Every LinkedIn Ad Type Explained: Which Format Gets Results?
LinkedIn has 9+ ad formats and the names keep changing. Here's what each one actually does, what it costs, and which one you should pick based on what you're trying to achieve.
James Green
20 min read
Quick Reference
| Ad Type | Best For | Avg CPC (UK) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Image | Lead gen, retargeting | £8-12 | Start here |
| Video | Awareness, brand | £6-10 | Strong |
| Carousel | Storytelling, multi-product | £10-15 | Situational |
| Document | Thought leadership | £5-10 | Underrated |
| Thought Leader | Engagement, cheap reach | £4-8 | Best value |
| Message (InMail) | Direct outreach | £0.30-0.80/send | Niche use |
| Conversation | Complex offers | £0.30-0.80/send | Advanced |
| Text | Desktop sidebar | £3-6 | Skip it |
| Spotlight | Personalised desktop | £4-8 | Desktop only |
Watch: LinkedIn Ad Formats Explained
Our full LinkedIn Ads tutorial covers every ad format from 34:41. Watch the ad formats section or follow along below.
Single Image Ads
The Workhorse
The most common LinkedIn ad format and the best place to start. One image, headline, description, and CTA button. It's not exciting, but it's reliable.
Single Image Ads appear directly in the LinkedIn feed between organic posts. They support every campaign objective LinkedIn offers, from awareness to lead generation. Because they're the most widely used format, there's the most benchmark data available, which makes it easier to evaluate your performance against industry averages.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Recommended image size: 1200×628px (landscape) or 1080×1080px (square). Headline: max 70 characters for full display. Introductory text: keep under 150 characters to avoid truncation on mobile.
✓ Strengths
Lowest barrier to create. Works for every objective. Largest sample of benchmark data. Compatible with Lead Gen Forms. Best format for A/B testing because setup is fast.
✗ Limitations
Requires good creative to stand out. Easy to blend into the feed if your image is generic. Landscape format wastes mobile screen space.
Pro tip: Use square (1:1) format instead of landscape. It takes up 20-30% more mobile feed space. Include a clear, benefit-led headline. Avoid stock photos of handshakes. Test 3-5 image variations per campaign.
Video Ads
The Attention Grabber
Video plays automatically (muted) in the feed. Works brilliantly for brand awareness and building familiarity. Less effective for direct lead generation because viewers don't always click.
LinkedIn counts a 'view' as 2+ seconds of watching, so CPV (cost per view) data is generous. The real metric is completion rate. Aim for 25%+ completion on 30-second videos and 15%+ on 60-second videos. The magic of video is that you can retarget viewers later. someone who watched 50% of your video has demonstrated genuine interest and can be served a conversion-focused Single Image Ad.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Recommended: 1920×1080px (landscape) or 1080×1080px (square). Max length: 10 minutes. Sweet spot: 15-60 seconds. Always add subtitles (80% watch muted). Max file size: 200MB.
✓ Strengths
Cheap per view (£0.02-0.08). High engagement. Great for retargeting audiences later. Builds trust faster than static. Algorithm favours native video.
✗ Limitations
More expensive to produce. Viewers watch but don't click. Requires subtitles. Completion rates drop dramatically after 30 seconds.
Pro tip: Keep it under 60 seconds. Hook in the first 3 seconds with a question or bold claim. The best B2B video ads are founder-to-camera, not corporate productions. Retarget people who watched 50%+ with a Single Image conversion ad.
Document Ads
The Hidden Gem
Users swipe through a PDF or presentation directly in the feed. No click required. Excellent engagement because people can consume value without leaving LinkedIn.
Document Ads are criminally underused in B2B. The format works because it delivers value in-feed. people swipe through your content without leaving LinkedIn, which means lower friction and higher engagement rates. You can optionally gate the document behind a Lead Gen Form (e.g., show pages 1-3 free, require details to see the rest). This creates a natural value-first lead capture mechanism.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Upload PDF or PowerPoint. Max 100MB, 300 pages. Recommended: 5-10 pages for best engagement. Each page should work as a standalone visual. Portrait orientation works best on mobile.
✓ Strengths
High engagement rates. In-feed content consumption. Can gate with Lead Gen Form. Low CPC. Stands out because most competitors don't use this format.
✗ Limitations
Requires well-designed PDF/presentation. Not suitable for every message. Analytics are limited compared to other formats. Can't track individual page engagement.
Pro tip: Create a 5-8 page carousel-style PDF with one insight per page. Make each page self-contained with large text. Use this format for frameworks, checklists, or data breakdowns. Bold headline on page 1 to stop the scroll.
Thought Leader Ads
The Best Value
Boost organic posts from personal profiles (typically founders, MDs, or subject experts) as sponsored content. People engage with people, not company logos. That's why these are 30-50% cheaper than company page ads.
