Audiences

How do I set up LinkedIn retargeting for website visitors, video viewers and Lead Gen Form openers?

By The Tofu team ·

In Campaign Manager, go to Plan, then Audiences, then Create audience, then Matched Audience, and pick Website (needs the Insight Tag; 30 to 180 days), Video (viewers of 25% to 97%; 30 to 365 days) or Lead gen form (opened or submitted; 30 to 365 days). Each must match at least 300 member accounts before ads can deliver to it. Website audiences only count visits after you create them, so make them first. Then sequence: cold video ads, proof for viewers and visitors, and a demo offer for form openers, excluding anyone who converted.

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As of October 2026.

Before you start

  • The right role. You need creative manager access or higher on the ad account to build audiences from Website Actions. LinkedIn also says some Matched Audiences need extra LinkedIn Page permissions.
  • Access to your website or tag manager, unless the Insight Tag is already installed. LinkedIn says not to put it on pages that collect or contain sensitive data, such as consumer pages about certain medicines or pages where people manage financial accounts.
  • Ads that people can engage with. Video and Lead Gen Form audiences are built from your own ad sets, so you need video ads and lead generation ad sets that have run.
  • LinkedIn's size rules. An ad set's audience needs at least 300 member accounts. LinkedIn suggests at least 50,000 to drive results (300,000 for Sponsored Content), but a retargeting audience can run once it passes 300. In the EEA and Switzerland, Matched Audiences only include members who opted in, so they may be smaller.

Step 1: Install the Insight Tag and check it's live

  1. In Campaign Manager, click Measure on the left menu, then Signals manager.
  2. Click Insight Tag, then the I will install the tag myself dropdown. You can also send it to a developer or use a tag manager.
  3. Copy the code and add it to your site, ideally just before the end of the <body> tag in your global footer, so it loads on every page. Check it uses straight quotation marks, not curly ones.

LinkedIn checks the tag when a page loads, and validation can take from a few minutes to 24 hours. Back in Signals manager, the status shows Active (a signal in the past 7 days), No recent activity or Unverified (never received). If the tag is already there for conversion tracking, you don't need to add it again. If it shows no signal, see why the Insight Tag shows zero conversions.

Step 2: Create your website audiences

  1. Click Plan on the left menu and select Audiences.
  2. Click Create audience, select Matched Audience, then Website, then Next.
  3. Name the audience and pick a time range under When did they engage? The options are 30, 60, 90 or 180 days.
  4. Choose how to define it:
    • Website Actions: pick from Buttons or Pages that the tag has already recorded. Turn on Add filters to exclude pages or to track only buttons that submit a form.
    • Manual URLs: match pages whose URL Starts with, Equals or Contains what you enter. Use + Add a new OR rule for more pages.
  5. Click Agree & create.

Make three now, even before you have ads to show them: high-intent pages (pricing, demo, comparison) over 30 days, all visitors over 180 days, and people who reached your demo thank-you page, to exclude later. LinkedIn suggests this kind of split itself: high-, mid- and low-intent audiences, and excluding demo signups from consideration ad sets.

A website audience starts building the day you create it and doesn't include earlier visits. It fills its whole time range only after that range has passed, and it must reach 300 member accounts before it goes live, which can take longer than the range itself. Processing can take 48 hours.

Step 3: Create video viewer audiences

  1. In Plan, then Audiences, click Create audience, select Matched Audience, then Video, then Next.
  2. Name it and choose who to include: people who viewed at least 25%, 50%, 75% or 97% of your video ad.
  3. Pick a time range: 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365 days.
  4. Select the video ad sets to build from, then click Create.

Consider two: a wide one (25% over 180 days) and a warm one (75% over 90 days). LinkedIn warns that the view count you see won't match the number of member accounts in the audience.

Step 4: Create Lead Gen Form audiences

  1. In Plan, then Audiences, click Create audience, select Matched Audience, then Lead gen form, then Next.
  2. Name it and choose how people engaged: they opened the form or submitted it.
  3. Pick a time range: 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365 days.
  4. Select the lead generation ad sets to build from, then click Create.

