LinkedIn Advertising Monthly Budget Calculator Guide

Total Recommended Monthly LinkedIn Ads Budget = (ICP Audience × 0.5 / 1,000) × CPM × Frequency / Cold % (as decimal)

LinkedIn Recommended Monthly Ads Budget Calculation

Step 1 – Get Estimated CPM
– Create a Brand Awareness campaign.
– Set your target ICP audience.
– Set the bidding goal to “Impressions” and switch to “Manual Bidding.”
– LinkedIn will display a recommended CPM, typically accurate within ±15% when using Maximum Delivery

Step 2 – Estimate Reachable Audience
Not all of your ICP audience is active each month. Use 50% as a reliable benchmark.
Formula: Reachable Audience = ICP Audience × 0.5

Step 3 – Calculate Cold Campaign Budget
Use a frequency of 5-10 as the standard benchmark for monthly cold outreach.
Number of impressions per person per month (Frequency):
{ 5-10 = Safe; 10-20 = Medium risk; 20-40 = High risk; 40+ = Very high risk }
Formula: Cold Campaign Budget = (Reachable Audience / 1,000) × CPM × Frequency

Step 4 – Calculate Total Budget (Including Retargeting)
If you’re just starting, use an 80/20 split between cold and retargeting.
If you’re an experienced advertiser and confident with Manual Bidding strategies, you can also use a 60/40 split for more aggressive retargeting.
Formula: Total Budget = Cold Campaign Budget divided by Cold Percentage (as a decimal)
– If you use 80/20, divide by 0.8
– If you use 60/40, divide by 0.6

Final Combined Formula
Total Budget = (ICP Audience × 0.5 / 1,000) × CPM × Frequency / Cold %

Example
ICP Audience = 200,000
CPM = $20
Frequency = 30
Cold % = 0.6 (60%)

Total Budget = (200,000 × 0.5 / 1,000) × 20 × 30 / 0.6 = $100,000

Note: This budget assumes Maximum Delivery. If you optimize with Manual Bidding, your actual cost could be 20–30% lower, so this formula provides a safe buffer for planning and approval.