Earlier this summer, tmp became one of the first 100 agencies globally to achieve the LinkedIn Ads Agency Certification. It's a genuine milestone and one I'm proud of. But that's not really the story. At least, not the full story.
Certifications don’t tell you much on their own. What matters – and why I believe this is a very different story. It is what sits behind it: the people, the process, and what it means for our clients, old and new.
What this certification recognises
Plenty of agencies have built strong LinkedIn Ads expertise over the years. But if you’re a client evaluating a new partner, how are you going to see that expertise from the outside?
The LinkedIn Ads Agency Certification requires LinkedIn training across four core areas: advertising fundamentals, marketing measurement, strategy and content and creative design . That’s the full spread of what actually determines whether a LinkedIn campaign delivers results. It also requires structured, assessed learning across the team, not just one or two specialists carrying the knowledge for everyone else.
The practical implication is straightforward: clients can expect a consistent standard of expertise across the entire tmp team, rather than relying on whichever individual happens to be leading their account.
Building on a long-term relationship
Clients tend to know the benefits of establishing a long-term partnership with their marketing agency. Well, it’s pretty much the same for us when it comes to working with LinkedIn.
We've been running LinkedIn campaigns for B2B clients for years across multiple sectors and regions, and through several waves of platform change. So, this certification is the natural development of our relationship with LinkedIn – a continuation of one that already existed.
We're already used to working directly with our dedicated LinkedIn account reps on new ad formats, BETAs, and measurement updates as they're rolled out. It helps our clients get the benefit of them early rather than waiting for them to become common practice. This certification strengthens that relationship and creates more opportunities for us to collaborate with LinkedIn as the platform evolves – which matters, because marketing teams don't need more features, they need clear guidance on which innovations are worth investing in.
Closer collaboration is what makes that guidance sharper.
What this means for you
For existing clients, very little changes, and honestly, that's the point.
The standards expected by the LinkedIn certification are the standards we already hold ourselves to. What's different is that it's now independently verifiable rather than being something you take on trust. For anyone evaluating agencies, it's a faster way to gauge capability and credibility before you've even seen a single piece of work. Think of it as evidence that tmp's expertise spans the full campaign lifecycle, from strategy and targeting through to creative, optimisation and measurement, rather than sitting with one or two specialists.
None of that guarantees results, alas.
Every campaign still needs the right strategy, creative, and commercial thinking behind it. What our certification should give you is the confidence that those decisions are being made against proven best practice, by a team with certified platform expertise. It also tells you something about the relationship the agency has with LinkedIn.
A word of thanks to the rest of the team
None of this could have happened without the dedication and professionalism of the people doing the work, our Global Media team. I'm genuinely proud of them. Certifications like this only mean something because of the people who earn them, and this one belongs to that team as much as it does to tmp.
Where we go from here
The LinkedIn platform will keep changing as improvements and innovations are implemented. Our job is to help clients turn those developments into measurable outcomes.
I see this certification as a major part of that commitment. It sets out the standard we work hard to maintain, and keeps us accountable. So, if you're weighing up whether your current LinkedIn approach is working as hard as it should, I'd be glad to talk it through.