The first step in becoming a LinkedIn advertising expert is getting to know your toolbox. LinkedIn provides marketers like you with a wide variety of different ad types and formats, each offering different specifications, strengths, and ideal use cases.
If you can get to know how and when to use each of these formats, you’ll be surprised how many other aspects of your ad campaigns—from creative to targeting to messaging—will click right into place.
This list is the perfect place to get started. You can also download our easy-to-use and practical Guide to LinkedIn Ad Types, or check out our complete guide to making the most of LinkedIn Advertising.
LinkedIn Ad Types and Formats: A Primer
Scroll ahead or click the ad type you’re interested in for a primer on the tools in your LinkedIn advertising toolbox, what they’re for, and how to use them:
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
- Video Ads
- Single image ads
- Document ads
- Carousel ads
- Event ads
- Thought leader ads
- Article and newsletter ads
LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging
- Message ads
- Conversation ads
LinkedIn Dynamic Ads
- Spotlight ads
- Follower ads
- Text ads
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
Sponsored Content is the largest category of ads on LinkedIn. They deliver native ads directly into the feeds of your target audience. To members, they appear very similar to organic posts, albeit with a “promoted” indicator beneath them.
Sponsored Content can be displayed to LinkedIn members across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. Sponsored Content ad formats include:
- Video ads
- Single image ads
- Carousel ads
- Event ads
- Document ads
- Thought leader ads
- Article and newsletter ads
There are also two ways to promote Sponsored Content:
Sponsored Page Updates: LinkedIn super admins and content admins can sponsor any post from their LinkedIn Page, including pre-existing content, to make it visible on the homepage feed of their network and the Page’s followers, in addition to the post feed.
Sponsored Page updates are useful for:
- Sharing big company news and updates that you want all of your followers to see.
- Promoting “tentpole” content such large-scale reports, case studies, or thought leadership articles that are of interest to all of your target audiences.
- Re-promoting content that performed particularly well in the past.
Direct Sponsored Content Ads: You can also create new ads for Sponsored Content type directly in the Campaign Manager. This content will not appear on your LinkedIn Page as a Page Update, but only on your target audience’s feed.
All Sponsored Content formats can be made Direct Sponsored Content.
Direct Sponsored Content ads are useful for:
- Testing variations of an ad, such as its text, images, or CTAs, to see how your audience reacts to each difference.
- Promoting content that’s highly specific to a particular target audience.
- Driving and tracking visits to a specific page on your website.
LinkedIn Sponsored Content ad specs
Each individual ad format has its own optimal specifications for display on web and mobile.
Following the technical ad specifications listed for each type of sponsored ad below will help ensure your content appears the way it should on all devices.
Sponsored Content best practices
- Short and sweet: Let the content you’re sharing be the star, not the post promoting it. Keep ad headlines under 150 characters for more engagement, and keep the descriptive copy under 70 characters to avoid truncation on desktop.
- Make it actionable: Always include a clear CTA and next steps so your audience knows how to act on their interest—even if the CTA is simply “read the full article to find out more.”
- Analyze, don’t just share: Your audience comes to your LinkedIn Page for your takes on today’s industry news. When you share content, add commentary. Express a point of view and opinion. This will prompt considerably more engagement.
More sponsored content best practices
Video ads
Video ads allow you to promote a short video directly onto the feeds of your target audience. The video will autoplay as the audience scrolls past it, maximizing the chances they will stop to watch.
Video ad specs
- Ratio specifications:
Vertical aspect ratios are recommended, but videos will only be shown in this aspect ratio on mobile devices that support a vertical video player.
- Length: Three seconds to thirty seconds
- File format: MP4
- File size: Between 75 KB and 200 MB
See full technical specifications
Video ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Video views
- Website visits
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Website conversions
Additional video ad placement options
- Connected TV (CTV) ads target professionals through the streaming content they love in an immersive, large-screen environment.
- LinkedIn Audience Network allows advertisers to reach millions of professionals across multiple touchpoints on our network of publishers.
- BrandLink connects your brand with trusted publishers and creators by promoting pre-roll video ads alongside video content in the feed.
When to use video ads
- Show your product or service in action.
- Highlight company culture with events or behind-the-scenes footage.
- Communicate a short but important update as clearly and succinctly as possible.
Video ad best practices
- 15 seconds: The most successful video ads on LinkedIn tend to be around 15 seconds long.
