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How to Use LinkedIn Ads for a Two-Sided Marketplace
How to Use LinkedIn Ads for a Two-Sided Marketplace
A two-sided marketplace has two completely different customers — supply and demand — so it needs two separate advertising strategies, not one. The people you need to attract on the supply side (sellers, providers, partners) and the demand side (buyers) have different profiles, different motivations, and different value propositions, which means blending them into one campaign fails both. On top of that, marketplaces face the chicken-and-egg problem: demand won’t come without supply, and supply won’t come without demand, so you have to decide which side to prioritize. This guide covers how to target each side separately, which side to lead with, and how to keep both growing in balance.
Key takeaways
- A marketplace has two customers — supply and demand — needing separate campaigns and messages.
- The two sides have different profiles, motivations, and value propositions — blending them fails both.
- The chicken-and-egg problem means you must decide which side to prioritize first.
- Usually lead with the scarcer or harder side — often supply — since it’s the bottleneck.
- Measure and balance each side separately to keep the marketplace liquid.
Why do marketplaces need two strategies?
Because supply and demand are different people who want different things. The sellers, providers, or partners on the supply side are attracted by access to customers, earnings, or reach; the buyers on the demand side are attracted by selection, convenience, or value. Their job titles, motivations, and the message that resonates with them are entirely different — so an ad that speaks to one side is irrelevant to the other.
A single blended campaign trying to attract both fails both, because it can’t speak to either side’s specific motivation. Marketplaces therefore need two distinct advertising strategies: one targeting the supply side with a supply-side message, and one targeting the demand side with a demand-side message. Treating the marketplace as one audience is the fundamental mistake.
How do you target each side separately?
By building distinct audiences and messages for supply and demand. Each side has its own profile — different roles, industries, or company types — so you target them with separate LinkedIn audiences built on their specific attributes. And each side has its own value proposition, so you write separate creative that speaks to what that side actually wants.
| Supply side | Demand side | |
|---|---|---|
| Who they are | Sellers, providers, partners | Buyers, customers |
| What they want | Access to customers, earnings, reach | Selection, value, convenience |
| Message | The demand they’ll reach | The supply they’ll access |
| Targeting | Supply-side profile | Demand-side profile |
The message for each side is essentially the other side’s value: you attract supply by promising access to demand, and you attract demand by promising access to supply. This is why the two campaigns are genuinely different — they’re selling opposite things to opposite people.
Which side should you prioritize?
Usually the harder or scarcer side, because that’s the bottleneck — and it’s often supply. Marketplaces face the chicken-and-egg problem: demand won’t stick around without enough supply to be useful, and supply won’t stay without enough demand to be worthwhile. You can’t build both perfectly in parallel from zero, so you have to lead with one.
The general principle is to prioritize whichever side is harder to acquire or is the current constraint on the marketplace working. Often that’s supply — building up enough sellers, providers, or inventory that the marketplace is genuinely useful to buyers — because demand tends to follow available supply more readily than the reverse. But it depends on your specific marketplace: prioritize the side that’s actually the bottleneck, and use advertising to build it up first so the other side has a reason to show up.
The marketplace advertising framework
Advertise a two-sided marketplace deliberately:
- Treat supply and demand as separate customers — two strategies, two audiences, two messages.
- Target each side by its own profile with LinkedIn audiences built on their distinct attributes.
- Message each side its value — promise supply access to demand, and demand access to supply.
- Lead with the bottleneck side — usually the scarcer or harder-to-acquire side, often supply.
- Measure and balance each side — track acquisition on both and keep them in the balance that keeps the marketplace liquid.
How do you keep both sides balanced?
By measuring each side separately and managing the ratio between them. A marketplace works only when supply and demand are balanced enough to be liquid — too much demand and buyers can’t find what they want; too much supply and sellers can’t find customers. So you track acquisition on each side independently and adjust your advertising to maintain the balance: if supply is the constraint, weight spend toward supply; if demand lags, shift toward demand. This is an ongoing balancing act rather than a one-time decision, because the marketplace’s needs change as it grows. Measuring the two sides together as one blended number hides which side is actually constraining growth, so separate measurement is what lets you keep the marketplace liquid by directing advertising to whichever side needs it at any given time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How do you advertise a two-sided marketplace on LinkedIn?
Treat supply and demand as two separate customers with two strategies. Build distinct LinkedIn audiences for each side based on their different profiles, and write separate messages — attracting supply by promising access to demand, and demand by promising access to supply. Blending them into one campaign fails both, since the two sides want different things.
Q2. Why do marketplaces need two advertising strategies?
Because supply and demand are different people with different motivations and value propositions. Sellers want access to customers and earnings; buyers want selection and value. An ad that speaks to one side is irrelevant to the other, so a single blended campaign fails both. Marketplaces need one strategy per side, each with its own audience and message.
Q3. How do you target supply and demand separately?
Build distinct LinkedIn audiences for each side based on their specific attributes — different roles, industries, or company types — and write separate creative for each. Target the supply side on its profile with a message about the demand they’ll reach, and the demand side on its profile with a message about the supply they’ll access.
Q4. Which side of a marketplace should you prioritize?
Usually the harder or scarcer side, since that’s the bottleneck — and it’s often supply. Because of the chicken-and-egg problem, you can’t build both sides perfectly in parallel from zero, so lead with whichever is the current constraint. Demand tends to follow available supply, so building supply first often gives demand a reason to show up.
Q5. What is the chicken-and-egg problem for marketplaces?
It’s that demand won’t stay without enough supply to be useful, and supply won’t stay without enough demand to be worthwhile — each side needs the other to be valuable, but you’re starting with neither. This forces you to prioritize one side first, building it up with advertising so the other side has a reason to join.
Q6. What message attracts the supply side of a marketplace?
The demand they’ll reach. Supply-side participants — sellers, providers, partners — are attracted by access to customers, earnings, or reach, so your message promises them the demand available on your marketplace. Essentially, you attract supply by selling them the demand side’s value: the customers, volume, or reach they’ll gain by joining.
Q7. How do you keep a marketplace’s two sides balanced?
Measure each side’s acquisition separately and adjust advertising to maintain liquidity — weight spend toward supply when it’s the constraint, toward demand when it lags. A marketplace works only when the two sides are balanced enough to be useful to each other. It’s an ongoing balancing act, since the marketplace’s needs shift as it grows.
Q8. Can you run one campaign for both sides of a marketplace?
No — it fails both sides. Supply and demand are different people wanting different things, so a blended campaign can’t speak to either’s specific motivation. Run separate campaigns with distinct audiences and messages for each side. Treating the marketplace as one audience is the fundamental mistake, because you have two customers, not one.
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