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LinkedIn Video Ads for Manufacturing Companies | Small Audience Testing That Reaches Buyers

Updated: Nov 18, 2025

Your LinkedIn posts and videos get plenty of likes from industry peers. But are you reaching the CEOs and decision-makers who buy your products?


For ex-engineer founders running CNC, industrial equipment, oil & gas, and technical manufacturing companies



The Problem You're Facing

You're posting on LinkedIn but it's all coming from people in your industry, not from the buyers who need your products.


Your organic LinkedIn traffic is:

  • Engineers at other companies who think your technology is interesting

  • Sales reps and service providers hoping to connect

  • Industry peers who like keeping up with developments

  • Occasionally, competitors checking what you're doing


But it's rarely:

  • The CEO of a manufacturing company who needs your CNC machines

  • The operations director searching for industrial filtration solutions

  • The procurement officer evaluating well control equipment suppliers

  • The engineering manager with budget authority to make buying decisions


Your LinkedIn efforts aren't reaching buyers. They're reaching peers.

That's not a content problem. It's an audience targeting problem.


What I Discovered by Accident

I run a video production company in London, UK. Three months ago, I started running simple LinkedIn ads to find manufacturing clients.​


Nothing fancy, just small test campaigns targeting ex-engineer founders who run manufacturing companies.​


Budget: £50-300 per month. Audience size: 5000-10,000 people.


It worked.​


I started getting responses from:

  • Brother (CNC machine manufacturer)

  • Petr (cybersecurity hardware—physical data diodes for NIS2 compliance)

  • Source OG (oil & gas well control equipment)

  • Multiple other technical manufacturing founders


Then something unexpected happened.

These founders didn't just want videos.

They wanted to know:

"How did you get my attention through LinkedIn ads? We've been trying to reach decision-makers like us for years".​

The irony: I'd proven I could reach exactly the type of buyer they were struggling to find.​


Why Small LinkedIn Ad Tests Work (When Organic Posts Don't)

Organic LinkedIn posts are shown to your connections and followers, people like YOU—your industry peers.​


LinkedIn ads let you target specific people: the actual decision-makers who buy products like yours.​


Here's the difference:


Organic Post on LinkedIn:

  • Shown to your existing network

  • Reaches people who already know you

  • Gets engagement from peers, competitors, service providers

  • CEO buyers? Maybe 2-3% of your audience

  • Cost: Free, but also slightly counter productive for new business​


Small LinkedIn Ad Test:

  • Shown to people you define: "CEOs at manufacturing companies, 100-500 employees, UK, ex-engineers, age 40-60"​

  • Reaches decision-makers who've never heard of you

  • Gets responses from people with budget authority

  • CEO buyers? 100% of your audience (because that's who you targeted)

  • Cost: £1-10 per click. Sometimes in my case £2 to reach 1,000 qualified prospects​


You're not hoping the right person sees your content. You're putting it directly in front of them.​


What I'm Offering (And What I'm Not)

I'm not a marketing agency. I'm a machine-obsessed video editor who runs a video production company in London.


But I've accidentally started helping manufacturing founders with something specific: creating videos for small LinkedIn ad tests targeting the buyers who actually matter.

​

Here's How It Works:


1. I Define a Really Small Test Audience

For example: (may be different for you) Ex-engineer CEOs, technical managers, operations directors—whatever role actually buys your product. 500-2,000 people.

​

2. We Create Practical Videos for That Specific Audience

45-75 seconds. Made specifically for the test, optimized for LinkedIn ads, designed to resonate with decision-makers in that niche.

​

3. We Set Up Small Ad Campaigns

£200-500/month to start. You control the budget, I don't deal with the finances, I help define audiences, set up campaigns, see what's working

​

4. We Test and Iterate

Who's clicking? Who's responding? What messaging resonates? We adjust based on real data. we have visibility into people their titles and the companies they work for.

​

This isn't about making beautiful videos that sit on your website getting zero views. It's about creating practical video ads purpose-built to reach specific buyers with some strategic industry knowledge about how LinkedIn ads work.

​

Why Ex-Engineer Founders Respond to This

When I talk to manufacturing founders about their LinkedIn challenges, there's usually frustration.​


They've tried:

  • Posting regularly on LinkedIn (gets likes from industry peers, not buyers)​

  • Creating video content (sits on their website, no distribution plan)​

  • Working with marketing agencies (don't understand technical products)​

  • Running LinkedIn ads themselves (unclear targeting, wasted budget, no results)​


Then they see my LinkedIn ad and it actually captures their attention.​

They're not impressed because it's clever. They're impressed because it reached them—and they know how hard that is.​

One founder put it directly: "We've been posting videos on LinkedIn for months. Lots of likes from people in our industry. Zero inquiries from buyers.


How did you get through to us?


The answer: small audience targeting, not organic hoping.

​

Real Numbers: What Small Tests Actually Cost

Most manufacturing founders think LinkedIn ads require huge budgets. That's not true for targeted B2B campaigns.

