Types of LinkedIn Ads: What’s The Best LinkedIn Ad Format For You?

TL;DR

• LinkedIn offers 12 ad formats grouped into four categories: Sponsored Content (in-feed), Sponsored Messaging (inbox), Dynamic Ads (personalized sidebar), and Lead Gen Forms.
• Best for awareness: Single Image Ads and Video Ads offer the broadest reach at the lowest cost per impression.
• Best for lead generation: Lead Gen Forms with pre-filled data convert 2-5x better than landing pages for B2B.
• Best for engagement: Carousel Ads and Thought Leader Ads drive the highest interaction rates.
• Best for retargeting: Video Ads (cheapest to build retargeting audiences) and Conversation Ads (hyper-personalized inbox messages).

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It's no secret that LinkedIn ads work. You know it, I know it, every B2B marketer knows it. But most marketers have one burning question: "What's the best ad format to promote our product?"

While some favor videos, others believe a simple text ad might do the trick. However, the answer is a little more complicated than that 👀

Scroll ahead to learn about the various types of LinkedIn ads and how you can use them in each stage of the marketing process ⬇️

Types of LinkedIn ads

Here's a quick comparison of all LinkedIn ad formats to help you choose:

Before you set your mind to using a particular ad type, let's have a look at the different ad formats currently available on LinkedIn: 

1. LinkedIn Single Image Ads

As the name suggests, the LinkedIn single-image ad is just the basic type of ad you see in your LinkedIn feed. It has one image, a couple of lines of text above it, and a CTA. 

Usually, the best type of single-image ad depends on the funnel stage you're targeting. You can use it to build awareness about your product or leverage it for your retargeting efforts. 

For single-image ads in the retargeting layer, you can use examples of case studies to build authority and differentiate your product from the market. 

2. LinkedIn Carousel Ads

Have you ever flipped through a little catalog that shows different products? That's precisely what a carousel ad looks like. The LinkedIn carousel ad has multiple images that you can scroll through. Each slide has its headline and button that could direct you to something else. 

LinkedIn carousel ads are great for horizontal SaaS brands where you have a bunch of different offerings.

3. LinkedIn Video Ads

LinkedIn video ads are a compelling way to reach a target audience. We particularly like this ad type because it gives you more information than whether someone clicked or didn't click your ad. By showing how much of the video someone viewed, you can see how interested or engaged the users were with the ad and retarget based on that.

LinkedIn video ads provide a great chance to humanize the brand. When you use video ads in the retargeting layer, you can show your team and what you do to users who visit your website to get to know and remember you better.

4. LinkedIn Event Ads

LinkedIn Event Ads are designed to promote events on users' feeds. These ads focus on essential event details, such as the webinar title, company name, and event time.

Here are some compelling reasons to consider this ad type:

• Increased Social Proof: The more attendees an event has, the more attractive it becomes. LinkedIn Event Ads dynamically update the number of attendees, creating a sense of urgency and encouraging more people to join.
• Organic Reach and Engagement: Event ads can also boost organic promotion. When users sign up for your event, personal notifications are generated within their network, expanding your reach.
• Invitations to Personal Connections: Unlike other LinkedIn ads, you can invite your connections to attend your event, creating a more personalized approach.
• Retargeting Opportunities: Those who attend your event become a valuable retargeting audience, enhancing your marketing efforts.

LinkedIn events and event ads combine paid advertising with community building, making them an effective engagement and lead-generation strategy.

5. LinkedIn Document Ads

LinkedIn Document Ads are designed to share your content directly within the LinkedIn feed. These ads allow users to access and download documents without leaving the platform. Whether you're sharing thought leadership pieces, valuable resources, or informative content, Document Ads can help you engage your target audience effectively.

Here are the key advantages of using LinkedIn Document Ads:

• Boosting Awareness and Building Trust: Share educational content and establish yourself as a thought leader within your industry, building trust and connections with your audience.
• Quality Lead Generation: Using LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms, you can turn curious clicks into high-quality leads, facilitating meaningful interactions.
• Understanding Audience Interests: Gain insights into document engagement to refine your marketing strategy at every stage of the funnel.

6. LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads

LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads enable you to sponsor personal posts from your LinkedIn ad account and target them to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). These ads allow for specific audience targeting, budget allocation, performance monitoring, and user interaction retargeting.

What sets Thought Leader Ads apart is their authenticity. They resemble regular personal posts rather than traditional ads, which helps convey your message more effectively.

Here's why Thought Leader Ads are a compelling choice:

• Authentic Appearance: Thought Leader Ads avoid the typical corporate or sales-oriented feel associated with traditional ads, making them more appealing and engaging.
• Humanizing Your Brand: These ads humanize your brand by presenting information from real people within your organization, fostering a deeper connection between your audience and the individuals behind the brand.
• Positioning yourself as an Expert: Thought Leader Ads showcase your organization's subject matter expertise, building trust and credibility among potential clients.

7. LinkedIn Article and Newsletter Ads

LinkedIn Article and Newsletter Ads let you promote long-form articles and newsletters published directly on LinkedIn. This format is ideal for thought leadership content, industry analysis, and building a subscriber base.

These ads appear in the feed like Sponsored Content but link to on-platform articles rather than external URLs, keeping users within LinkedIn's ecosystem. They're particularly effective for building trust with decision-makers who prefer in-depth content over quick-hit ads.

8. LinkedIn Message Ads

LinkedIn message ads are almost identical to conversation ads. The only difference between them is that a conversation ad has multiple choice buttons that you can have at the bottom, while a message ad is just a straight message.

9. LinkedIn Conversation Ads

Conversation ads involve sending a message to the person's inbox that looks like it's coming from a personal LinkedIn account. They show up as a sponsored InMail, which contains multiple-choice options for the prospect to choose from, with each option either sending them to a URL or delivering a reply.

So it could be like, "Hey, First Name. I noticed you were checking out our website…did you have any questions?" and then it could have three options, like "Take another look", "watch a quick demo," and "book a call." Each button could either go to answer or send them to a website, a call booking link, or something like that.

LinkedIn conversation ads need to be hyper-targeted because you're charged per send. You should get super narrow on a specific industry, company size, and even who within those companies you're targeting so that your message could be super personalized, like "Hey Jeff, I notice you're the CMO of a software company here in Texas...".

If you want to use these in the cold layer, we recommend leveraging intent data. If you could get a conference list of everyone who attended a relevant conference, and you send out a cold email and say, "Hey, I noticed that you were at Inbound 2024. I'd love to get your thoughts on …". 

You can also use conversation ads in the retargeting phase. After they visit your website, you hit them with a conversation ad, but it's specific to an industry. For example, our retargeting message would sound like, "Hey, I noticed that you were checking out our website and that you run a marketing agency. I wasn't sure if you saw this, but we offer white-label solutions. We'd be happy to talk more about x, y, and z."

While it's a great way to get your prospect's attention directly, it can be costly. Because you pay per send, you can't send a million of them, so you need to be much more targeted.

Also, read more about LinkedIn conversation and message ads

10. LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms serve as both ad types and objectives, specifically designed for lead capture. These forms can feature videos or images and include a prominent call-to-action button. Unlike traditional ads that direct users to external landing pages, Lead Gen Forms provide a seamless experience within the LinkedIn platform.

The primary goal of LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms is to encourage prospects to provide their contact information in exchange for valuable gated assets. These assets can include ebooks, checklists, industry trend reports, and case studies. Once users submit the form, they become a lead, initiating the lead nurturing process.

11. LinkedIn Spotlight Ads

This type of ad is relatively inexpensive. You can get 10x more impressions with the same spend as the in-feed ones, and I think it's because they're just underused.

