What's a Good LinkedIn Ads CTR? Benchmarks by Ad Format (2026)
Your CTR is the first sign of whether an ad is landing with the right people. Here's what normal looks like for each format, and how to work out why yours is low.
James Green
9 min read
The short answer
The average LinkedIn Ads CTR is 0.44% to 0.65% for Sponsored Content. Above 0.8% is good and above 1% is excellent.
Average
0.44% to 0.65%
Good
Above 0.8%
Excellent
Above 1%
LinkedIn CTR benchmarks by ad format
| Format | Average CTR | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Single Image | 0.56% | The baseline feed format. |
| Video | 0.44% | Judge on views as well as clicks. |
| Document | 0.43% | People read inside the ad, so fewer click out. |
| Carousel | 0.40% | More swipes than clicks. |
| Message Ads | 3.0% | Inbox format. 3.6% for clicks on links within opened messages; 38% average open rate. |
| Conversation Ads | 12% | Clicks on action buttons; 50% average open rate. |
Inbox formats aren't comparable with feed formats. A Message Ad click happens inside a message someone has chosen to open, so judge each format against its own line.
LinkedIn CTR by region
EMEA (UK/Europe)
0.60%
North America
0.50%
APAC
0.80%
LATAM
0.70%
CTR by industry, and the SaaS problem
| Industry | Average CTR |
|---|---|
| Retail | 0.80% |
| Transport & Logistics | 0.67% |
| Healthcare | 0.58% |
| Financial Services | 0.49% |
| Manufacturing | 0.49% |
| Software & IT | 0.39% |
Software & IT has the lowest CTR in the chart at 0.39%. SaaS and finance face the highest competition on LinkedIn, so if you sell software, a CTR below the overall average isn't automatically a creative problem. Compare yourself with your own line first.
Why your LinkedIn CTR is low, and how to fix it
I work through these in order. Each one rules out the next.
1.Wrong audience
The sign: CTR is low across every ad you've tried.
The fix: Check who you are actually reaching. Switch off Audience Expansion and Audience Network, and tighten to a matched company list with job titles on top. An ad can't be relevant to people who were never your buyers.
2.Weak creative
The sign: Some ads do fine, most sink. Or everything looks like every other B2B post in the feed.
The fix: Tighter targeting won't save an ad nobody stops to read. Test genuinely different hooks and visuals, not colour swaps. Start with these B2B ad formats you can steal.
3.An offer nobody wants
The sign: People engage with the post but nobody clicks the call to action.
The fix: Ask for something proportionate. A cold audience is rarely ready to book a demo. Give them something useful first, and save the big ask for retargeting.
4.Wrong format for the job
The sign: You're comparing a Document Ad's CTR with a Single Image and calling it a failure.
The fix: Judge each format against its own benchmark from the table above. A Carousel at 0.40% is average; a Single Image at 0.40% is below.
5.Frequency
The sign: CTR started healthy and has slid week by week.
The fix: The same people have seen the same ad too often. Rotate fresh creative in, and on Message Ads remember the 45-day frequency cap per member when planning sequences.
For creative ideas, start with these B2B ad formats you can steal. For the cost side, read how to lower your LinkedIn CPC and CPM.
Why a high CTR isn't the goal on its own
A 1.2% CTR looks great in Campaign Manager. But if those clickers are students and interns, you're paying to educate the next generation, not fill your pipeline.
Low CTR signals your ads aren't resonating. High CTR with no conversions means you're attracting the wrong people. Check who is clicking (company and job title) before you celebrate.
Quick CTR check in Campaign Manager
- Compare each ad with its own format benchmark, not the overall average
- Check Audience Network and Audience Expansion are off
- Look at the demographics report for companies and job titles clicking
- Pause the weakest ad in each campaign and add a genuinely different one
- Watch CTR week by week for signs of fatigue
Frequently asked questions
CTR stuck below average?
An ads audit tells you whether it's the audience, the creative or the settings. Or I can run LinkedIn for you.