​

You're not paying for likes from industry peers. You only pay when a targeted decision-maker clicks through.​


Why I'm Sharing This Publicly

If you found this page, there's a good chance you came through LinkedIn—which means this approach is working right now.​

You're probably an ex-engineer founder running a technical manufacturing company. You've been posting on LinkedIn, maybe creating videos, and getting frustrated that your efforts only reach peers instead of buyers.​


I get it. I had the same problem.​


The difference: I tested small LinkedIn ad campaigns targeting specific decision-makers. It worked. The founders who responded are now asking me to help them do the same thing.​


So I'm offering it, not as a packaged marketing service, but as a bespoke collaboration with founders who want to test whether they can reach buyers the same way I reached them.​


What Makes This Different

Traditional approaches either give you video production OR LinkedIn ads, but not both working together.​


What We Do:

Create videos specifically for ad testing—not generic content that sits unused​

Target actual buyers—CEOs, operations directors, procurement officers with budget authority​

Test with small budgets—£250-2000+/month, not thousands upfront​

Iterate based on data—who clicks, who responds, what works​

Proven through use—I reached you this way, now we test if it works for your products​


Most importantly: the videos are made for the purpose of reaching specific buyers, not just demonstrating your technology.​



Who This Is For (And Who It's Not For)

This Is For You If:

  • Your LinkedIn posts get engagement from peers, not buyers​

  • You've created videos that sit unused because you don't know how to distribute them​

  • You're an ex-engineer founder running a manufacturing or technical B2B company​

  • You want to test reaching decision-makers with small budgets before committing big spend​

  • You value demonstrated results over marketing theory​


This Is NOT For You If:

  • You're getting plenty of qualified buyer inquiries from LinkedIn already

  • You're looking for a full-service marketing agency

  • You sell consumer products or non-technical B2B services

  • You're not willing to test and iterate based on what the data shows​


Frequently Asked Questions


"What's wrong with organic LinkedIn posting?"

Nothing—if you want to build industry visibility. But organic posts reach your existing network (peers, connections, followers), not new buyers. Ads let you target decision-makers who've never heard of you.​


"Why do I need new videos? Can't I use what I already have?"

Absolutely—you’re welcome to send any professionally made videos, 3D CAD files, product photos, or other media you have, and we encourage it.


We often cut client interviews into short segments for testing different angles; sometimes we build new content, sometimes we repurpose what you already have.


The focus isn’t on selling new videos, but rather on discovering and testing which creative angles actually reach decision-makers. We build each video to respond to what works, whether with new materials or by reusing your existing assets, always optimizing for LinkedIn: short form, captioned, mobile-first, and suited for silent viewing


"How much do small LinkedIn ad tests actually cost?"

Budgets typically range from £100–2,000+/month, with cost per click averaging £5–10 for B2B manufacturing audiences. You only pay when targeted prospects click through. Importantly, we do not manage the finances for your ads—clients use their own LinkedIn Campaign Manager and payment options. Our role is to set up the ads, configure audience targeting, and guide the testing process; all payments and budgets remain under your direct control.


"How long before I see results?"

I'm simply sharing what has actually worked for me, honestly, it took a few months before I saw much traction, but now LinkedIn brings in a steady stream of quality video production projects, and it’s turned into a great combination alongside Google organic search.


The real value isn’t in chasing big numbers or expecting instant results. It’s about running a couple of focused tests, identifying issues, and learning from that—each test helps everyone get sharper, from refining your message to locking in the right assets. Even the process of preparing and thinking about a tightly focused target niche sets you up for success, because targeting a very specific type of decision-maker makes every step clearer and more actionable.


You can expect to see some early data—clicks and connection requests—within the first week or two. Booked meetings usually follow within a month, and campaigns tend to hit their stride after several rounds of optimizing. The important thing is getting your assets ready, dialing in your proposition, targeting narrowly, and being willing to adapt and test.


That’s where consistent progress happens.


"Do you manage the ad budget or do we?"

You control everything through your LinkedIn Campaign Manager. I help define audiences, set up campaigns, analyze what's working. You maintain full financial control.​


"What if the tests don't work?"

Then we stop. No long-term contracts. The structure is built around testing—if it doesn't generate qualified buyer conversations, there's no point continuing.​


Ready to Test This Approach?

If you're reading this thinking "that's exactly my problem—LinkedIn efforts that only reach peers, not buyers"—then you're the audience.​


Next Steps:


1. Send a One-Line Brief

What do you make? Who buys it? That's all I need to start the conversation.​

2. Define Your Test Audience

We identify the 500-2,000 decision-makers who actually buy your products.​

3. Create Practical Video Ads

Made specifically for testing with that audience. 45-75 seconds. Purpose-built for LinkedIn ads.​

4. Launch Small Test Campaigns

£50-100/month targeting those buyers. Track who clicks, who responds, what works.​

5. Scale What Works, Stop What Doesn't

Iterate based on real data. If it generates qualified meetings, expand. If not, stop.​


Contact


Allan RowlandFounder, Live Up MediaMachine-Obsessed Video Editor


LinkedIn Video Ads for Manufacturing | Small Audience Testing | B2B Decision-Maker Targeting | Ex-Engineer Founder Marketing

Live UP Media creates practical video ads and runs small LinkedIn test campaigns for manufacturing and engineering companies. Targeting decision-makers who actually buy—not industry peers. For ex-engineer founders running CNC, industrial equipment, oil & gas, and technical B2B companies. Based in London.


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