LinkedIn Waves Goodbye to Lookalike Audiences

LinkedIn has announced that it will cease its lookalike audiences function on February 29, 2024.

According to LinkedIn, after February 2024, advertisers will be unable to create new lookalike audiences or alter existing ones. Any current lookalike audiences will become “static” and stop receiving new data.

LinkedIn claimed that active ad campaigns using lookalike audiences will continue to operate, but will be delivered to a static audience pool. After 30 days of inactivity, LinkedIn will automatically delete unused lookalike audiences.

Alternatives: Predictive Audiences and Audience Expansion

LinkedIn suggests that advertisers use its newer “Predictive Audiences” and “Audience Expansion” feature instead of the soon-to-be phased-out “lookalike audiences.”

Predictive Audiences use LinkedIn’s artificial intelligence to create unique audiences that are more likely to convert based on advertisers’ conversion data, lead generation forms, or contact lists.

Audience Expansion is recommended for marketers who want to widen their target groups. It extends target audiences by leveraging LinkedIn’s professional demographic data.

Both features aim to assist advertisers in identifying and reaching high-intent individuals who are similar to their current customers.

Predictive Audience Details

To construct a predictive audience, you need at least 300 persons from the selected data source. The system supports a limit of 30 predictive audiences per ad account, which cannot be shared between accounts.

Campaigns using predictive audiences will not be able to extend their audience.

Audience Expansion Details

Audience expansion is based on professional demographics and can be paired with Matched Audience groups.

LinkedIn has stated that performance indicators contain data from both the initial target audience and the larger population. However, you will be unable to broaden your audience for adaptive ad formats or audiences selected based on projected behaviors.

Implications for Current Campaigns

To maintain a dynamic targeting approach, all existing ad campaigns employing lookalike audiences must transition to predictive audiences or enable audience expansion. LinkedIn announced a 30-day grace period during which unused lookalike audiences might be viewed before being archived.

In addition, LinkedIn’s API for developing lookalike audiences via third-party marketing platforms such as HubSpot will be discontinued. This means that marketers who rely on those linkages to generate audiences will need to find another solution.