed-lost, churned, active opps | Reactivate and accelerate deals | The exact split depends on your funnel stage distribution. If you are just starting ABM and have no warm audiences, you will need to allocate more to cold campaigns initially and shift budget toward retargeting as engagement builds. ## Retargeting Ad Creative Best Practices for ABM Your retargeting ads need different creative than your cold campaigns. Here are the principles I follow: ### Frequency management is critical Retargeting audiences are small, which means frequency builds up fast. Max Herzeg shared a clear guideline on when creative fatigue sets in: *“Per creative asset, it’s usually 2.5 to 3 impressions per creative per user when I see results declining.”* – Max Herzeg, former LinkedIn employee and Founder of Comrade ![Max Herzeg's slide on LinkedIn Ads frequency, showing 6-10 total impressions per cold audience over 30 days](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Ad-frequency-per-campaign-per-user-linkedin-ads-Max-Herzeg.png) For retargeting campaigns, you need a rotation of 3-5 different creative assets to avoid fatigue. Refresh them every 2-3 weeks for your smallest, most targeted audiences. ### Match the message to the stage Do not show the same ad to someone who just discovered your brand and someone who visited your pricing page. Retargeting ad creative should escalate through: 1. **Social proof** – Customer logos, testimonials, case study results 2. **Product value** – Feature highlights, comparison content, ROI data 3. **Conversion CTAs** – Demo requests, free trial offers, consultation bookings ### Use exclusions aggressively Exclude people who have already converted from your retargeting campaigns. If someone booked a demo, they should stop seeing demo request ads. Use your [CRM data to build](/blog/linkedin-ad-crm-integration-why-and-how-to-build-it) exclusion audiences and upload them as matched audiences, or exclude individual companies from all your campaigns in ZenABM with one click:  ![ZenABM Exclusions page listing placements like YouTube and Google blocked from LinkedIn ad campaigns](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Exclusions-in-ZenABM-1-scaled.png) ## The Best Retargeting Source for ABM: Closed-Lost and Churned While most marketers think of retargeting as “people who visited my website,” the highest-value retargeting audience for [ABM](/blog/how-to-build-an-abm-strategy) is often your closed-lost deals and churned customers: I’m seeing best results from campaigns targeting closed-lost deals and churned customers. These accounts already know your product. They went through your sales process or used your product. The reasons they did not buy or left may have been addressed – new features, pricing changes, or their own circumstances may have evolved. Retargeting these accounts with ads that address their original objections is one of the highest-ROI plays in ABM. For detailed guidance on how to set up the complete ABM funnel with retargeting, read our [ultimate guide to running ABM on LinkedIn](/blog/running-abm-on-linkedin-the-ultimate-guide). ## FAQ ### How long should my LinkedIn retargeting window be? LinkedIn allows retargeting windows of 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days for website visitors. For ABM, I recommend 90 days for website retargeting and 180 days for ad engagement retargeting. Shorter windows can shrink your audience below the 300-member minimum, and longer windows include stale engagement data. ### What is the minimum audience size for LinkedIn retargeting? LinkedIn requires at least 300 matched members for any [campaign](/blog/linkedin-abm-campaign-launch-step-by-step) to deliver, including retargeting campaigns. If your retargeting audience is too small, combine multiple retargeting signals (website visitors + ad engagers + video viewers) into a single audience, or extend your lookback window. ### Should I combine retargeting with my company list for ABM? Yes. One of the most [effective ABM](/blog/signal-based-outbound) retargeting approaches is overlaying website retargeting with your company list upload. This targets only people from your target accounts who visited your website — the highest-intent segment possible. It requires both the [LinkedIn Insight Tag and a company](/blog/company-level-insights-from-linkedin-ads) list upload. ### How do I prevent retargeting ad fatigue on LinkedIn? Retargeting audiences are typically small, so frequency builds quickly. Rotate 3-5 creative assets per campaign, refresh creative every 2-3 weeks, and monitor frequency in [Campaign Manager](/blog/track-companies-engaging-with-linkedin-ads). As Max Herzeg noted, results start declining at 2.5-3 impressions per creative per user. ### Can I retarget people who engaged with my LinkedIn organic posts? Yes. [LinkedIn allows you to create retargeting audiences](/blog/linkedin-audience-network) based on Company Page engagement, including people who visited your page or engaged with organic posts. This is a valuable source for ABM retargeting because it captures people who sought out your brand organically.