LinkedIn is a popular professional social network with over 830 million members worldwide. For marketers and advertisers, LinkedIn provides a unique opportunity to target a professional audience. LinkedIn offers several different ad formats to help brands connect with LinkedIn members. In this article, we’ll take a look at the main types of LinkedIn ads available.
Sponsored Content
Sponsored Content ads, also known as Sponsored InMail, allow advertisers to reach LinkedIn members via the LinkedIn messenger. These ads appear in members’ message tabs alongside regular messages. Sponsored Content ads are designed to start meaningful conversations and connections between brands and professionals.
There are three types of Sponsored Content ads on LinkedIn:
- Single Image/Video – Include an image, gif or short video with some text
- Carousel – Showcase up to 10 images or videos using carousel format
- Message Article – Send a full article within the ad unit
Sponsored Content is ideal for thought leadership content, whitepapers, event invitations, lead generation and starting meaningful engagement with LinkedIn members. These native ad units deliver clickthrough rates 2-3x higher than standard display ads.
Sponsored Video
Sponsored Video ads enable brands to showcase video content to LinkedIn members. Videos automatically play when the ad appears in the LinkedIn feed. According to LinkedIn, Sponsored Video delivers up to 50% increase in brand recall compared to other formats.
There are three Sponsored Video ad formats:
- In-Feed Video – Appears in the LinkedIn feed
- Message Video – Delivered via LinkedIn messenger
- Text Ads with Video – Video appears when engaging with a text ad unit
Sponsored Video is a powerful way to engage the LinkedIn audience with visually compelling and entertaining content. Videos can be up to 10 minutes long and the ideal length is between 15-30 seconds.
Dynamic Ads
Dynamic Ads help advertisers retarget LinkedIn visitors or members who have engaged with their content. There are two main types of LinkedIn Dynamic Ads:
- Website Retargeting – Target audiences who have visited specific pages on a brand’s website
- Lead Gen Forms Retargeting – Engage visitors who have interacted with Lead Gen Forms
Dynamic Ads automatically pull in content from an advertisers’ website or Lead Gen Forms to create personalized ads for each target audience segment. Advertisers only need to provide the target pages and LinkedIn builds and serves the ads.
Text Ads
Text ads on LinkedIn are similar to Google text ads. They include a short headline, description and a call-to-action button. Text ads appear in the LinkedIn feed on desktop and mobile.
There are three types of text ads on LinkedIn:
- Standard Text Ads – Single image and customizable headline and text
- Sponsored Content Text Ads – Promote Sponsored Content articles
- Dynamic Text Ads – Automatically generated ads that pull in content from websites
Text ads are a flexible and affordable way to promote brand awareness, traffic and conversions on LinkedIn. They can drive clicks to your website, Playbooks, eBooks or other landing pages.
Lead Gen Forms
Lead Gen Forms enable advertisers to collect lead information directly within the LinkedIn ad unit. Members can submit their contact information without leaving LinkedIn. There are two types of Lead Gen Form Ads:
- Lead Gen Forms – Customizable fields and forms to capture leads
- Direct Sponsored Content – Pre-filled forms that require one click to submit
Lead Gen Forms help marketers generate and collect leads directly from LinkedIn. They are ideal for promoters, events, gated content and free trials.
Message Ads
Message ads appear within the LinkedIn messaging feature on desktop and mobile apps. They enable advertisers to start one-to-one conversations with members at scale. There are two main types of Message Ads:
- Single Image Ad – Appears with an image, headline and customizable call-to-action button
- Carousel Ad – Multiple images that members can horizontally scroll through
With over 60% open rates, message ads deliverhigher engagement than other ad formats. They are ideal for personalized outreach and building relationships.
Conversation Ads
LinkedIn Conversation Ads leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing on LinkedIn. Brands can promote member posts, comments and reviews that mention their business or products.
There are two types of Conversation Ads:
- Social Review Campaigns – Amplify and promote positive reviews
- Unrated Brand Mentions – Promote brand mentions even without a star rating
Conversation Ads give brands the ability to build trust and credibility by highlighting real member conversations. They are natural forms of social proof.
Spotlight Ads
Spotlight Ads provide a catchy visual banner that advertisers can attach to the top of their Company, Showcase or Career Pages on LinkedIn. They are designed to promote awareness and get more visitors.
There are two Spotlight Ad formats:
- Standard Spotlight – Appears when visitors land on specific LinkedIn pages
- Follower Spotlight – Seen by your Company Page followers
Spotlight Ads work to divert more relevant traffic to LinkedIn Pages. They best promote brands, thought leadership content and job postings.
Text, Display and Banner Ads
In addition to native ad formats, LinkedIn also offers standard IAB display units:
- IAB Standard Banners – Range from 300×250 to 970×250 sizes
- IAB Wide Skyscrapers – 160×600 or 300×600 pixels
- IAB Full Banner – 468×60 pixels
- IAB Leaderboard Banner – 728×90 pixels
These display ad formats allow advertisers to promote brands and reach audiences across LinkedIn desktop and mobile. Banner inventory is limited compared to LinkedIn’s core native ad products.
Sponsored Job Listings
LinkedIn enables advertisers to promote job listings and reach active and passive job seekers across the platform. Promoted listings appear at the top of search results and pages.
There are two main paid job listing options:
- LinkedIn Job Slots – Pre-purchase job listing slots to maintain a continuous presence
- Sponsored Job Listings – Pay per click model to promote individual postings
Sponsored job listings help employers increase applications to open roles. Targeting options enable reaching active and passive candidates.
Summary
In summary, LinkedIn provides over 10 different ad formats and options. These include:
- Sponsored Content
- Sponsored Video
- Dynamic Ads
- Text Ads
- Lead Gen Forms
- Message Ads
- Conversation Ads
- Spotlight Ads
- Standard Display Ads
- Sponsored Job Listings
With multiple targeting options, objective-based campaigns and robust reporting, LinkedIn advertising provides a powerful way to reach professionals and enterprises. Understanding the ad formats available is key to developing an effective LinkedIn marketing strategy.