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LinkedIn Ads for Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Go-to-Market
LinkedIn Ads for Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Go-to-Market
Bottom-up and top-down are two different go-to-market motions — one lands through individual users adopting the product, the other through selling to executives and buyers — and they need different LinkedIn ad strategies, because they target different people with different messages toward different goals. A bottom-up motion advertises to the practitioners who’ll try and adopt the product; a top-down motion advertises to the decision-makers who’ll buy it for the organization. Running the wrong ad strategy for your motion — pitching a business case to individual users, or driving executives to a free trial — misaligns the whole program. Many companies run both, landing bottom-up and expanding top-down. This guide covers how LinkedIn Ads fit each motion and how to match your strategy to yours.
Key takeaways
- Bottom-up lands through individual users adopting; top-down lands through selling to buyers.
- They target different people — practitioners versus executives and decision-makers.
- They use different messages — individual/user value versus the business case.
- They pursue different goals — signups and adoption versus pipeline and deals.
- Many companies run both — land bottom-up, expand top-down — with distinct ad strategies for each.
What’s the difference between bottom-up and top-down GTM?
They’re opposite paths into an organization. Bottom-up (often product-led) lands through individual users who discover, try, and adopt the product themselves, with usage spreading within the company until it becomes a broader purchase. Top-down (often sales-led) lands through selling to the executives and buyers who make organizational purchasing decisions, with the deal driven by a sales process aimed at decision-makers.
The distinction shapes everything about your advertising, because the two motions reach different people for different reasons. Bottom-up needs to reach the practitioners who’ll actually use the product and get them to try it; top-down needs to reach the decision-makers who’ll buy it and get them into a sales conversation. Same product, opposite entry points — and opposite ad strategies.
How do LinkedIn Ads fit a bottom-up motion?
By reaching the users and getting them to try the product. In a bottom-up motion, your advertising targets the practitioners — the individual users who’ll adopt the product — with messaging about the value it delivers to them personally, driving toward low-friction actions like a signup or free trial. The goal isn’t to convince a buyer to purchase; it’s to get an individual user to start using the product, from which adoption and eventual purchase grow.
So bottom-up LinkedIn strategy targets user roles rather than executive buyers, leads with individual value rather than a business case, and drives trials and signups rather than demos and sales calls. It also supports adoption — reaching existing users to deepen their usage — because in a bottom-up motion, adoption is what drives expansion and revenue.
How do LinkedIn Ads fit a top-down motion?
By reaching the buyers and driving them toward sales. In a top-down motion, your advertising targets the decision-makers and buying committee — executives, economic buyers, the roles who make organizational purchases — with messaging built around the business case, and drives toward demos, sales conversations, and account-based engagement. The goal is pipeline: getting the right buyers into a sales process.
| Bottom-up (PLG) | Top-down (sales-led) | |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Individual users, practitioners | Executives, buyers, committee |
| Message | Individual value, ease of use | Business case, ROI |
| Goal | Signups, trials, adoption | Demos, pipeline, deals |
| CTA | Try it, sign up | Book a demo, talk to sales |
| Ad approach | User targeting, low-friction | Buyer targeting, ABM |
So top-down LinkedIn strategy targets buyer roles and committees, leads with the business case and ROI, and drives sales-oriented conversions — the account-based, committee-focused approach, rather than the user-and-trial focus of bottom-up.
The GTM-matched ad framework
Match your LinkedIn strategy to your motion:
- Identify your motion — bottom-up (users adopt), top-down (buyers purchase), or both.
- Target accordingly — user and practitioner roles for bottom-up, executive and buyer roles for top-down.
- Message accordingly — individual value for bottom-up, the business case for top-down.
- Drive the right action — trials and signups for bottom-up, demos and sales for top-down.
- If you run both, treat them as distinct strategies — land bottom-up with users, expand top-down with buyers.
How do you run both motions together?
By treating them as two distinct ad strategies aimed at two different audiences, often in sequence. Many companies land bottom-up — getting individual users adopting the product — and then expand top-down, selling a broader organizational deal to the buyers once usage has spread. In that case, your LinkedIn advertising runs both motions: user-targeted campaigns driving trials and adoption, and buyer-targeted campaigns driving the expansion sale, each with its own audience, message, and goal. The key is not to blend them — a campaign that tries to speak to both users and buyers at once satisfies neither, since they want different things. Keep the user-acquisition and buyer-expansion strategies separate, measure each on its own goal (adoption for bottom-up, pipeline for top-down), and let them work together as a combined motion where bottom-up adoption creates the usage that makes the top-down expansion case. Running both is powerful precisely because they reach the organization from two directions, but only if each is executed as the distinct strategy its audience requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the difference between bottom-up and top-down GTM?
Bottom-up (product-led) lands through individual users who try and adopt the product, with usage spreading until it becomes a broader purchase. Top-down (sales-led) lands through selling to executives and buyers who make organizational decisions. They’re opposite entry points into a company — one through practitioners, one through decision-makers — requiring different ad strategies.
Q2. How do LinkedIn Ads work for a bottom-up motion?
They target the individual users who’ll adopt the product, with messaging about the value it delivers to them personally, driving low-friction actions like signups and free trials. The goal is getting practitioners to start using the product, from which adoption and purchase grow — not convincing a buyer to purchase. Bottom-up ads also support adoption among existing users.
Q3. How do LinkedIn Ads work for a top-down motion?
They target the decision-makers and buying committee — executives and economic buyers — with messaging built around the business case and ROI, driving demos, sales conversations, and account-based engagement. The goal is pipeline: getting the right buyers into a sales process. It’s the committee-focused, ABM approach rather than the user-and-trial focus of bottom-up.
Q4. Should you target users or buyers on LinkedIn?
It depends on your GTM motion. A bottom-up motion targets individual users and practitioners to drive adoption; a top-down motion targets executives and buyers to drive pipeline. If you run both, target each audience with its own distinct strategy. Targeting the wrong group for your motion — buyers in a user-led model, or vice versa — misaligns the program.
Q5. What message works for bottom-up versus top-down?
Bottom-up leads with individual value and ease of use — why the product helps the practitioner personally — driving trials and signups. Top-down leads with the business case and ROI — why the organization should buy — driving demos and sales. The messages are different because users and buyers evaluate different things, so matching message to motion is essential.
Q6. Can you run both bottom-up and top-down on LinkedIn?
Yes, and many companies do — landing bottom-up with users adopting the product, then expanding top-down by selling a broader deal to buyers. Run each as a distinct strategy with its own audience, message, and goal, rather than blending them. Bottom-up adoption creates the usage that makes the top-down expansion case, so they reinforce each other.
Q7. Why shouldn’t you blend user and buyer campaigns?
Because users and buyers want different things, so a campaign trying to speak to both satisfies neither. Users care about individual value and ease of use; buyers care about the business case and ROI. A blended message is too general to resonate with either, so keep user-acquisition and buyer-focused campaigns separate, each speaking specifically to its audience’s concerns.
Q8. How do you measure bottom-up versus top-down campaigns?
Measure each on its own goal. Bottom-up campaigns are measured on signups, trials, and adoption — whether users start and deepen usage. Top-down campaigns are measured on demos, pipeline, and deals — whether the right buyers enter and progress through sales. Judging a bottom-up campaign on pipeline, or a top-down one on trials, misreads what each motion is meant to achieve.
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