LinkedIn Ad Formats: Complete Guide to All 10+ Types

LinkedIn's advertising platform offers more than ten distinct ad formats, each designed for specific objectives, placements, and audience engagement styles. Choosing the right format determines whether your message reaches professionals in a scroll-stopping feed ad, lands directly in their inbox, or appears subtly in the right rail as they browse. For B2B marketers, understanding the full spectrum of LinkedIn ad formats transforms campaign performance by matching creative approach to campaign goals.

This guide covers every LinkedIn ad format available in 2026, including specifications, best practices, and strategic recommendations for when to use each. Whether you're starting with your first LinkedIn campaignor expanding beyond basic single image ads, you'll find the technical details and strategic context needed to maximize each format's potential.

LinkedIn Ad Format Categories Overview

LinkedIn organizes ad formats into three primary categories based on where they appear and how users interact with them:

Sponsored Content formats dominate LinkedIn advertising because they appear natively in the feed where professionals spend most of their time. Message formats offer direct communication but require careful audience selection. Right rail formats provide cost-effective supplemental impressions but generate lower engagement.

Sponsored Content Formats

Sponsored Content appears directly in the LinkedIn feed, blending with organic posts while marked with a "Promoted" label. These formats capture attention during natural browsing behavior, making them the primary choice for most advertisers.

Single Image Ads

Single Image Ads are LinkedIn's most versatile and commonly used format. One compelling image paired with headline, intro text, and a call-to-action drives everything from brand awareness to direct lead generation.

Best practices for Single Image Ads:

• Use high-contrast colors that stand out in LinkedIn's blue-gray feed
• Keep text on images minimal (under 20% of image area)
• Show real people when possible for better engagement than stock illustrations
• Front-load intro text with the most compelling hook before the "see more" truncation
• Test multiple image styles: product shots, data visualizations, team photos, diagrams

Single Image Ads work across all campaign objectives and support Lead Gen Forms for capturing leads without leaving LinkedIn. Start here if you're new to LinkedIn advertising, then expand to other formats based on performance data.

Carousel Ads

Carousel Ads feature 2-10 swipeable cards, each with its own image, headline, and destination URL. This format excels at telling sequential stories, showcasing multiple products, or highlighting different benefits of a single offering.

Best use cases for Carousel Ads:

• Product portfolios: Showcase multiple products or service offerings
• Feature highlights: Each card covers one key benefit
• Case studies: Walk through problem, solution, and results
• Event agendas: Highlight different sessions or speakers
• Step-by-step guides: Educational content in sequence

Carousel engagement metrics show swipe-through rates that reveal how compelling your content sequence is. Design cards to encourage progression: use visual continuity, numbered sequences, or cliffhangers that reward swiping.

Video Ads

Video Ads play natively in the LinkedIn feed, capturing attention through motion. LinkedIn's professional context means video ads perform differently than on entertainment platforms: shorter, value-dense content outperforms lengthy brand films.

Video content strategies that work on LinkedIn:

• Hook in 3 seconds: State the value proposition immediately
• Captions required: Most LinkedIn browsing is sound-off
• Native feel: Professional but not overproduced corporate videos
• Clear CTA: What should viewers do after watching?
• Thought leadership: Expert insights and industry commentary
• Customer testimonials: Real clients sharing real results
• Product demos: Show functionality, not just features

LinkedIn measures video views at 2+ seconds, with completion rate metrics at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. For awareness campaigns, optimize for 25%+ completion. For consideration campaigns, track full completion and downstream conversions.

Document Ads

Document Ads let users scroll through PDFs, slideshows, or documents directly in the feed without leaving LinkedIn. This format transforms gated content marketing by allowing preview before lead submission.

Document Ads excel for:

• Whitepapers and research reports with preview capability
• Slide decks from webinars or conferences
• Ebooks and comprehensive guides
• Case studies with detailed results
• Product comparison guides and buyer's resources

Attach Lead Gen Forms to gate full document access after users preview initial pages. This preview-then-gate approach typically yields higher quality leads who have already demonstrated interest in your content topic. Track page-level engagement to understand which sections resonate.

Event Ads

Event Ads promote LinkedIn Events with registration directly from the ad. They display event details including date, time, and attendee count, leveraging social proof to drive signups.

Event Ads require an existing LinkedIn Event. Create the Event first with compelling imagery and description, then promote it through Event Ads. The format automatically displays attendee count (when public), creating social proof as registrations grow. Ideal for webinars, virtual conferences, live Q&As, and LinkedIn Audio Events.

Sponsored Messaging Formats

Sponsored Messaging delivers ads directly to LinkedIn member inboxes, creating one-to-one communication that feels more personal than feed ads. These formats command high open rates but require thoughtful deployment to avoid feeling intrusive.

Message Ads (Sponsored InMail)

Message Ads appear as direct messages in member inboxes with a "Sponsored" label. They include a sender name (typically a person, not company), subject line, message body, and a single call-to-action button.