Thought Leader Ads were introduced in 2023 and have quickly become the best-value format on LinkedIn. The concept is simple: your MD or founder posts something genuine on their personal profile. If it resonates organically, you boost it as a sponsored post to a wider audience. The result? 2-3x higher engagement rates than company page ads, because people trust people more than logos. The post retains all its original likes and comments, adding social proof.
📐 Specs & Requirements
The organic post must come from a personal profile connected to your company page. You can boost text posts, image posts, video posts, and article shares. Lead Gen Forms are not available for Thought Leader Ads.
✓ Strengths
Cheapest CPC of any format. Highest engagement. Feels native, not like advertising. Builds personal brand alongside company brand. Organic social proof carries over.
✗ Limitations
Requires someone at the company posting regularly on LinkedIn. Less control over format. Can't use Lead Gen Forms. Limited to existing organic posts.
Pro tip: Have your founder or MD post regularly about industry insights, lessons learned, and honest takes. Boost the posts that perform well organically (50+ likes is a good signal). This is the single highest-ROI format on LinkedIn right now.
Message Ads (InMail)
The Direct Approach
Delivered straight to a LinkedIn member's inbox. Only one Message Ad per member every 45 days, so competition for the slot is limited. Feels personal but can feel intrusive.
Message Ads land in LinkedIn's messaging inbox alongside real conversations. The 45-day exclusivity window means your message doesn't compete with other advertisers in the same timeframe. Open rates are genuinely high (25-40%) because people check their LinkedIn messages. But here's the tension: high open rates don't mean high acceptance. Many people resent unsolicited sales messages in their inbox. The format works brilliantly for the right use case and terribly for the wrong one.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Sender: must be a real person from your organisation (not a company page). Subject line: max 60 characters. Body: max 1,500 characters. You can include one banner image (300×250px) and up to 3 CTA buttons. Cost: charged per send (£0.30-0.80), not per click or impression.
✓ Strengths
High open rates (25-40%). Direct inbox delivery. No competition from other ads for 45 days. Good for events and exclusive offers. Personal feel when done right.
✗ Limitations
Expensive per send regardless of whether it's read. Can feel spammy if poorly targeted. Limited creative options. Users can opt out of Message Ads entirely.
Pro tip: Only use for high-value, genuinely relevant offers to a small, specific audience. Event invitations to C-suite at target accounts, exclusive research reports, or personalised offers. Never use for mass lead generation. The sender should be a real person whose profile looks credible.
Conversation Ads
The Choose-Your-Path
Similar to Message Ads but with branching CTA buttons. The recipient chooses their path: 'Book a demo' / 'Download guide' / 'Visit pricing'. More interactive than a single message.
Conversation Ads evolved from Message Ads to address a key limitation: one message, one CTA. With Conversation Ads, you present multiple options and let the recipient self-select. This is powerful because it turns a one-way message into a mini-conversation. The data is valuable too: you can see which paths people chose, giving you insight into where they are in the buying journey. But they require more setup and testing to get the flow right.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Same sender requirements as Message Ads. You can create up to 5 CTA buttons per message. Each CTA can lead to another message (creating branching paths), a Lead Gen Form, or an external URL. Maximum 5 levels deep.
✓ Strengths
Multiple CTAs in one ad. Self-qualifying prospects choose their own path. Interactive feel increases engagement. Excellent data on buyer intent. Can combine Lead Gen Forms with website links.
✗ Limitations
Complex to set up and test properly. Same InMail inbox limitations and 45-day exclusivity. Requires careful flow design. Over-complicated flows confuse people.
Pro tip: Design no more than 3 paths. Keep each path to 2-3 steps maximum. Test simple versions first before building complex flows. The first message should be conversational, not salesy. Works best for companies with multiple offerings or audience segments.
Text Ads
The Desktop Relic
Small ads that appear in the right sidebar on LinkedIn desktop. A tiny 100×100px image, a headline, and a description. They've been around since LinkedIn's early days and show their age.
Text Ads are LinkedIn's oldest ad format and it shows. They only appear on desktop (no mobile), only in the right sidebar (not the feed), and their click-through rates are the lowest of any format at 0.02-0.05%. That sounds terrible, and for lead generation it is. But there's one niche use: extremely cheap brand visibility. If you're running an ABM campaign and want your company name visible to a specific audience 50 times a week, Text Ads can do that for almost nothing.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Image: 100×100px (tiny square). Headline: max 25 characters. Description: max 75 characters. CPC bidding or CPM bidding available. Desktop only. zero mobile reach.
✓ Strengths
Cheapest format on LinkedIn. Very low CPM (£3-8). Easy to set up. Good for pure brand awareness on a micro-budget.
✗ Limitations
Desktop only. invisible on mobile (which is now 60%+ of LinkedIn traffic). Lowest CTR of any format. Tiny ad size. Negligible engagement. Not suitable for lead generation.