Some ways to use spotlight ads were using those for webinar sign-ups or even advertising a video like, "Hey, want to learn how to do X, Y, or Z?" watch this quick video, and click send them to a YouTube link or a prerecorded webinar or a landing page.

The call to action button is customizable. Instead of "learn more" or "click here," it can be "watch this three-minute video," "subscribe to our channel," or anything else you want.

12. LinkedIn Follower Ads

A LinkedIn follower ad encourages users to follow or visit your LinkedIn page. This is a little ad to the right of the home feed with a few lines you can customize. It's a short text (like one sentence at the top) and pulls in the prospect's profile picture.

Each person viewing the ad sees a customized version. For example, if I'm viewing the ad, it might have my profile picture and say, "Hey, Janhavi," followed by a quick message.

Unlike the LinkedIn spotlight ads, which are customizable regarding what you want the call-to-action button to say and where you want the CTA to take them (you could put any URL you want as the destination), LinkedIn follower ads provide a couple of default CTA options.

If the prospect is following you, the CTA will say, "Visit company," if they're not, the CTA button will be "Follow." 

13. LinkedIn Text Ads

LinkedIn text ads are simple ads that can be placed at the top or right of the feed. They will not get a ton of clicks just because they go unnoticed, but they do a good job of peppering someone's feed and staying in front of prospects for a really low cost.

Depending on your goals and the funnel stage, you can strategically use different destinations for the prospect. For example, we funnel our ads to the AdPilot landing page so our prospects know our newest offering.

What Marketers Say About LinkedIn Ad Formats

Insights from B2B marketers on Reddit's r/LinkedinAds and r/PPC communities reveal practical tips:

• Single image ads dominate: Many B2B marketers report single image ads as their highest-performing format, especially with bold colors (oranges, greens, reds) that stand out against LinkedIn's blue feed.
• Video ads win for retargeting: Video ads are the cheapest way to build retargeting audiences. They have lower CTR than static formats but excellent reach, making them ideal as the first touchpoint in a multi-stage funnel.
• Lead Gen Forms outperform landing pages: For most B2B lead capture, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms convert significantly better than external landing pages because users don't leave the platform and fields auto-fill from their profile.
• Carousel ads drive highest engagement: Marketers consistently find carousel ads generate the most interaction, especially for showcasing multiple product features or case studies.
• Conversation ads require precision: Because you're charged per send, conversation ads need hyper-specific targeting — narrow by industry, company size, and job title for best ROI.

Which LinkedIn Ad Format Should You Use?

The best LinkedIn ad format depends on your campaign goal and funnel stage:

• Brand Awareness (Top of Funnel): Single Image Ads, Video Ads, and Follower Ads. Focus on reach and impressions at lowest CPM.
• Engagement (Middle of Funnel): Carousel Ads, Document Ads, and Thought Leader Ads. Drive interaction and content consumption.
• Lead Generation (Bottom of Funnel): Lead Gen Forms combined with Single Image or Video Ads. Pre-filled forms remove friction and boost conversion rates 2-5x.
• Retargeting: Video Ads to build audiences cheaply, then Conversation Ads with personalized messaging for warm leads.
• Event Promotion: Event Ads with organic amplification through attendee notifications.
• Thought Leadership: Thought Leader Ads (sponsored personal posts) for authentic, non-corporate messaging.

How Much Do LinkedIn Ads Cost?

LinkedIn ads are typically more expensive than other social platforms, but the B2B targeting precision often delivers higher-quality leads and better ROI. Here's what to expect:

• Average CPC (Cost Per Click): $5-$12 depending on industry, audience, and competition.
• Average CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions): $25-$50 for Sponsored Content.
• Cost Per Send (Sponsored Messaging): $0.50-$1.00 per message delivered.
• Minimum Daily Budget: $10/day, but most experts recommend $30-$50/day minimum to gather meaningful data.
• Recommended Monthly Budget: $500-$1,000 minimum for testing; $3,000-$5,000+ for sustained campaigns.

