LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats that allow advertisers to reach their target audience in different ways. The main LinkedIn ad formats include Sponsored Content, Text Ads, Dynamic Ads, Message Ads, and Sponsored InMail. Each format has its own strengths and is suited for different campaign objectives and budgets.
Sponsored Content
Sponsored Content, also known as Sponsored Updates, appear in the LinkedIn feed just like organic posts. They allow advertisers to publish branded content in the form of articles, images, infographics, videos, etc. Sponsored Content aims to engage the audience by offering valuable and relevant information.
Some key things to know about Sponsored Content:
- Appears in the LinkedIn feed like organic posts
- Allows a variety of content formats – articles, images, videos, presentations, infographics etc.
- Content appears with a small “Sponsored” tag
- Ideal for brand awareness and thought leadership campaigns
- Encourages engagement through likes, comments, shares
- Audience targeting based on criteria like job title, industry, skills, company
Use Cases
Some ideal use cases for Sponsored Content include:
- Launching a new product or service
- Driving registrations for webinars or events
- Promoting thought leadership content like whitepapers, reports
- Sharing company news or culture articles
- Promoting job openings
Text Ads
Text ads on LinkedIn are similar to Google text ads. They appear on the right rail of the LinkedIn desktop and are optimized for lead generation with a strong call-to-action.
Here’s an overview of LinkedIn Text Ads:
- 25 character headline
- 75 character body text
- Displayed on the LinkedIn homepage and other high visibility areas
- Ideal for promoting offers, deals, events etc.
- Optimized for lead generation with clicks leading to landing pages
- Priced through pay-per-click model
- Audience targeting by job role, industry, skills, company
Use Cases
Text ads work well for:
- Promoting free trials or special offers
- Driving event registrations
- Generating leads with gated content like ebooks
- Promoting new product launches
- Increasing website traffic
Dynamic Ads
Dynamic Ads automatically promote specific products to prospects based on their website browsing history and profile. They are displayed as native Sponsored Content on LinkedIn.
Key attributes of LinkedIn Dynamic Ads:
- Ads dynamically generated from product catalogue
- Products promoted based on prospect’s website browsing history
- Appear in feed as Sponsored Content
- Ideal for ecommerce lead generation
- Powerful re-targeting capability
- Audience targeted by past site visits and member profile
Use Cases
Dynamic Ads work very well for:
- Promoting products abandoned in shopping cart
- Remarketing to past site visitors
- Targeting based on pages visited on your site
- Advertising catalog products to engaged prospects
- Driving conversions with highly personalized ads
Message Ads
Message ads appear at the top of the LinkedIn messaging screen on desktop and mobile. They are designed to promote personalized calls-to-action in a 1:1 messaging format.
Key features of Message Ads:
- Appear at the top of LinkedIn messaging screen
- Ad copy is concise – 100 characters of text
- CTA button text is 30 characters
- Ideal for driving prospects to gated content
- Audience targeted by member profile and past ad engagement
- Priced on cost per click model
Use Cases
Message ads excel when you want to:
- Promote webinar or event registration
- Offer exclusive content to engaged prospects
- Send targeted messages to decision makers
- Increase conversion rates with personalized ads
- Capture leads with content upgrades and trials
Sponsored InMail
Sponsored InMail allows advertisers to directly engage prospects via personalised messages that appear as regular InMail messages.
Here’s an overview of Sponsored InMails:
- Personalized messages sent directly to prospect’s inbox
- Highly targeted audience selection
- messages look like regular InMail
- Ideal for personalized outreach and events promotion
- High open and response rates compared to email
- Powerful but relatively expensive option
Use Cases
Sponsored InMail are best leveraged for:
- VIP outreach campaigns with personalization
- Promoting webinars, events and content to C-level
- Personalized invitations to executives and decision makers
- Time-sensitive promotions with scarcity
- Critical messages requiring high open rates
Choosing the Right Ad Format
With multiple ad formats available, it’s important to select the option best suited to your campaign goals and audience. Here is a comparison table highlighting the strengths of each format:
| Ad Format | Best For |
|---|---|
| Sponsored Content | Brand awareness, content promotion, thought leadership |
| Text Ads | Lead generation, traffic driving, special offers |
| Dynamic Ads | Retargeting, ecommerce, personalized product ads |
| Message Ads | Conversion optimization, gated content, personalization |
| Sponsored InMail | VIP outreach, time-sensitive promotion, critical messaging |
You can also combine different ad formats as part of an omni-channel campaign. For example, using Sponsored Content for top-of-funnel brand building, Text Ads for mid-funnel lead gen, and Sponsored InMail for customer re-engagement. The key is aligning each format with your specific campaign objectives and audience segments.
Optimizing LinkedIn Ads
To get the best results from LinkedIn ads, focus on these key optimization best practices:
Detailed Targeting
Use LinkedIn’s extensive targeting options to reach your ideal audience segments based on demographics, job role, skills, company, groups, interests etc.
Compelling Creative
Craft your ads with engaging copy, images, videos optimized for the LinkedIn feed environment.
Relevant Landing Pages
Make sure your ads lead to relevant landing pages that align with the ad message and user journey.
A/B Testing
Continuously A/B test elements like ad copy, headlines, images, calls-to-action, and landing pages.
Agile Optimization
Analyze performance data frequently and tweak targeting, bids, creative, landing pages to improve results.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s range of ad formats provide effective options for campaigns of all types and budgets. The key is understanding the strengths of each ad type and aligning your formats with precise audience targeting to maximize impact. With regular testing and optimization, LinkedIn ads can deliver significant ROI across brand, demand gen, and customer engagement goals.
