Account-based marketing (ABM) is the holy grail for biotech companies that sell complex products to institutional buyers, healthcare providers, and scientific decision-makers. But without a way to get in front of those hard-to-reach stakeholders, even the most brilliant strategy falls flat.
LinkedIn is the only platform that allows biotech marketers to surgically target exact job titles, industries, and company sizes. Combine that with an ABM framework, and you have a predictable, scalable way to drive demand from your highest-value accounts.
Here’s how to build a LinkedIn ABM strategy, based on our biotech PPC expertise, that generates real results in biotech—without bloated prospect lists or wasted ad spend.
Table of Contents
Build Your Targeting Strategy Without Uploading a List
The traditional ABM playbook starts with a static list of target accounts. While you can buy a list from a site like BioPharmaGuy and upload it into LinkedIn, you can skip this step (and expense) and let the LinkedIn algo do the heavy lifting.
If you already have a list of companies you want to target, that’s fine, too. You’d just want to consider testing an uploaded list versus something LinkedIn targets based on the parameters you set up.
According to our LinkedIn Ads manager, Piper, she gives the following advice:
Regarding LinkedIn list uploads, they can be highly effective, however, the success of list targeting depends on a few factors:
- Match Rate: LinkedIn requires at least 300 matched profiles to run ads. The match rate depends on the quality of the data (company domains and LinkedIn profile URLs help).
- Engagement Strategy: If the list is small, layering additional targeting (like job functions or seniority) can help broaden reach while keeping it relevant.
- Campaign Objective: Lists work particularly well for account-based marketing (ABM), retargeting, or precise outreach.
Company lists typically have a better match rate than contact lists; however, contact lists are good for retargeting.
Personally, we like to let LinkedIn do the heavy lifting, using Campaign Manager to target, for example:
- Company industry: Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices
- Company size: Focus on mid-market and enterprise buyers (51+ employees)
- Job titles and seniority: R&D Directors, Clinical Operations, Procurement Managers, Lab Heads
- Groups and interests: Life sciences professionals, biotech investors, or niche verticals (e.g., cell and gene therapy)
This approach allows your targeting to scale and self-optimize without the manual headache of building and maintaining a CSV.
Segment Cold, Warm, and Hot Audiences for Funnel Control
Biotech buyer journeys are complex and don’t happen in a linear fashion. By using segmentation to target leads by behavior, you’ll have a better chance of peaking the interest of your top, middle, and bottom funnel prospects.
Segmenting by funnel stage ensures you serve the right message at the right time:
- Cold (top of funnel)
- Focus on messaging that highlights the company’s biotech innovations, value proposition, and mission to build the initial awareness layer.
- You’ll typically want to run this for at least 30 days to get LinkedIn enough data to see who is interacting with your ads. The goal here is not conversions but to get biotech prospects to click your ads and visit your website so you can retarget them and nurture them.
- Warm (middle of funnel)
- Use LinkedIn’s website visit tracking and retargeting lists to create engagement-based campaigns.
- Incorporate diverse content types such as case studies, testimonials, white papers, press releases, and other resources on the website to your ads.
- These people are only targeted after they’ve interacted with the cold layer since they now know about what you do and the problems you solve for.
- Hot (bottom of funnel)
- BOFU campaigns will be introduced only after sufficient engagement is observed (like the interaction with multiple content pieces, a pricing page, or contact forms).
- The warm segment has familiarity with your brand, has demonstrated interest from what we can see from our retargeting layers, and has shown some sort of purchase intent.
Use separate campaigns and creatives for each stage to keep performance optimized. More on that below.
Ad Types That Work for Biotech ABM
Different ad formats shine at different stages of the funnel—and cost plays a big role in what to prioritize.
- Single Image Ads (All Funnel Stages): The most versatile format with lower CPMs ($60–70). Use these for cold outreach, mid-funnel engagement, or retargeting with a clear call to action.
Source: LinkedIn Single Image Ads
- Video Ads (Top & Middle of Funnel): Great for brand awareness and education. Expect a CPM between $80–$100, making them relatively cost-effective for engagement. Use to explain complex biotech workflows or product mechanisms.
Source: LinkedIn Video Ads
- Carousel Ads (Middle Funnel): Ideal for explaining processes or showcasing multiple benefits. Slightly more expensive than single image ads but often worth it for more immersive storytelling.
- Thought Leader Ads (Top of Funnel): Run from the profile of a scientific founder or executive. Perfect for building credibility early in the funnel. CPMs vary but are often higher due to premium positioning.
Source: LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads
- Conversation Ads (Bottom Funnel): Excellent for driving demos or downloads from warm audiences. High intent, but often more expensive ($150+ CPM), so use selectively.
Source: LinkedIn Conversation Ads
Match each format to your campaign goal, and remember: higher-cost formats often yield higher-quality leads when timed right.
LinkedIn ABM Mistakes
Biotech audiences are highly skeptical given their background in data and objectivity. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when running LinkedIn ABM campaigns so as to not blast through ad spend.
Starting with Mid or Bottom Funnel Campaigns
When running ABM ads, by far the biggest mistake we see is when other agencies or our clients are running campaigns that skip the initial cold layer of targeting. Their campaigns have not yet broken down the barrier that communicates who they are, what problems they solve, and the outcomes they can expect when working with you.
Think about it: if you see an ad for a white paper from a biotech you’ve never heard of how likely are you to read it? Compare that to a company whose ad you interacted with, website you visited, or blog you’ve read that runs the same ad.
Don’t skip the cold layer, it sets the foundation for the rest of your campaigns.
Not Retargeting
Biotech buyers have a lot going on in their work lives, so hitting them with one ad is often not going to cut it. This is why we always recommend retargeting ads based on user behavior.
This is also why we generally recommend driving clicks through to your website rather than keeping prospects on LinkedIn (like with Lead Gen Forms).
Sales cycles can be long. Make sure to retarget to optimize for use behavior.
Falling for LinkedIn’s Audience Expansion Option
You may be tempted to use LinkedIn’s audience expansion option to “show your ads to member accounts with similar attributes to your target audience.”
We find this results in unnecessary ad spend, often showing your ads to audiences with weaker attributes than more sophisticated targeting.
Avoid this setting as a general rule.
Retargeting That Reflects Real Buying Behavior
Don’t stop at initial targeting. That is probably the biggest missed opportunity we see when taking over accounts for biotech clients.
LinkedIn lets you retarget based on:
- Website visits (especially demo, pricing, or case study pages)
- Video views (great for engagement scoring)
- Lead form opens (even if unsubmitted)
Build progressive retargeting flows that get more direct over time—starting with soft educational offers and ending with sales CTAs.
Budgeting & Campaign Settings That Maximize Results
LinkedIn isn’t the cheapest platform, but it’s the most precise—and that matters in biotech.
- We find that starting with a minimum of $3,000/month to collect actionable data is a good budget. It can often be started with less, but the reduction in ad spend may mean limitations in targeting capabilities.
- Organize campaigns by funnel stage or audience type for clean reporting
If you’re targeting high-value biotech accounts, LinkedIn ABM isn’t just an option—it’s a necessity. With the right strategy, you can create a campaign system that aligns with how scientific buyers actually make decisions.
Need help building your funnel or fixing underperforming campaigns? We’ll audit your targeting, creative, and retargeting to show you exactly what’s working—and what needs to change. Or, we’ll build one from scratch. Reach out today for a discovery call.
