Are you leveraging LinkedIn for your paid marketing strategy? You’re likely thinking about LinkedIn ad specs as you plan your campaign.
Here is your guide on how to create LinkedIn Ads, including our expert tips.
Firstly, there are LinkedIn Ad Objectives: Brand Awareness, Website Visits, Video Views, Engagement, Website Conversions, Lead Generation and Job Applicants.
There are ten types of LinkedIn Ads:
Here are the LinkedIn ad specs for each format:
LinkedIn Carousel Ads
Carousel Image Ads add an interactive layer to your campaign using two or more images called ‘cards.’ Users can swipe through the cards with Call to Action buttons. The key is to use strong visuals to keep your audience swiping!
LinkedIn Carousel Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Ad name: up to 255 characters
- Intro text: 255 characters (may truncate at 150 characters on some devices)
- Headline: 45 character limit with a CTA to landing pages and 30 characters with a CTA to Lead Gen Forms
- URLs: must have http:// or https:// and up to 2,000 characters
- Call to Action (CTA): 10 options from a dropdown menu
- Cards: 2 – 10 cards
- File type and size: JPG, PNG, and 10MB max (Rich Media formats supported)
- Pixels: 1080 x 1080 px recommended (max dimensions are 4320 x 4320 px)
- Aspect Ratio: 1:1
LinkedIn Conversation Ads
Conversation Ads use a ChatBot style functionality. Choose from a blank template or a range of preset templates, depending on your objective, with various Call to Action options. Preset template examples include website visits, asset downloads, Surveys, and podcast promotion. The LinkedIn Conversation Ads builder is a three-step process. Build a workflow to customize responses as part of an automatic conversation.
LinkedIn Conversation Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Ad Name: up to 255 characters (optional)
- Message Text: 8000 characters max
- Custom Footer: 20,000 characters max
- Call to Action Buttons: Up to 5
- Call to Action Text: 25 Characters each
- Actions and URLs: After creating your CTAs, the ad builder allows you to choose a follow-up Action such as ‘Send to Website.’ Up to 2000 characters for field URL.
- File type and size: JPG or PNG up to 5MB
- Pixels: 250 x 250 px
- Banner creative (optional and desktop only): 300 x 250px in JPG or PNG (no flash) and < 2MB
Tip: For easier editing, we recommend using the View the Flowchart option. This option allows you to see your entire template and view each question/response in your Conversation Ads. You can click on the parts of the conversation you want to edit, and the Ad Builder will populate the selected content for customization.
LinkedIn Event Ads
Event Ads amplify your LinkedIn event to maximise attendance. They promote your event to the right professionals, drive more event registrations, and measure and prove the impact of your event.
Character lengths:
LinkedIn Event Ad Specs
These ads are served to members on desktop and mobile devices, highlighting the important event details.Character lengths:
- Event Name: up to 255 characters
- Intro Text: 600 characters
- URL: LinkedIn Event page URLs only, 2000 characters max, must have prefix http:// or https://.
- Ratio: 4:1
- The image will be taken from the event page.
LinkedIn Dynamic Ads
Dynamic Ads, personalized for users based on their LinkedIn profile. These include Spotlight Ads and Follower Ads. LinkedIn Dynamic Ads are effective as they contain a person’s LinkedIn profile photo next to your company logo. All specs are the same for Spotlight and Follower Ads, so we’ll go over them below.
Character lengths:
Images:
LinkedIn Dynamic Ad Specs
These ads are served to members on desktop and mobile devices, highlighting the important event details.Character lengths:
- Ad headline: 50 characters
- Company Name: 25 characters max (appears on hover over your company logo)
- Ad description: 70 characters
- URLs: must include the “http://” “or https://” prefix and up to 2,000 characters. If the user clicks anywhere on the image, it will redirect to your chosen URL
- Call to Action: 18 characters (Dynamic Ads allow you to free type your CTA)
Images:
- Company Image: 100 x 100 px, JPG or PNG format, 2MB max (LinkedIn will use the image from your associated company page, but you can also upload an image)
- Option to use the user’s profile image: To personalize your Ad (LinkedIn will do this if you check the box for this option)
- Option to add a background image: 300 x 250 px in JPG or PNG format, 2MB max. If you include a background image, there will be no ad description and no profile photo.
Tip: LinkedIn tells us the part of the Spotlight Ad that users pay attention to after the images is the headline, so make the most of your 50 characters! You can also edit your Company Name to appear as whatever you want (within reason, of course!) for Dynamic Ads.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads
Lead Gen forms collect quality leads from your ads with pre-filled lead forms – available for Message Ads and Sponsored Content. This lets members send you their professional info with a couple of clicks. You can track your campaigns ROI, and access and manage your leads.
Character lengths:
Form Recommendations:
LinkedIn Lead Gen Ad Specs
Character lengths:
- Form Name: 256 characters
- Offer Headline: 60 characters
- Offer Detail: 160 characters
- Privacy Policy: 2000 characters
- Confirmation Message: 300 characters
- URLs: must include the “http://” “or https://” prefix and up to 2,000 characters. If the user clicks anywhere on the image, it will redirect to your chosen URL
- Call to Action: 20 characters
Form Recommendations:
- Banner creative (optional): 300 x 250 JPG or PNG (no flash), up to 2MB, which shows up to the right side of your email when someone opens your message.
Tip: LinkedIn has found that users are more likely to engage with a Message Ad if the sender is an individual rather than a company.
Note: LinkedIn discontinued location targeting in the European Union (EU) on all Sponsored Messaging campaigns, effective since January 2022.
LinkedIn Single Image Ads
As sponsored content, Single Image Ads appear in news feeds and are one of the most-used LinkedIn Ad formats. They tie text and imagery together to create a cohesive message for your brand.
