Retargeting has long been one of the sharpest tools in the paid media toolbox. When it comes to LinkedIn Ads, tapping into warm audiences – people who already know who you are – can be a brilliant way to generate high-quality leads. Whether it is retargeting website visitors, ad engagers, or company page viewers, it feels like the perfect setup.

But here is the reality. While retargeting should absolutely be part of your strategy, it has a built-in ceiling. One that many B2B marketers – especially those in SaaS – tend to underestimate.

Let’s break it down properly.

Why Retargeting Audiences Are So Effective

First, let’s give retargeting its due credit. These audiences are already familiar with your brand. They have seen your messaging, visited your website, perhaps even interacted with your LinkedIn page or engaged with your ads. They are what we call ‘warm’ leads – closer to a buying decision than someone seeing you for the first time.

In theory, it sounds like the golden opportunity every sales team dreams about: lower friction, higher intent, better conversion rates.

But there is a catch – and it is a big one.

The Volume Problem No One Talks About

A typical B2B SaaS client we work with might attract anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 website visitors a month. Add to that around 2,000 to 3,000 company page visitors and a similar number of ad engagers. On the surface, you would think you are sitting on a comfortable 8,000 to 10,000-strong retargeting audience.

But once you dig deeper, the picture changes quickly.

Overlap Diminishes the Pool

First, there is significant overlap. The same person who visited your website may also have engaged with your ads or browsed your company page. Audience overlap typically eats away 20 to 30 percent of your potential pool right from the start.

Geographic Filters Cut it Down Further

Next, you need to strip out visitors from locations that simply are not commercially viable. Whether it is low-margin regions, areas where competition is too fierce, or places your business cannot realistically serve – that is another 20 to 30 percent gone.

Audience Exclusions Are a Must

Then come the necessary exclusions: current clients, competitors, recruiters, jobseekers, and a fair share of random clicks from irrelevant sectors. Another 20 to 30 percent vanish into thin air.

What you are left with, after cleaning the data properly, is often a pool of around 2,000 individuals.

Not bad, right? But here is where it gets even more interesting – and challenging.

Most Warm Audiences Are Not Ready to Buy

Just because someone engaged with your brand once does not mean they are ready to buy today. According to the well-known ’95-5 Rule’, only around 5 percent of B2B buyers are in-market at any given time. The other 95 percent may eventually buy, but not right now.

This means that even out of your carefully curated 2,000-strong audience, only about 100 individuals are realistically considering a solution like yours at any moment. And not all 100 will convert, even with perfect messaging.

In practice, you might generate a few solid leads a week through retargeting. Good leads, yes. But nowhere near the volume most B2B organisations expect when they think about scaling growth.

Why Cold Lead Generation Still Needs to Be Your Priority

The truth is this: while retargeting campaigns are a vital piece of the puzzle, they cannot carry your entire lead generation strategy. If you want to build a real, scalable pipeline, the bulk of your budget and effort must still go toward cold acquisition.

You need to consistently fill the top of your funnel with new, relevant prospects. Because without expanding your total addressable audience, your retargeting pool will eventually dry up.

It is a game of balance. Maximise every drop of value from your warm audiences, absolutely. But never lose sight of the bigger picture – building consistent, predictable volume through cold campaigns that create tomorrow’s warm audiences.

Don’t make this mistake

Retargeting is one of the most cost-effective moves you can make when running LinkedIn Ads. Ignoring it would be a mistake. But relying on it exclusively is an even bigger one.

Understand the limitations. Plan for them. Use retargeting as a high-converting layer in your broader paid media strategy – not the entire foundation.