- Include subtitles: Most members will view the video on mute as they scroll by. Subtitles will help ensure they still get your message.
- Open strong: Start the video with especially compelling footage, colorful shots, faces of people, and quick cuts to catch your audience’s eye as they scroll by.
Resource to get you started: Your One-Stop Shop for LinkedIn Video Ad Tips
Single image ads
As the name implies, single image ads consist of a single image that appears as a post on your Page and/or your audience’s feeds, along with a headline and space for a small amount of introductory text.
Single image ad specs
- Headline: up to 70 characters
- Introductory text: up to 150 characters
- Image: 1200 x 627px
See full technical specifications
Single image ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Website visits
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Website conversions
- Job applicants
When to use single image ads
- Promote eye-catching data visualization such as an infographic or chart.
- Share a case study or company report with a relevant image attached.
- Comment on news or trends that are visually recognizable at a glance.
Single image ad best practices
- The image is the star: Your headline and introductory text should be very brief and serve primarily to set up the image. Try to include the main point of what you mean to convey in the image itself.
- Use pictures of people: LinkedIn members engage with pictures of real people more frequently, especially if those pictures are of people in a real professional context.
- Keep branding consistent: Use consistent brand coloring, theming, and labeling to help your audience build mental connections between your ads and your brand.
More single image ad best practices
Document ads
Document ads allow you to share both ungated and gated documents, such as case studies, reports, or research, directly in the LinkedIn feed, where your audience can start reading and download it without leaving the site.
You can choose to share your content freely to grow thought leadership or gate your document behind a LinkedIn Lead Gen From. When viewing a lead gen document ad, members will have the option to pull up a preview of the full content, which they can use to begin reading without leaving the LinkedIn platform. When they have read the maximum number of pages the preview allows, readers can select “Unlock Document” to exchange their information to download the full document.
Document ad specs
- File size cannot exceed 100MB or 300 pages
- File type: PPT, PPTX, DOC, DOCX, PDF
- Layout: Any one of the following standard layouts:
- Letter: 8.5 by 11 inches
- Tabloid: 11 by 17 inches
- Legal: 8.5 by 14 inches
- Statement: 5.5 by 8.5 inches
- Executive: 7.25 by 10.5 inches
- Folio: 8.5 by 13 inches
- A3: 11.69 by 16.54 inches
- A4: 8.27 by 11.69 inches
- B4: 9.84 by 13.90 inches
- B5: 6.93 by 9.84 inches
- Aspect ratio: vertical, horizontal, or square
See full technical specifications
Document ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Engagement
- Lead generation
When to use document ads
- Present a new piece of in-depth content, such as a case study, data report, or research.
- Give your audience a preview of a major asset such as an ebook to drive high-intent leads.
- Promote an especially compelling new guide or product tip sheet.
Document ad best practices
- Avoid multiple columns of text or small font sizes: Ensure your content is mobile-optimized and easy to read in the feed. Keep your document simple to parse and scan.
- Make your preview strong: When using the lead gen objective, members can only read the first few pages of your document, so make sure those pages are intriguing enough to make them want to keep reading.
- Minimize use of content that is subject to change: Such as URLs, pricing, or very timely content. If these things change, they will make your document look outdated quickly.
Vertical aspect ratios are recommended, but videos will only be shown in this aspect ratio on mobile devices that support a vertical video player.
- Length: Three seconds to thirty seconds
- File format: MP4
- File size: Between 75 KB and 200 MB
See full technical specifications
Video ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Video views
- Website visits
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Website conversions
When to use video ads
- Show your product or service in action.
- Highlight company culture with events or behind-the-scenes footage.
- Communicate a short but important update as clearly and succinctly as possible.
Video ad best practices
- 15 seconds: The most successful video ads on LinkedIn tend to be around 15 seconds long.
- Include subtitles: Most members will view the video on mute as they scroll by. Subtitles will help ensure they still get your message.
- Open strong: Start the video with especially compelling footage, colorful shots, faces of people, and quick cuts to catch your audience’s eye as they scroll by.
Carousel ads
Carousel ads allow you to promote several images at once in a swipeable series of sliding “cards.” Audience members will see the first card as they scroll by and can manually navigate to the right and left of the image to see the next/previous image in the series.
You may add up to 10 images to a carousel ad, and each image may include its own link.
