More keywords do not always mean more opportunity. More leads do not always mean more pipeline. And more automation does not always mean better performance.

In this episode of LinkedIn AdWise, host Justin Rowe sits down with Riley Duncan for a practical conversation on what B2B teams get wrong across paid search, LinkedIn Ads, attribution, and lead quality. Drawing on patterns seen across more than 150 managed LinkedIn Ads accounts, they unpack why disciplined account structure, strong buying signals, and revenue-focused measurement consistently outperform bloated campaign setups. Riley also reveals why B2B teams need to be cautious with automation, especially PMax.

Tune in for a practical conversation on making B2B ad spend more disciplined, focused, and tied to revenue.

Riley explains why many B2B paid search accounts are far too bloated. Teams often start with keyword lists that include hundreds of terms, many of which may have search volume but very little buying intent. Riley suggests taking the other approach - focus on a small group of keywords that show the clearest commercial intent, even if they do not generate huge search volume. For B2B teams with limited budgets, this matters because every dollar needs to be concentrated where it has the highest chance of producing qualified pipeline.

Riley and Justin discuss why PMax campaigns often underperform in B2B environments. The issue is not that PMax can never work, but that many B2B accounts do not have enough conversion volume for automation to learn properly. When the system has weak signals, it may optimize toward cheap leads instead of qualified opportunities. Riley suggests that PMax may be worth testing when the company has strong assets and clear guardrails, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed solution for B2B performance.

One of the first things Riley looks for in LinkedIn accounts is whether default settings are pushing campaigns away from the intended audience. Audience Expansion can take a carefully built list of job titles or targeting criteria and allow LinkedIn to go beyond it. Audience Network can place ads outside the LinkedIn feed in display-style placements. Both settings may look harmless because they are recommended, but they can cause campaigns to spend in places marketers did not intend. Before rewriting creative or changing headlines, Riley recommends checking whether the spend is actually reaching the target audience.

Riley’s attribution approach is centered on pipeline and revenue rather than just lead volume. He looks at whether leads become meetings, whether meetings become opportunities and whether those opportunities become revenue. Instead of trying to assign perfect credit to one channel, he looks for meaningful ad interactions that happened before a demo request or deal creation. This accepts that B2B attribution is imperfect, but still gives teams a better way to understand which touchpoints are influencing real opportunities.

Riley challenges the idea that advertising programs should always optimize for the lowest cost per lead. In B2B, especially in categories like cybersecurity, getting in front of the right decision-makers is not cheap. If teams chase low CPL above everything else, they often end up generating leads that do not convert, do not answer sales calls or do not fit the ICP. Riley argues that pipeline, revenue and quality should matter more than simply getting more leads at a lower cost.