Single Image Ads appear on both desktop and mobile; however, vertical images are only on mobile. Did you know that LinkedIn traffic is 80% mobile? Something to consider!
LinkedIn Single Image Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Ad name (optional): 255 characters
- Intro text: 150 characters (600 max but 150 recommended to avoid truncation)
- Headline: up to 200 but 70 characters recommended to avoid truncation
- Description: Use 70 characters to avoid truncation (300 character max)
- URLs: must have http:// or https:// and up to 2,000 characters
- Call to Action (CTA): 10 options from a dropdown menu. You can choose the most relevant (i.e., Subscribe / Demo), creating a button that links to your content.
- File type and size: JPG, PNG, non-animated GIFs, and 5MB max
- Pixels: 1200 x 627 px recommended, 7680 x 4320 px max
- Aspect Ratios:
- Square images: 1:1 and can appear on desktop and mobile Minimum: 360 x 360 pixels, Maximum: 4320 x 4320 pixels
- Horizontal images: 1.91:1 and can appear on desktop and mobile Minimum: 640 x 360 pixels, Maximum: 7680 x 4320 pixels
- Vertical images: 1:1.91 and only displayed on mobile Minimum: 360 x 640 pixels Maximum: 2340 x 4320 pixels
- Images under 400 px will display as a thumbnail
Tip: Although the introduction text has a 600 character limit, 150 characters is the recommended length to avoid truncation. (Truncation is when LinkedIn uses an ellipsis (…) in the text above your ad, so you have to click to Read More.) When you exceed 150 characters, you pay every time someone clicks to expand the text, and LinkedIn has some of the highest costs per click (CPCs).
Tip: We recommend you uncheck the audience network option (only available for Single Image Ads and Single Video Ads). The Audience Network is where LinkedIn shows ads outside of the LinkedIn platform. You know, those Ads that pop up and consume the whole screen while using an app! Even though LinkedIn promises to extend reach by 25%, these ads are interruptive and often annoying. Not to mention they will increase your campaign costs.
LinkedIn Single Job Ads
As sponsored content, Single Job Ads provide an easy way to promote current jobs on your target audiences newsfeed. It is accessible on desktop and mobile, and yields a 25% increase in average click to apply rate. You can highlight and promote open opportunities, as well as driving applications from quality candidates, and measuring performance and ROI.
LinkedIn Single Job Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Ad name (optional): 255 characters
- Intro text: 150 characters (600 max but 150 recommended to avoid truncation)
- URLs: must have http:// or https:// and up to 2,000 characters.
LinkedIn Text Ads
Text Ads are the classic and budget-friendly LinkedIn Ad option. Despite their name, you can also add an image, albeit a small 1:1 square. LinkedIn Text Ads display in the right-hand column or at the top of the page and have the lowest cost-per-click than any other ad format on Linkedin. Text Ads can appear in a variety of sizes as follows:
- 300 x 250
- 700 x 17
- 160 x 600
- 728 x 90
- 496 x 80
LinkedIn Text Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Description: 75 characters max
- Headline: 25 characters max and no truncating
- URLs: No more than 2000 characters and must include http:// or https://
- Call to Action (CTA): 10 options from a dropdown menu with the option to send the user to a destination of your choice
- File type and size: JPG or PNG and 2MB max
- Pixels: 100 x 100 px
Tip: Your logo is a good image choice due to the small file size. It’s essential to make sure the image is clear to identify it quickly and understand how it relates to the advertising text. When writing your headline, be concise. Strict character limits force you to convey only the essential information.
LinkedIn Text Ads
Video Ads follow a similar process to building a Single Image Ads, the only difference being the use of a video.
Video:
LinkedIn Video Ad Specs
Character lengths:- Ad name: 255 characters
- Intro text: 150 characters recommended, 600 max.
- Headline: 70 characters
- URLs: must have http:// or https:// and up to 2,000 characters
- Call to Action (CTA): 10 options from a dropdown menu
Video:
- File type and size: MP4 and between 75KB and 200MB
- Captions: You can add captions to your video (only SRT files are supported)
- Pixels: Horizontal videos at 1920 x 1080 px, Horizontal videos at 1200 x 675 px, Vertical video at 720 x 920 px
- Aspect Ratio: Video must be between 9:16 (upright mobile version) and 16:9 (wide landscape version) or 1:1 (square)
- Frames Per Second (FPS): Less than 30
- Audio format: AAC or MPEG4
- Audio size: Less than 64KH
- Pixels: width and height must be between 360 and 1920 px
- Duration: 3 seconds to 30 minutes (we recommend <15 seconds, grabbing attention within the first 3 seconds)
- Custom video thumbnail (optional): 200MB max
Tip: Don’t forget to add captions! 85% of videos viewed are without sound. Increase the chance of getting users’ attention with captions. When choosing a video thumbnail, we recommend something eye-catching to grab attention while a user scrolls.
Why LinkedIn Ads?
With over one billion users, LinkedIn is the number one lead generation platform for B2B marketers. LinkedIn Ads allow you to create high converting campaigns that align with your tactics, content, and audience. Although more expensive than other growth channels, the targeting abilities are unparalleled. That’s why marketers love LinkedIn for brand awareness, driving engagement, and conversions.
In 2025, we can expect to see more interactive ads, like polls, quizzes and live events. LinkedIn are also rolling out AI-driven audience targeting, allowing marketers to edit their campaigns based on real-time data.
Trust is another reason we like LinkedIn, as ads are indirectly considered more professional and trustworthy than other social networking sites. With users ranging from CXO to interns, and 4 out of 5 members in decision-making roles, LinkedIn has 2X the buying power of other platforms. If that doesn’t convince you to get acquainted with LinkedIn Ads, we don’t know what will!
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