Carousel ad specs
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Ratio: 1:1
- Recommended resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 pixels
- Number of carousel cards: 2 to 10
- Maximum file size: 10 MB
See full technical specifications
Carousel ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Website visits
- Lead generation
When to use carousel ads
- Tell a visual, sequential story through the swiping experience.
- Present complex or multi-step data visualizations in an intuitive fashion.
- Advertise several different aspects or benefits of a product/service.
Carousel ad best practices
- Use narrative structure: Each card in your carousel ad should segue to the next to tell an interconnected visual story.
- Always give a reason to click through: Build in suspense and intrigue, so viewers are motivated to click ahead to the next card.
- Don’t forget a CTA: Your final card should include clear and compelling next steps.
More carousel ad best practices
Event ads
Event ads are specialized to drive audience members to learn about and register for an event that has a LinkedIn Event Page. Event ads include a small introductory text section, a single image, and – most importantly – an event URL, host profile, and custom CTA button for registration.
Event ad specs
- Event name length: 255 characters
- Introductory text: 600 characters
- Image ratio: 4:1 (image is pulled from event page)
- Event URL: Required, LinkedIn Event page URLs only
See full technical specifications
Event ad objectives
- Event awareness
- Event registration
When to use event ads
- Promote a Live LinkedIn event
- Drive event awareness and registration
- Clarify and share event information or updates
Event ad best practices
- Tell them the “why”: You have limited space to communicate about your event within the ad itself – leave all the information for the Page and use the ad space to tell your audience why they won’t want to miss your event.
- Promote the people: Make sure to mention the professionals hosting and speaking at your Event, and link to their profiles directly in the ad.
- Pick a compelling event image: The event page’s image will be used in the event ad. Pick an image that builds excitement for the event. If possible, pictures of the event participants are especially effective.
LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging
Sponsored Messaging is an ad type on LinkedIn that allows you to send direct, one-on-one messages to your audience via LinkedIn Messaging.
Recommended reading to maximize event ads
- See how Salesforce used event ads to expand their reach and increase their pipeline for Dreamforce
- Explore The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Event Promotions
Thought leader ads
Thought leader ads enable you to build equity by sponsoring your thought leaders’ posts. With thought leader ads you can build brand credibility by communicating through a trusted voice, distinguish your brand as an industry authority, and grow a community around your thought leaders.
Thought leader ad specs — single image
- Headline: up to 70 characters
- Introductory text: up to 150 characters
- Image: 1200 x 627px
See full technical specifications
Thought leader ad specs — video
- Ratio specifications:
Vertical aspect ratios are recommended, but videos will only be shown in this aspect ratio on mobile devices that support a vertical video player.
- Length: Three seconds to thirty seconds
- File format: MP4
- File size: Between 75 KB and 200 MB
See full technical specifications
Thought leader ads objectives
- Brand awareness
- Engagement
When to use thought leader ads
- A thought leader’s or employee’s post earns meaningful engagement and you want to amplify the effects.
- You want to drive brand awareness and recognition.
- You want to build trust and grow your community.
Thought leader ads best practices
- If your thought leader wants to limit connection requests, they can change the CTA from “connect” to “follow.”
- Sponsor posts that are less than 30 days old to keep your content fresh, and revisit performance quarterly to iterate your content strategy.
- Leverage your Page’s “My Company” tab to discover trending employee content—this can be a great way to source your next thought leader ad.
- Ask your thought leaders to save their organic performance before you run your campaign so you can measure the impact afterwards.
Article and newsletter ads
Article and newsletter ads allow you to cultivate more readers and subscribers for your native, long-form content. With article and newsletter ads, you can convert your prospective customers to engaged subscribers, distinguish your brand via thought leadership, and turn your long-form content into a lead-generation engine.
Article and newsletter ads specs
- Source content: The ad will use content you’ve already posted as an organic article on your LinkedIn Page or as an approved thought leader post
- Recommended size: 1200 x 628 pixels for horizontal ads
- File types: JPG, PNG, GIF
- Aspect ratios: 1.91:1 (horizontal) or 1:1 (square)
- Headline: Up to 70 characters
- Introductory text: Up to 150 characters
- Description: Up to 255 characters
Article and newsletter ads objectives
- Brand awareness
- Engagement
- Lead generation
When to use article and newsletter ads
- You have long-form content you want to promote
- Drive brand awareness
- Grow subscriber community
- Use long-form content to support lead generation
- Improve the time-to-market for your content
Article and newsletter ads best practices
- Make it clear and compelling—take time crafting your title and description, and create visual interest using images, videos, and quotes within your article.
