LinkedIn Ads: The Complete Guide to Maximize Business Growth
Learn how to use LinkedIn ads to promote your brand, increase web traffic, find new leads and more.
If you want to reach your professional clients, then LinkedIn Ads is a good idea. If you are not sure what to do, this article will tell you about all the different kinds of ads that are available for LinkedIn.
This article has examples of advertisements so that it will help inspire your next advertisement.
Types of LinkedIn Ads
Sponsored Content
LinkedIn offers businesses several different ways to advertise.
There is “Sponsored Content” where people can see your ad on their feed, no matter if they are using a computer or phone. “Sponsored Content” goes under the label of “promoted” to show that it is different from regular content.
When you want to advertise with Sponsored Content, you can choose between LinkedIn carousel ads, single image ads, or video ads.
Sponsored Messaging
Sponsored messaging lets you advertise your product to a person’s inbox. You will only be able to do it twice per month for every person in your target audience.
89% of people like it when businesses send messages to them. 48% of companies use this way to talk to customers and prospects.
Text Ads
Text ads on LinkedIn show up at the top and on the right side of your screen. They are good for people who want leads from other professionals. 58% of marketers say that they want to improve their lead generation with digital marketing, so text ads can be a way to do this with less money.
Dynamic Ads
Dynamic ads run on the side of LinkedIn and talk to people through personalization. Dynamic ads pop up in the feed of a person’s profile, so their own information pops up. Members can change their settings to not show this information if they want. There are two types of dynamic ads: Follower Ads and Sponsored Ads.
The objective of a LinkedIn ad
LinkedIn works with advertisers to help them find people who need their product. There are three types of goals that you can use in your advertisement, from the awareness stage to conversion.
LinkedIn ad formats
You can use 10 different types of ads on LinkedIn. Each one is good for some goals. We will tell you about the different ads and give examples so that you know which ones to use.
Carousel ads
Conversation ads
Follower ads
Spotlight ads
Job ads
lead generation forms
Message ads
Single image ads
Single job ads
Text ads
Video ads
Carousel ads
LinkedIn carousel ads are a swipeable row of cards. The key is to use strong visuals to keep your readers interested. You can tell your brand's story, show products, or share insights. There are many goals you might want to achieve from these ads: awareness, website visits, engagement, website conversions and lead generation.
LinkedIn carousel ad specs:
- The name of your ad is up to 255 characters.
- Introductory text can be 150 characters or less. It should be short though because if it is too long, it will get cut off on some devices.
- You can have between 2 and 10 cards in your carousel ad.
- Max file size is 10 MB for the entire ad.
- Max image dimension is 6012 x 6012px (not too big). Images should be JPG, PNG or GIF with no animation and only up to two lines of headline text per card (45 character limit). If you use a Lead Gen Form CTA there's
conversation ads
With a conversation ad, people can see different options. Then they can choose which one is best for them. This type of ad lets you show your products and services while also getting people to sign up for events or webinars. Your goals are that this will make people more aware of your brand, bring visitors to your website, get people talking about you on social media, and get people interested in signing up for an event or webinar.
LinkedIn conversation ad specs:
- Up to 255 characters in the name of the ad
- Up to 300 x 250px in banner creative (it's optional for desktop and only)
- Up to 2,500 characters in the custom footer and terms and conditions
- Up to 500 characters in the introductory message
- An image that is up to 250 x 250px using either JPEG or PNG. You can use CTAs with up to five buttons that have up to 25 characters each. They will show messages with up to 500 characters each.
Follower ads
Follower ads are a type of Facebook ad.
They promote your LinkedIn Page to others.
These ads can be used for:
-Brand awareness
-Website visits
-Engagement
LinkedIn follower ad specs:
- Ad Description: You can write up to 70 characters.
- Ad headline: You can choose a pre-set option or write up to 50 characters.
- Company name: You can also include your company's name, which you will have to type in for 25 characters or less.
- Ad image: If you upload a photo to the ad, it should be at least 100 x 100px and either JPG or PNG format.
Spotlight ads
Spotlight ads are a way to show people what is in your store. They can click on the ad and get information about it, or they can go to your website. Spotlight ads are another form of advertising that uses personalization to connect with audiences. There are different goals for spotlight ads, like brand awareness, website visits, engagement, lead generation, and job applicants.
LinkedIn spotlight ad:
- Ad Description: up to 70 characters
- Ad headline: up to 50 characters
- Company name: up to 25 characters
- Ad image:Preferred size is 100 x 100px for JPG or PNG.
- CTA (call to action): Up to 18 characters
Job ads
LinkedIn job ads are stronger than recruitment ads. These LinkedIn jobs make sure that no other company can advertise on your employees' profiles. This way, you will have more applicants for the job and more people will visit your website.
LinkedIn job ad specs:
- Ad headline: Up to 70 characters or pre-set options
- Company name: up to 25 characters
- Company Logo: Preferred size is 100 x 100px for JPG or PNG.
