Which LinkedIn Ad Formats Are Best for Your Business?

LinkedIn is a powerful marketing tool for social media advertising. Using the platform, you can target professional audiences, hone in on specific demographics or behaviours and directly push your products or services to business decision-makers.

According to the company itself, audiences that view brand and acquisition messages on LinkedIn are six times more likely to convert, whilst 40 per cent of B2B marketers stated the channel was the most effective for gathering high-quality leads.

The world’s largest professional network is now comprised of more than one billion users, having evolved from a simple job site to its current iteration, a full-scale social media platform with a heavily engaged and active audience.

Despite being an incredibly effective advertising channel, running ad campaigns on LinkedIn isn’t as simple as pressing a button and getting results. For successful ads, marketers need to carefully consider the format and ad specs that will best suit their goals. If you’re unsure, consider working with a LinkedIn advertising agency that will be able to offer clear advice and recommendations.

There will be a number of factors that go into developing a LinkedIn marketing strategy, including your expected advertising costs and the type of person you’re trying to reach, such as B2B audiences. Therefore, it’s important to know about the following options in order to develop a good approach.

Sponsored ads

Sponsored ads are like promoted posts. They are visible directly within users’ LinkedIn feeds and are the perfect choice for building brand awareness. As professionals scroll through their newsfeeds, your ad can gain a large number of impressions, meaning lots of people will view your call-to-action (CTA) and, ultimately, visit your website.

There are four main ad formats when it comes to sponsored posts, with each one bringing a specific set of advantages.

Image Ads

This format involves a single image and is typically best suited for highlighting or promoting a product. Designing a captivating graphic for your ad will increase engagement, leading to improved brand awareness and more website traffic.

Video Ads

Video ads are perfect if you want to showcase how a product or service works, or to tell the story of your brand in an engaging way. Captivating your audience through video is a tried and tested method of gaining new leads.

Carousel Ads

A series of images or videos that viewers can swipe through, carousels are great for showing several products or services, but also to convey messaging as a short slideshow.

Event Ads

If your organisation is hosting or attending an event, this is an effective way to let your existing audience, as well as new leads, know about it.

Message ads

There are two types of these ads available for LinkedIn marketers, both of which allow you to send direct, targeted messages to users.

The first, known simply as message ads, involves a single call-to-action  and suits those looking to attach a lead gen form to capture data quickly. Alternatively, conversation ads allow for multiple CTAs and help users to feel engaged with your organisation.

Dynamic ads

There are a few other options for advertising campaigns on LinkedIn, including spotlight, text and follower ads.

Spotlight ads are dynamic, meaning they appear personalised to each user. This format is a very solid option if your marketing goal is to highlight the advantages of your product or service and will direct the audience to a specific page on your website.

Follower ads can also be personalised to each viewer based on aspects such as their job title or industry, but the main objective here is to gain more followers on your LinkedIn business page.