- Keep it readable—plan for content to be relatively concise, and lean into bulleted lists and short sections to make your content easy to consume.
- Ask for the engagement you want.
- Help drive viewership by adding relevant hashtags and tags in the post promoting your article.
More article and newsletter ads best practices
LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging
Sponsored Messaging is an ad type on LinkedIn that allows you to send direct, one-on-one messages to your audience via LinkedIn Messaging.
There are two Sponsored Messaging formats:
- Message ads
- Conversation ads
LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging best practices
- Give it a human face: Sponsored messages sent from LinkedIn members, rather than organizations, see a 16% increase in open rate, 10% increase in CTR, and 10% increase in conversion rate.
- Start with your goal: When designing your sponsored message, start by determining what you want the message’s recipient to do, then work your work backward to build the content from there.
- Get personal: Sponsored messages are an opportunity to start a real conversation with your audience. Start with a greeting, customize the message based on its recipient, and try to speak to specific pain points.
More LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging best practices
Message ads
A message ad allows you to send a LinkedIn direct message to your audience. These messages will be delivered when the audience member is active on the site, to ensure they’ll see it right away. The sponsored message will look exactly like an ordinary direct message from another LinkedIn member or organization, except it will be labeled as promoted.
Message ad specs
- Ad name: Up to 255 characters, including spaces
- Subject: Up to 60 characters, including spaces and punctuation
- Length: 1500-character maximum, less than 500 recommended
- Image: Optional, highly recommended. 300 x 250 banner image. Shows on desktop only.
- Links: Optional to include up to three
See full technical specifications
Message ad objectives
- Website visits
- Lead generation
- Website conversions
When to use message ads
- Make a personalized appeal to a category of high-value or high-intent prospects.
- Retarget a prospect who interacted with previous content in a more personal way.
- Inform a specific segment of prospects about a special deal or offer.
Message ad best practices
- Introduce yourself: Let them know who’s behind the message and why the recipient might want to hear from you.
- Stick to an objective: Keep the message short (generally under 500 characters) and totally centered on what you want your audience to do with the information you’re giving them.
- Focus on the benefit: Specifically, you want your audience to understand how they benefit from acting on the information you are providing them, and why they should act on it now.
More message ad best practices
Conversation ads
Conversation ads are a unique form of Sponsored Messaging that allows your audience to guide themselves through a “conversation” with your user or organization by selecting from a variety of programmed responses to questions and information.
You prepare the conversation “tree” in advance by supplying both your audience’s conversational options and all of the responses to those options. This recreates an interactive LinkedIn conversation without necessitating a live person on the brand side. Instead, the user simply self-navigates through the options to find the information they’re most interested in.
Conversation ad specs
- Banner file type: JPG or PNG
- Banner image size: 300 x 200 pixels
- Ad name: 255 characters
- Message text (per conversation message): 500 characters
- Custom footer: 2500 characters
- CTA: 25 characters
See full technical specifications
Conversation ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Website visits
- Lead generation
- Website conversions
When to use conversation ads
- When your audience may have a wide variety of needs or interests in your product/service.
- When you have specific services set up for different audience segments and want to direct the right segments to the right services.
- When certain audience members would benefit from learning more about specific aspects of your product/service.
Conversation ad best practices
- Use two to five layers: This is the optimal length for engaging your audience and navigating them to the right information.
- Do not include “not interested” buttons: If the audience member doesn’t want to proceed through the ad, they can just close it. Instead, only include CTAs for different ways the conversation could continue.
- Stick to a conversational tone: Remember, it’s supposed to be a conversation. Keep the tone casual, brief, warm, and business-like.
More conversation ad best practices
LinkedIn Dynamic Ads
Dynamic ads appear to the side of your audience’s feed and scroll along with them. These ads are unique in that they can be set up to automatically pull member information from your audience’s profiles and insert it into the ad itself. Members will see their own profile picture and name included in the advertisement.
There are two types of dynamic ads:
- Spotlight ads
- Follower ads
Dynamic ads best practices
- One clear CTA: You don’t have a lot of space to work with on your dynamic ads, so focus on communicating one striking call to action.