- Up to 44 characters if custom text; pre-set options available.
lead generation forms
Lead gen forms are a type of form that lists people's information, like their name and email address. They are used to find more qualified leads. For example, if you're hosting a webinar, you can use lead gen forms on your website or in your ads. Then anyone who sees the webinar will automatically get an email address.
lead generation form specs:
- Name: Up to 70 characters or pre-set options
- Headline: Up to 60 characters
- Details: up to 70 characters and you can avoid truncation (160 total)
- Privacy policy text, up to 2,000
Message ads
One out of two people who see this type of ad on the internet visit the website. This is a good way to advertise because you can send a message to your audience's inbox with a link that will take them to your website. The goal is to get more visitors and website conversions, or leads.
LinkedIn message ad specs:
- Message subject should be less than 60 characters.
- CTA button copy should be less than 20 characters.
- Message text can be up to 1500 characters.
- -Custom terms and conditions can be up to 2500 words long.
Single image ads
On LinkedIn, single image ads can be seen on the home page. These ads are paid for and will say “promoted” to differentiate from unpaid content. Single image ads work best when you want to get people’s attention or promote your brand. They tend to work better than other types of advertising if you want people to visit your website or apply for a job with you.
LinkedIn single image ad specs:
- Ad name(optional): Up to 225 characters
- Introductory text: Up to 150 characters
- Destination URL: A website link with up to 2,000 characters.
- Image: A JPG, GIF or PNG file 5MB or smaller; the maximum image size is 7680 x 7680 pixels. Headline: The headline is up to 70 characters long but can use up to 200 characters. Description: The description is up to 100 words long but can use 300 words.
Single job ads
You can run single job ads on LinkedIn. These ads are in your audience’s newsfeeds. It is easy to find the perfect candidate and you never have to hire people again! There is also a 25% increase in the average click to apply rate with these ads. Goals: Job Applications
LinkedIn single job ad specs:
- Name of the ad can be up to 255 characters.
- The introductory text can be 150 characters long, but it should not get shorter.
- If you have any legally required language that needs to go in the ad, place it there.
Text ads
Text ads are easy to set up and work within your budget. 80% of B2B leads come through LinkedIn. Text ads may be a good way to get B2B leads on social media. The goals for text ads are: Brand awareness, website visits and website conversions.
Text Ad specifications:
- Image: 100 x 100 pixels with a JPG or PNG that is 2MB or less.
- Headline: Up to 25 characters
- Description: Up to 75 character
Video ads
LinkedIn has video ads. You can use them to show how you think and what the customer experience is. You can also show a new product or give an insider look at your company culture. There are many things you can do with the LinkedIn video ads that show, not just tell, your story.
LinkedIn video ad specs:
- Name of ad (optional): Up to 225 characters
- Introductory text (optional): Up to 600 characters
- Video length: How long the video will be. 3 seconds to 30 minutes (high performing LinkedIn video ads tend to be 15 seconds or less)
- File size: 75KB to 200MB
- Frame rate: The number of frames per second in your video. Less than 30 frames per second
- Width: 640 to 1920 pixels, with a 1.778 ratio
- Height: 360 to 1920 pixels, with a 0.5652 ratio
The Preparation for your first LinkedIn ad campaign
Create a LinkedIn Page
It is free and easy to get started with a LinkedIn account that has been verified. To create one, all you need is your email address which we will verify for you. You can give it any name and have the opportunity to showcase your brand on this site.
Decide what you want your customers to do
The first step in this advertising is choosing an objective. This helps us customize and streamline your campaign based on what you want them to do. We have objectives that are for building awareness or even converting customers into becoming a customer.
Learn about the different ways to advertise on LinkedIn.
You can use Sponsored Content, Sponsored Messaging, or Text Ads. Not only does having a page make it easier to run Sponsored Content or Sponsored Messaging, but also posting high-quality content will improve your bid auction results.
Create your Campaign Manager account.
This all-in-one advertising platform is on LinkedIn. You can use it to set up an ad account, run a campaign, and control your budget once you sign in with a LinkedIn account and credit card.
Create a LinkedIn ad
1. If you don't have a LinkedIn page already, make one.
You need it to make sponsored content and sponsored messaging ads.
2. Create an account or log in to Campaign Manager.
In Campaign Manager, you can run campaigns and manage your budget.
3. Pick an ad objective
Think about what action you want to inspire from your audience.
4. Choose a target audience
First, you need to choose a location. And then you can add more information about the people you want to reach. For example, what job they have or what company they work for. Or what industry they are in or if there is something in particular that interests them.
5. Select the type of ad.
There are 3 options for sponsored content, which are single-image ads, carousel ads, and video ads. Text ads are also an option to promote your goods or services. Message Ads can be used to send a message or invite someone to sign up for something like a newsletter or event.
6. Create your budget and schedule.
Campaign Manager will have a budget for you based on other bids of people who are looking for your type of audience. The initial 2-4 weeks are called a learning experience to see what works the best. For testing, use $100 or $5,000 each day or month.
7. Start creating your advertisement.
If you want to advertise with Text Ads or Sponsored Content, you can see a preview of what it will look like. For Message Ads, you can send yourself texts to test them out.
8. Payment information
Payment information is required before you can show your ad to the world. When you have that, you are ready to show your ad.
9. Track your performance
The first thing you'll see when you sign in to LinkedIn is the report for your ads. From here, you can review different metrics and charts, as well as demographics. You can also export a CSV file from this page. This is where you go to measure conversion rates for your ads.