The key is to start with a focused audience and single ad format, test for 2-4 weeks, then scale what works. Video Ads typically have the lowest CPM, while Conversation Ads have the highest cost per engagement but also the highest personalization impact. For the latest pricing benchmarks, refer to LinkedIn's official advertising page and Impactable's LinkedIn budget guide.

Compare your ads with LinkedIn AdVisor

Once you've launched your campaign, it's natural to wonder how your ads stack up to your competitors. Well, with AdVisor, you no longer have to wonder! 

At Factors, we've launched LinkedIn AdVisor as your ad campaign sidekick. It's a tool that helps you compare your ad strategy with your competitors'.

From creatives, copy, and ad formats, AdVisor analyses their top 50 ad campaigns and tells you how to differentiate your offering from your competitors. 

FAQs on LinkedIn Ad Formats

1. What type of ads perform best on LinkedIn?

For most B2B campaigns, Single Image Ads and Video Ads consistently deliver the best results. Single Image Ads offer strong click-through rates with clear messaging, while Video Ads excel at building retargeting audiences with the lowest cost per impression. For lead generation specifically, Lead Gen Forms outperform landing pages because users can submit pre-filled information without leaving LinkedIn.

2. How much do LinkedIn ads cost?

LinkedIn ads typically cost $5-$12 per click (CPC), $25-$50 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), and $0.50-$1.00 per send for Sponsored Messaging. The minimum daily budget is $10, but most experts recommend $500-$1,000/month minimum for meaningful testing. LinkedIn is more expensive than other social platforms, but the B2B targeting precision often delivers higher-quality leads and better ROI. Source: LinkedIn Ads Guide.

3. Which LinkedIn ad format is best for lead generation?

Lead Gen Forms are the gold standard for LinkedIn lead generation. They attach to Sponsored Content or Messaging ads and auto-fill user data from LinkedIn profiles, reducing friction and boosting conversion rates 2-5x compared to external landing pages. Pair Lead Gen Forms with Single Image Ads or Video Ads for best results.

4. What's the difference between Accelerate and Classic LinkedIn campaigns?

LinkedIn offers two campaign creation modes: Classic gives you full manual control over targeting, bidding, budgets, and creative. Accelerate uses AI to automate targeting, bidding, and optimization — you provide the creative and objective, and LinkedIn handles the rest. Classic is better for experienced advertisers who want granular control; Accelerate is ideal for teams with limited time or LinkedIn Ads experience.

5. What are the recommended LinkedIn ad specs and sizes?

Key specs: Single Image Ads: 1200x627px (horizontal), up to 10MB. Video Ads: 16:9, 9:16, or 1:1 aspect ratio, 3 seconds to 30 minutes, max 200MB. Carousel Ads: 1080x1080px per card, 2-10 cards. Document Ads: PDF, PPT, or DOC, up to 100MB. Text Ads: 100x100px image, 25-char headline, 75-char description. For full specs, refer to LinkedIn's official Ads Guide.

Wrapping up

As you can see, there are plenty of ad formats to choose from. However, you must also ensure that your ads bring revenue to your organization and not just burn a hole in your pocket. With AdPilot, you can maximize your LinkedIn efforts and 2x your campaign ROI.

Start Scaling Your LinkedIn Ads With AdPilot by Factors.ai

Running LinkedIn ads is one thing. Running the right LinkedIn ads, for the right accounts, without burning half your budget is another. Right?

Now this is the exact reason why we built LinkedIn Adpilot from Factors.ai. 

Here's what makes it different:

• Account-level targeting so your ads reach actual decision-makers. 
• Intent-based optimization, where you can adjust the frequency of ads shown to your target accounts by setting up frequency caps. In this way, you do not burn your budget by showing ads to a handful of accounts. 
• Cross-channel visibility so your LinkedIn spend connects to the pipeline, not just impressions or clicks.

Run your LinkedIn Ads smarter using LinkedIn Adpilot. Book a demo with our LinkedIn Ads expert!