When running manual bidding in LinkedIn ads, you have to set a bid that you are willing to pay. But here is the thing. You almost always pay less than your bid.

Why?

Because your bid price is just to win the auction for that specific impression. But you will be charged only 1 cent more than the second-highest bid.

Example.

I set a max bid of $8 CPC. My competitor A bids $6.50. Competitor B bids $7.20. I win the auction. But I get charged only $7.21. One cent more than the second-highest bid. Not the full $8 max I was willing to bid.

What does it mean?

It means you can bid more aggressively on audiences where you want to get max reach and penetration, to ensure you win the most amount of auctions.

Of course, you have to manage the overall daily budget delivery and costs, but just remember.

Your CPC bid is not your final cost.

P.S. One way to use aggressive bid strategy is for formats that have low CTR. E.g. Spotlight or text ads. With aggressive bid, you make sure you get max impressions, but your actual clicks you have to pay for will be few.