For any B2B business, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the best place for B2B lead generation, with B2B marketers reporting that 80% of their social media leads come from LinkedIn. As an ad platform, LinkedIn is a popular choice for B2B marketers, despite its higher cost-per-click. 

Like other social media advertising platforms, LinkedIn offers a wide variety of different ad formats for marketers to choose from. Choosing the right ad format depends on the objective of your ad, whether it is to drive traffic to a website, generate leads, or just general brand awareness. Some formats are more suited to certain objectives, so choose wisely! 

Not sure where to begin? Here’s a guide to all the LinkedIn Ads formats and the specifications you’ll need to follow. 

Single image ads

Single-image ads are the most versatile of all the different ad formats, making it also one of the most popular options. It works well for almost any objective, from brand awareness or engagement to lead generation. All you need is a captivating visual and copy to go along with it. 

  • Best for: brand awareness, lead generation
  • Introductory text: up to 600 characters
  • Headline: up to 70 characters
  • Image: 1200 x 627px

Video ads

Video ads are a great way to capture the attention of viewers and build brand awareness. You can also include a call-to-action at the bottom of your ad to drive traffic to your website or landing page. While your video can be up to 30 minutes, the most successful video ads aren’t long and usually less than 15 seconds. 

  • Best for: brand awareness, video views
  • Introductory text: up to 600 characters
  • Headline: up to 70 characters
  • File format: MP4
  • Duration: 3 seconds to 30 minutes

Carousel ads

A way to engage with your audience, carousel image ads let you tell an interactive story with a series of swipeable images. They’re the most visual of all the ad formats, allowing you to display up to 10 image cards. You can also put different CTAs for each image. 

  • Best for: brand engagement, sharing content
  • Introductory text: up to 255 characters
  • Headline: up to 45 characters
  • Image: 2 to 10 images, 1080 x 1080px
  • Event ads

Event ads can be used to promote either online LinkedIn live events or in-person events that you or your company is hosting. These events also strategically showcase that your company has expertise in your field and is ready to share this valuable content, establishing yourself as a thought leader. 

  • Best for: promoting events, brand awareness
  • Introductory text: up to 600 characters
  • Event name: up to 255 characters

Document ads

LinkedIn’s newest ad format, document ads allow users to share unique content to build brand awareness and establish themselves as thought leaders in their field. Marketers can share slideshows, data sheets, case studies, guides, and so much more. 

  • Best for: brand engagement, sharing content, lead generation
  • Introductory text: up to 255 characters
  • Headline: up to 45 characters
  • File format: PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX
  • Number of pages: up to 300 pages

Message ads

Also known as sponsored InMails, message ads don’t appear in the newsfeed but instead are delivered straight to the inbox of your target audience. This ad format is great to reach target audiences in a more direct way and can be very effective if you’re reaching out to the right audience. 

  • Best for: lead generation, website visits
  • Message text: up to 500 characters
  • Subject line: up to 60 characters
  • Image: 300 x 250 px 

Conversation ads

Conversation ads are similar to message ads, as they both appear in your prospect’s LinkedIn messaging inboxes. Instead of just one message with message ads, conversation ads allow you to engage with your audience with an automated, chatbot-like conversation. Prospects can choose their response with the different conversation boxes, driving engagement.

  • Best for: engagement, lead generation, and website visits
  • Message text: up to 500 characters
  • CTA text: up to 25 characters (up to 5 CTAs)
  • Image: 300 x 250 px 

Final wrap-up

With all the knowledge of the different LinkedIn ad formats, the next step for you is to try them out! While some formats are more suited to certain ad objectives than others, this may differ depending on the company, industry, and target audience. 

Find out more about how LinkedIn and LinkedIn ads can help your business by reaching out to us here.