Make one of each. To reach people who opened the form but didn't finish, target the openers and exclude the submitters. If many people open and few submit, the form may be the problem; see why LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms get opens but no submissions.

LinkedIn also offers retargeting audiences from single image ads, document ads, conversation ads, your Company Page, LinkedIn Events and Conversions API events.

Step 5: Wait until each audience is Ready and big enough

Check the Status column on the Audiences page:

StatusWhat it means
BuildingProcessing, up to 48 hours (rarely 72)
ReadyCan be used in ad sets
Website: sending signal / no signalThe tag has or hasn't sent events for this audience yet
ArchivedNot used in an ad set or changed for 30 days. Unarchive it to use it
ExpiredNot edited or used in an active or draft ad set for 90 days. Recreate it

A Building audience can't be used yet. Once it's Ready you can add it to an ad set, but a website retargeting ad set won't deliver until its audience reaches 300 member accounts. To make a video or Lead Gen Form audience bigger, LinkedIn suggests a longer time range and more ad sets (up to 200).

Step 6: Build the retargeting ad sets

  1. Create an ad set and go to its Audience section.
  2. In Who is your target audience?, select Audiences, then Retargeting, and pick your segments.
  3. Click Exclude to remove people who already converted (demo thank-you visitors, form submitters) and your customers.
  4. Set a location. It's required, and it can make the audience smaller.
  5. Clear Enable Audience Expansion. It's on by default where available, and it shows your ads to people with similar attributes, not just your retargeting audience.
  6. Click View audience summary and check Forecasted results before you launch.

Mind how segments combine. LinkedIn's audience size page says segments of the same type add up (two website audiences make a bigger one), but segments of different types must both match: a website audience plus a company list reaches only people in both. Its AND-OR targeting page says you can click AND to change it to OR, but neither page says how website, video and Lead Gen Form audiences combine with each other. The safe choice is one audience type per ad set, then check Forecasted results. Also note that website retargeting audiences can't be combined with member interests and traits.

Step 7: Sequence the stages

LinkedIn doesn't publish a set sequence. This is one pattern, built from the audiences above:

StageWhoAdExclude
1. Warm upTarget accounts and job titlesVideo or single image ads with a useful idea, no askCustomers
2. Prove itVideo viewers (50% or more, 90 to 180 days) and all site visitors (180 days)Case studies, document ads, a webinarStage 3 audiences, converters
3. AskForm openers who didn't submit, and pricing or demo page visitors (30 days)Demo offer or a Lead Gen FormSubmitters, demo thank-you visitors, customers

Within a stage, give each audience type its own ad set, as in Step 6. Excluding the next stage keeps one person from getting two different messages at once. Website audiences roll forward each day, so people move through the stages without new uploads. For the cold stage, see which LinkedIn objective to use for a cold B2B audience.

Common problems

ProblemWhy it happensFix
Website audience stuck under 300Too little traffic, or it only counts visits since you created itUse a longer range, add more pages to one audience, or wait
Website audience shows "no signal"The tag isn't on those pages, or the URL rule is wrongCheck Signals manager and the URL rule
Video or form audience far smaller than views or opensViews and opens aren't matched member accounts; EEA and Swiss members must opt inAdd more ad sets and a longer range
Combined audience is tinyDifferent audience types must both match, plus location and exclusionsUse one audience type per ad set, and check Forecasted results
Ads reach people outside your audienceAudience Expansion is on by defaultClear Enable Audience Expansion
Audience shows Archived or ExpiredUnused for 30 or 90 daysUnarchive it, or recreate it
You can't create more audiencesThe account has 1,000 Matched and predictive audience segmentsDelete old ones; see the matched audience limit

Where Tofu fits

Tofu Ads Agent (our product) builds LinkedIn website and ad-engagement retargeting audiences, plus matched contact and company audiences from a HubSpot or Salesforce list or a plain-English description. It makes the ads for each stage on brand: single image, carousel, document, video and conversation ads, and Lead Gen Forms. It can set up LinkedIn conversion events for a page visit or a click. It doesn't install the Insight Tag on your site. Campaigns are staged in your own ad account switched off, and a person on your team turns them on.

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