- Be descriptive: You want to tell the audience exactly why they’re seeing this ad and why it matters, as quickly as possible.
- Appeal to the individual: You’re targeting a specific person, so talk to them directly. Tell them how they stand to benefit from clicking the ad.
More dynamic ads best practices
Spotlight ads
Spotlight ads are personalized to each LinkedIn member and take them directly to your website or a landing page. They are seen on desktop only and are tailored to members based on various aspects of their LinkedIn profile data, including their name, profile picture, company name, or job title.
Spotlight ad specs
- Ad description: Up to 70 characters, including spaces
- Ad headline: Up to 50 characters, including spaces
- Company name: Up to 25 characters, including spaces
- Company image: Minimum image size 100 x 100 JPG or PNG; any images larger than 100 x 100 will be reduced to 100 x 100
- CTA: Up to 18 characters, including spaces
- Background image: 300 x 250px and 2MB or less
See full technical specifications
Spotlight ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Website visits
- Job applicants
When to use spotlight ads
- Highlight a product/service that audience members with a particular role/job title could particularly benefit from
- Promote new targeted services and products to their intended users
- Offer information that will be particularly helpful to members with particular roles/job titles
Spotlight ads best practices
- Use a custom background image: This will help the ad stand out against LinkedIn’s background and will make it more compelling.
- Educate to entice: Tell your audience what they could learn by clicking on your spotlight ad.
- Describe, then pitch: Use the headline text to describe what you’re offering, and then explain why your audience should be interested.
More spotlight ad best practices
Follower ads
Follower ads are a dynamic ad variation inviting audience members to follow your LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page. Like other dynamic ads, they can be customized to each individual audience member, automatically including profile information about those members including their name, profile picture, job title, company name, and more.
Follower ad specs
- Company logo size: 100 x 100px
- Company logo file type: JPG or PNG
- Company logo file size: 2MB
- Headline: 50 characters
- Description: 70 characters
- Company name: 25 characters
See full technical specifications
Follower ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Engagement
When to use follower ads
- Promote a specific reason why audience members should follow your LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page.
- Rapidly acquire new, relevant LinkedIn followers to build your organic audience.
- Raise brand awareness and contextualize your brand in a manner that’s personally appealing to your audience.
Follower ad best practices
- Personalize the description: Give your audience a specific reason why they, in particular, could benefit from following your Page. What’s in it for them?
- Call out their careers: Including the audience member’s job title in the description is a great way to catch their attention and make your opportunity compelling.
- One goal, one pitch: You have 70 characters to make your point. Don’t overcomplicate it; provide one good reason why your audience should follow you and leave it at that.
More follower ad best practices
Text ads
Text ads consist of a headline, a very brief description text, and a single image. They’re placed on the right rail of LinkedIn desktop pages, including the homepage, Profile pages, Search results page, Groups pages, LinkedIn inbox, People You May Know page, and Who’s Viewed My Profile page. Clicking on a text ad will send members to a landing page of your choosing.
Text ad specs
- Image: 100 x 100px, JPG or PNG, 2MB or smaller
- Headline: Up to 25 characters, including spaces
- Description: Up to 75 characters
- Destination url: must have “http://” or “https://” prefix, up to 500 characters
See full technical specifications
Text ad objectives
- Brand awareness
- Website visits
- Website conversions
When to use text ads
- Maintain a consistent feed presence by running text ads on an ongoing basis, frequently swapping out creative and messaging.
- A/B test different kinds of messaging, content promotion, and landing pages for different objectives using multiple text ad campaigns.
- Quickly gather a great deal of data on the marketing messaging that is working or not working.
Text ad best practices
- Be people-centric: Text ads featuring images of people tend to perform better.
- Include a strong Call to Action: Give clear next steps and include a reason why your audience should want to click through on their terms.
- Answer “why now”: Specifically, give audience members an incentive to click on the ad as soon as they see it, like a limited-time offer or special online deal.
Find all of the information in this post in our handy Guide to LinkedIn Ad Types. And if you’re just getting started with LinkedIn ads, start here.
Now that you know what you’re working with, you’re ready to get started advertising on LinkedIn more effectively than ever. Head over to LinkedIn Campaign Manager to get started.
Topics: LinkedIn Ads
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