Having multiple ad creatives is an important strategy on LinkedIn to improve ad frequency and reach more of your target audience. LinkedIn does recommend having at least 2-3 ad variations or creatives as part of your LinkedIn Ads campaign. This allows you to test different messaging, visuals, and Calls-To-Action to determine what resonates best with your target audience. It also prevents ad fatigue where viewers get tired of seeing the same ad over and over.
Having multiple creatives is especially important for LinkedIn Sponsored Content ads. With Sponsored Content, your ad appears in the LinkedIn feed similar to regular posts. If you only have a single creative, LinkedIn will eventually stop showing it to users who have already seen it to avoid repetitiveness. With multiple creatives in your campaign, LinkedIn can continue to display your ads to the same audience without fatigue.
So in summary, it is true that LinkedIn recommends having at least 2-3 ad creatives as part of your LinkedIn Ads strategy. The reasons for this include:
Reasons to Have Multiple LinkedIn Ad Creatives
– Test different messaging and visuals to see what performs best
– Prevent ad fatigue by showing different versions of your ad
– Continue reaching the same target audience without repetitiveness
– Improve overall ad frequency and reach more of your audience
– Take advantage of LinkedIn’s algorithm which favors multiple creatives
Having multiple effective ads will lead to lower cost-per-click and cost-per-impression as your ads are shown to more of your audience. It takes more work upfront to develop multiple creatives, but this investment pays off in the long run with better campaign performance.
LinkedIn’s Guidance on Ad Creatives
In their official advertising advice, LinkedIn recommends:
“To keep your ad campaign fresh and engaging, create two to three variations of your creative. Then use A/B testing to find top performing creatives.”
And:
” refresh your creative regularly by making minor edits or swapping out entirely new creatives. Use A/B testing to determine which updates resonate best.”
So clearly LinkedIn suggests having at least 2 creatives, but ideally 3 or more. Their guidance is to test different versions to determine which creative resonates most with your audience.
Benefits of A/B Testing Multiple Creatives
A/B testing different creatives will reveal:
– Which headline and messaging stands out most
– Which Call-To-Action drives the most clicks
– Whether video or static images perform better
– If long copy or short copy works best
– Ideal background colors and visual styles
By diligently testing different creative elements, you can optimize your ads over time. Link clicks, engagement rate, landing page views, and overall conversion rate will improve.
LinkedIn provides a simple A/B testing feature within Campaign Manager to test two creatives directly against each other. The one that performs best over time is then the “winner” that should receive more budget allocation.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Ad Creatives
To develop effective creatives that take advantage of having multiples, follow these best practices:
Keep the Core Message Consistent
While you want variations between creatives, the core message should stay the same. Don’t confuse your audience by promoting completely different things. Keep the same product/service and value proposition consistent.
Change the Visuals
Use different images, colors, and visual styles between creatives. This creates obvious visible differences so users perceive each version as new.
Test Different Calls-To-Action
CTR can often be improved substantially by testing different verbs for your CTA button. “Learn More”, “Sign Up”, “Start Free Trial” etc.
Adapt the Ad Copy
Keep headlines under 25 characters. Write different description text for each version. Test paragraphs vs bullet points.
Leverage Different CTAs
Beyond button text, try different types of CTAs – email lead gen, website clicks, downloads, event registrations etc.
Appeal to Different Audiences
Target different seniority levels, industries, company sizes, and interests.
Creative Refresh Frequency
In addition to starting with multiple creatives, you should also plan to refresh your ads on an ongoing basis. Here are some guidelines on frequency:
– Update creative every 3-6 months for Sponsored Content
– Monthly updates for Sponsored Messages
– Quarterly for more static creatives
– As needed if performance declines substantially
Frequently updating your LinkedIn ads with new creatives will keep your ad fatigue low and your click through rates high. Never let your ads get stale!
Example A/B Test of 2 LinkedIn Ad Creatives
To make this concept more concrete, let’s look at a hypothetical example.
Say a software company is running the two LinkedIn Sponsored Content ads below targeting technology executives:
Creative A
Headline: Reduce software development costs
Image: Chart showing decreasing costs over time
Body text: Our low-code platform speeds development by 5x. Build enterprise apps faster and cheaper than traditional coding. Free trial – no credit card needed.
CTA: Start Free Trial
Creative B
Headline: Speed software development 5x
Image: Fast speedometer icon
Body text: Think apps take too long and cost too much to build? Our low-code platform radically accelerates development with visual modeling and automation. Sign up in under 1 minute.
CTA: Get Started
After running an A/B test campaign for 2 weeks, here were the results:
| Metric | Creative A | Creative B |
| Impressions | 18,000 | 18,200 |
| Clicks | 750 | 1,120 |
| CTR | 4.2% | 6.2% |
In this fictional case, Creative B performed better on all metrics – more clicks at a higher click through rate. Therefore Creative B should receive more budget allocation moving forward.
By constantly testing new creatives like this, the company can refine its ads and improve performance over time.
Key Takeaways
The main points about LinkedIn’s guidance on ad creatives:
– LinkedIn recommends using 2-3 creatives per ad campaign
– This prevents ad fatigue and reaches more of your audience
– Creatives should be changed completely or refreshed frequently
– A/B test different creatives to determine the best performer
– Vary headlines, images, ad copy, CTAs, and target audiences
– Keep the core message consistent while changing creative elements
– Refresh creatives every 3-6 months to keep engagement high
Following this best practice of frequently updating and testing creatives will lead to greater ad effectiveness. The winning combinations can then be used to scale up LinkedIn ad spend.
Conclusion
To summarize, it is true that LinkedIn advises advertisers to utilize 2-3 different ad creatives in their LinkedIn Ads campaigns. This allows for A/B testing to find which creative resonates most. It also prevents repetitive fatigue and increases the overall ad frequency and reach.
Frequently refreshing creatives with new headlines, visuals, and calls-to-action is essential to maintain high click through rates over time. While developing multiple effective creatives requires more work, this investment pays off with better campaign performance. Following LinkedIn’s guidance on leveraging creative variety will lead to more successful LinkedIn ad results.
