BlendB2B — LinkedIn Paid Social

01

Overview

BlendB2B's clients needed LinkedIn ads that could cut through a feed built for ignoring ads, without slipping into the visual language of every other B2B agency.

I joined BlendB2B as Senior Brand Designer and quickly became the go-to for paid social, organic content and campaign work across their portfolio of B2B tech clients. And there were many clients, each with their own brand guidelines we had to follow to the letter. The real challenge wasn't making one good ad. It was switching between completely different brand systems day in, day out, and still landing each one so that, at first glance, you knew exactly whose ad it was.

The Problem

Invisible in a B2B feed

Most B2B LinkedIn ads look the same: stock photography, corporate blue, safe headlines, same template. For the clients I was working with, the ads were competing against their own older creative as much as against the competition.

The Objective

Each client's essence, at first glance

Switch between many different brand systems without ever diluting them. Every ad had to obey its client's guidelines completely and still read, in the first second of the scroll, as unmistakably that brand.

The Constraints

LinkedIn's rules, LinkedIn's compression

Tight turnarounds on campaign briefs, LinkedIn's aggressive image compression, small-text legibility at mobile scale, and a handover model that meant the system had to be usable by other designers after I'd briefed it.

02

Process

Before Figma, pencil. Constraints and creative pressure on paper first. It's faster than any software for finding out whether an idea actually works.

Concept explorations: layout and hierarchy

01

Typography: heavy, tight, unapologetic

LinkedIn compresses images hard; light type disappears. I went the other direction: heavy weights, tight leading, generous letter-spacing on labels. The type had to survive at 300px wide in a mobile feed and still read as intentional rather than desperate.

02

Colour: controlled contrast, never corporate blue

A limited palette per campaign concept: one dominant dark field, one high-contrast accent. No gradients. No drop shadows. In a feed full of noise, restraint reads as confidence. Dark backgrounds also protect legibility after LinkedIn's JPEG compression.

03

Composition: headline-first, always

The first 0.3 seconds of a LinkedIn scroll is everything. Headline top-left, supporting copy only if it earns its square, CTA bottom-right, the last thing the eye reaches before the decision to click. Every layout in the system enforces that reading path.

04

Square-first, built for the LinkedIn feed

The 1:1 square is the workhorse of B2B LinkedIn. It holds its size across mobile and desktop and survives the platform's compression. Every ad in the system is built to read at a glance at feed scale, then reward a second look.

03

The Ads

Seven B2B clients, seven brand systems. Same designer, switching daily.

A comprehensive shortlist, not the full output. I produced far more than this across my time at BlendB2B. Pick a client.

Viedoc

Clinical trial software

A brand-awareness campaign for clinical trial software: a set built to make a dry, technical category feel human in a B2B feed.

Firstpoint

Customs & logistics

Awareness-to-pain-point ads for a customs and delivery operator: brand overview, smart-border clearance, same-day and international delivery, haulage, out-of-hours.

Zivver

Email security

Paid social for an email-security platform: benefit-led squares plus engagement formats (brand recall, association builder) built to survive LinkedIn's compression.

Robin Radar Systems

Detection radar

Drone and bird-detection radar for airports and defence. Photographic, high-contrast, with a recurring targeting-reticle motif.

Xantaro

Networking & connectivity

Positioning ads for a network integrator: private 5G, low latency, access. Bold type over a restrained palette.

Power Framework

PMO software

Concept-led ads for a project-portfolio platform, using a light metaphor to make governance software memorable.

Xenith

IT & infrastructure

IT and infrastructure ads: security, cost control, and the case for moving off legacy systems.

04

Still live

No vanity metrics here. The honest result is reach across clients and longevity.

B2B clients

7

Viedoc, Firstpoint, Zivver, Robin Radar, Xantaro, Power Framework and Xenith.

Ads designed

20+

Static paid-social creative across awareness, consideration and conversion.

Period

2024–25

Designed as Senior Brand Designer at BlendB2B.

Status

Live

Several of these are still running in LinkedIn paid social today.

On metrics: performance data (CTR, CPL, impressions) sits with the clients and BlendB2B, so it isn't published here. What can be verified is the work itself, much of it still in rotation on LinkedIn paid social.

LinkedInPaid Ads.

LinkedIn
Paid Ads.