LinkedIn ads allow advertisers to display ads to LinkedIn users in various places across the platform. These different ad placements give advertisers options for targeting their ads and reaching specific audiences on LinkedIn.
InMail
InMail ads appear in the LinkedIn inbox of specific members that advertisers want to target. With InMail ads, advertisers can send personalized messages directly to members’ inboxes.
InMail ads are best for:
- Reaching LinkedIn members who are less active on the platform
- Sending targeted, one-to-one messages
- Promoting high-value content, products or services
InMail ads allow advertisers to reach LinkedIn members who may not see ads placed in the feed. Since InMail ads appear directly in members’ inboxes, they have higher open and response rates compared to LinkedIn’s other ad formats.
Feed ads
Feed ads show up in the LinkedIn feed on desktop and mobile. They look and act just like organic posts in the feed.
Feed ads work well for:
- Driving traffic to your website
- Promoting content
- Building brand awareness
- Generating leads
Feed ads place your content directly in front of your target audience as they scroll through their LinkedIn feeds. You can tailor your message and creative to align with content already shared and consumed on LinkedIn.
Text ads
Text ads on LinkedIn are similar to text ads on search engines. They include a short headline, description, and display URL.
Text ads are effective for:
- Driving visitors to your website
- Promoting products or services
- Generating awareness
- Acquiring leads and customers
Text ads have three main components:
- Headline – Appears in bold at the top of the ad. Maximum 25 characters.
- Description – The main text of the ad. Maximum 75 characters.
- Display URL – The URL to send clicks to. Maximum 35 characters.
Text ads allow you to showcase your brand, products or services to LinkedIn members as they browse the platform. You can target text ads by member demographics, interests, company attributes and more.
Dynamic ads
Dynamic ads automatically showcase specific products or content to LinkedIn members based on their previous activity.
Dynamic ads work well for:
- Promoting products to accounts who have already viewed them
- Targeting content to accounts who have engaged with your brand
- Automated marketing based on member actions
For example, if a member has viewed specific products on your website, dynamic ads on LinkedIn can display those products to remind the member to purchase. You don’t need to manually create specific ads for each product.
Dynamic ads apply to both feed ads and text ads on LinkedIn.
Sponsored content
Sponsored content are feed ads that promote educational, valuable content on LinkedIn.
Sponsored content is effective for:
- Promoting blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks or other content assets
- Establishing thought leadership
- Driving visits to your website
- Generating leads
High quality, relevant content performs best as sponsored content. You can target sponsored posts based on member demographics, interests and other attributes. Include a clear call-to-action to optimize post engagement.
Message ads
Message ads are custom, customizable InMail messages that can be targeted to many recipients at once.
Message ads work well for:
- Personalized, one-to-one messaging at scale
- Targeting members by job role, industry, company, etc.
- Promoting webinars, events and other high-value offers
Message ads combine the targeting capabilities of InMail ads with the scalability of feed ads. You can create customized templates and reach hundreds or thousands of members in a single campaign.
Conversation ads
Conversation ads promote messaging with your brand by placing a messaging button on ads that lets members message you directly without leaving LinkedIn.
Conversation ads perform well for:
- Promoting chatbots or live chat
- Enabling one-click communication
- Starting conversations from ads
- Qualifying leads
Adding a conversation button or element to any LinkedIn ad type turns it into a conversation ad. When members click the button, they can immediately start chatting with you or your chatbot in the LinkedIn messaging window.
Lead Gen Forms
Sponsored content and text ads can be enhanced with lead gen forms, which let visitors submit contact information without leaving LinkedIn.
Lead gen ads excel at:
- Generating high-quality leads
- Collecting lead contact info seamlessly
- Promoting gated content and offers
- Qualifying visitors based on questions
Website visitors who click on ads with lead gen forms can fill out their information like job title, company and email address right on LinkedIn. As the advertiser, you receive the lead details instantly.
Company Follow Buttons
Any LinkedIn ad can be appended with a button to follow your company page. Adding this enhances branding and enables you to grow your LinkedIn follower count.
Company follow buttons perform well for:
- Promoting your LinkedIn company page
- Growing your follower base
- Increasing brand visibility
Ad viewers who click the company follow button get added as a follower to your LinkedIn company page. This is an easy way to expand your audience and presence on LinkedIn.
Video Ads
You can add video content to any existing LinkedIn ad format, including video ads in the feed, InMail and text ads.
Video ads are great for:
- Engaging LinkedIn’s video-centric audience
- Promoting video content
- Boosting brand awareness
- Driving website traffic
Video is a powerful format that can tell stories and engage viewers’ emotions. Pair video ads with compelling targeting to align your message with the right audiences on LinkedIn.
Carousel Ads
Carousel ads allow you to showcase multiple images, videos, links or other components within a single ad unit.
Carousel ads perform well for:
- Highlighting multiple products
- Comparing product/service benefits
- Displaying various content offers
- Promoting different website pages
Carousels help you tell a more comprehensive brand story and show more content within feed-based ads on LinkedIn. You can customize the order and experience to guide viewers through multiple elements.
Ad targeting options
LinkedIn offers robust targeting capabilities to ensure your ads reach the right audiences. You can target LinkedIn ads by:
- Job title
- Job function
- Industry
- Company
- Company size
- Geography
- Age
- Gender
- Interests
- Groups
- Skills
- Degrees
- And more…
This targeting enables you to hone in on the LinkedIn audiences that are most relevant for your goals. Combine multiple targeting filters for even more fine-tuned campaigns.
Placement recommendations
| Goal | Recommended Placements |
|---|---|
| Generate leads | Lead gen forms, message ads, sponsored content |
| Increase brand awareness | Video ads, dynamic ads, content marketing |
| Drive website traffic | Text ads, sponsored content, conversation ads |
| Engage cold audiences | InMail, conversation ads, dynamic ads |
| Promote content | Sponsored content, carousel ads, video ads |
| Grow followers | Content marketing, company follow ads |
Best practices
To optimize LinkedIn ad performance, keep these best practices in mind:
- Target your ads narrowly for the best results
- Test different placements to see what resonates most with your audiences
- Use videos and other engaging content when possible
- Retarget members who have already engaged with your brand
- Align creative assets with the professional LinkedIn audience
- Leverage LinkedIn’s unique targeting capabilities for precision targeting
- Regularly A/B test ads with different messaging, offers and designs
- Monitor performance and optimize campaigns frequently
Conclusion
With a variety of placements and ad formats, LinkedIn advertising provides impactful options for reaching professional audiences. The most effective ad approach will depend on your specific goals and target market.
Focus on producing relevant, high-quality ads and targeting them to aligned audiences on LinkedIn. Test different placements and tactics to determine the best structures and strategies for your business.
Analyze performance frequently and optimize your LinkedIn ads for continuous improvement. Combine personalized ads with LinkedIn’s powerful targeting to drive meaningful results.