Pro tip: Only consider Text Ads if you have a tiny budget (<£300/month) and your goal is keeping your brand name visible to a specific audience. For everything else, use another format. If you're choosing between Text Ads and no ads, they're better than nothing. Barely.
Spotlight Ads
The Personalised Desktop Ad
Dynamic Ads that appear in the right column and automatically pull the viewer's profile photo into the ad. 'Sarah, [Company] is hiring' or 'Sarah, see how [Product] can help you.'
Spotlight Ads are part of LinkedIn's Dynamic Ads family. The personalisation is automatic. LinkedIn pulls the viewer's name and profile picture into the ad, making it feel individually targeted. This personalisation drives 2-3x higher CTR compared to Text Ads. But like Text Ads, they only appear on desktop in the right column. They're best for driving traffic to a specific landing page where the personalised hook continues.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Company logo: 100×100px. Background image: optional, 300×250px. Headline: max 50 characters (supports dynamic macros like %FIRSTNAME%). Description: max 70 characters. CTA button: max 18 characters. Desktop only.
✓ Strengths
Personalised automatically with viewer's name/photo. Higher CTR than Text Ads. Attention-grabbing in the sidebar. Good for driving to landing pages, job posts, or events.
✗ Limitations
Desktop only. no mobile reach. Right column placement means lower visibility than feed. More expensive than Text Ads. Personalisation can feel invasive to some.
Pro tip: Use Spotlight Ads to complement feed campaigns, not replace them. They work best for event registrations ('James, join 500 CMOs at [Event]') or specific offers. The personalisation only works if your message is genuinely relevant to that person.
Follower Ads
The Page Growth Play
Another Dynamic Ad format designed to grow your LinkedIn Company Page followers. Pulls the viewer's photo and asks them to follow your page. Desktop right column only.
Follower Ads exist for one purpose: growing your company page audience. They use the same personalisation as Spotlight Ads (viewer's photo and name) but the CTA is 'Follow.' The theory is sound: more followers = more organic reach for your company posts. The reality is more nuanced. LinkedIn organic reach from company pages is declining year over year. Growing followers is nice, but it shouldn't be a priority over lead generation. That said, if you're running other campaigns anyway and have £200/month to spare, a small Follower Ad campaign builds a long-term organic audience.
📐 Specs & Requirements
Same specs as Spotlight Ads. Company logo required. CTA is automatically 'Follow'. Desktop right column only. Charged per click or per 1,000 impressions.
✓ Strengths
Cheapest way to grow LinkedIn followers. Personalised and attention-grabbing. Builds organic audience for company page content. Simple to set up.
✗ Limitations
Desktop only. Growing followers is a vanity metric for most companies. LinkedIn organic reach is declining. Money is better spent on lead generation in most cases.
Pro tip: Only invest in Follower Ads if you're already posting consistently on your company page (3+ times per week) and want to amplify that content. If you rarely post, don't waste money growing an audience you'll never speak to.
Which Format Should You Start With?
Don't overthink this. Here's the decision tree:
If: You've never run LinkedIn Ads before
→ Start with Single Image Ads. They're the simplest to create, cheapest to test, and give you baseline data to compare everything else against.
If: You have a founder who posts on LinkedIn
→ Start with Thought Leader Ads. Boost their best-performing organic posts. You'll get the cheapest CPC and most authentic engagement of any format.
If: You have video content (or can film on a phone)
→ Run Video Ads for awareness, then retarget video viewers (50%+ watched) with Single Image Ads for conversion. This two-step funnel is one of the most effective structures on LinkedIn.
If: You have a great PDF, guide, or framework
→ Try Document Ads. Most competitors aren't using them, so you'll stand out. Gate pages 4+ behind a Lead Gen Form to capture leads while delivering value.
If: You're targeting <500 people at named companies
→ Consider Message Ads (InMail) with a genuinely personal, high-value offer. The small audience size keeps costs manageable and the offer can be very specific.
The Multi-Format Strategy (For When You're Ready to Scale)
Once you've found a format that works, don't just increase budget. Add a second format that serves a different purpose. The most effective LinkedIn advertisers use 2-3 formats in a coordinated system:
Top of Funnel: Awareness
Video Ads or Thought Leader Ads to a broad audience. Goal: get your name and expertise in front of the right people. Build retargeting audiences.
Budget allocation: 30-40%
Middle of Funnel: Consideration
Document Ads or Carousel Ads retargeting video viewers. Deliver deeper value. Share frameworks, case studies, or comparison data.
Budget allocation: 30-40%
Bottom of Funnel: Conversion
Single Image Ads with Lead Gen Forms or direct CTAs, retargeting document readers and engaged visitors. Close the loop.
Budget allocation: 20-30%
See this in action
Our LinkedIn Ads Tutorial for Beginners walks through campaign setup, targeting, and format selection step-by-step with a full 42-minute video walkthrough.
Frequently Asked Questions
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