Message Ads work best for:

• Event invitations to qualified prospects
• Exclusive content offers to engaged audiences
• High-value sales offers to bottom-funnel leads
• Personalized outreach from executives
• Customer research and survey requests

Typical open rates range from 50-70%, far exceeding email marketing. However, each member only receives one Message Ad per 30 days in their inbox, creating artificial scarcity that increases competition. Target warm audiences (website visitors, content engagers) rather than cold prospecting to maximize relevance and response.

Conversation Ads

Conversation Ads extend Message Ads with interactive, choose-your-own-adventure functionality. Instead of one CTA, users select from multiple response buttons that lead to follow-up messages, creating personalized paths through your content.

Effective Conversation Ad flows:

• Intent segmentation: "Learn more" vs "Request demo" vs "See pricing"
• Content recommendations: Let users choose topics that interest them
• Product matching: Guide to relevant solutions based on responses
• Event registration: Different session tracks or time zones
• Support routing: Direct to sales, support, or resources

Conversation Ads typically show higher engagement than single-CTA Message Ads because users feel more control over the interaction. Design flows that provide value at each step rather than simply funneling toward one outcome.

Text and Dynamic Ad Formats

Right rail and banner formats provide cost-effective supplemental reach with lower engagement rates than feed placements. They work best as campaign additions rather than primary formats.

Text Ads

Text Ads appear in the right rail and top banner on desktop LinkedIn. They're simple: a small image, headline, and description. Low cost makes them accessible for smaller budgets.

Text Ads cost less per impression than Sponsored Content but generate significantly lower click-through rates (often under 0.1%). Use them to maintain brand presence alongside feed campaigns or for retargeting with modest budgets. Don't rely on Text Ads as your primary LinkedIn advertising format.

Dynamic Ads

Dynamic Ads personalize creative by incorporating the viewer's LinkedIn profile data, including their profile photo and name. This personalization catches attention but can feel intrusive if not executed thoughtfully.

Follower Ads

Follower Ads encourage users to follow your LinkedIn Company Page, displaying their profile photo alongside your company logo with a "Follow" CTA.

Follower Ads deliver lower cost per follower than other methods for page growth campaigns. They work best targeting audiences likely to find your content valuable, creating an engaged follower base for organic content distribution.

Spotlight Ads

Spotlight Ads showcase a specific product, service, or offer with the viewer's profile photo displayed alongside your creative, driving to a destination URL.

Spotlight Ads can drive website visits or specific actions but typically see lower engagement than feed-based formats. Test them as retargeting supplements to maintain visibility with engaged audiences.

Choosing the Right Format for Your Objective

Format selection should align with your campaign objective, available creative resources, and audience stage in the buying journey.

Format Selection by Funnel Stage

Different formats suit different stages of the B2B buying journey:

Top of Funnel (Awareness):

• Video Ads for brand storytelling and thought leadership
• Single Image Ads for broad reach and initial awareness
• Carousel Ads for showcasing company capabilities

Middle of Funnel (Consideration):

• Document Ads for whitepapers and research
• Carousel Ads for case studies and use cases
• Video Ads for product demonstrations

Bottom of Funnel (Conversion):

• Single Image + Lead Gen Forms for demo requests
• Message Ads for personalized outreach
• Conversation Ads for qualifying and routing leads

Creative Best Practices Across Formats

While each format has unique requirements, certain principles apply universally to LinkedIn advertising creative.

Visual Design Guidelines

• Contrast matters: LinkedIn's interface uses blue, gray, and white; use colors that stand out
• Minimize text on images: Less than 20% text prevents delivery penalties
• Show humans: Real people outperform stock illustrations for engagement
• Brand consistency: Maintain recognizable visual identity across formats
• Mobile-first design: 60%+ of LinkedIn usage is mobile

Copywriting Principles

• Lead with value: What does the audience gain, not what you're selling
• Front-load key messages: Truncation happens after ~150 characters on mobile
• Professional but human: Write like a helpful colleague, not a press release
• Specific over generic: "Reduce onboarding time by 40%" beats "Improve efficiency"
• Clear CTAs: Tell users exactly what action to take

Testing Strategy

Create 3-5 variations within each campaign to let LinkedIn's algorithm identify winners. Test systematically:

1. Test different formats in separate campaigns with identical targeting
2. Within a format, test one variable at a time (headline, image, CTA)
3. Allow 2-3 weeks of data collection before declaring winners
4. Pause underperformers and create new variations building on winners

Format-Specific Optimization Tips

Optimizing Single Image Performance

Single Image Ads benefit from continual creative refresh. Monitor frequency to prevent ad fatigue, typically refreshing creative when frequency exceeds 3-4 impressions per user. Test different image styles: product shots, data visualizations, team photos, and abstract graphics often perform differently by audience segment.

Maximizing Carousel Engagement

Track card-level metrics to understand where users drop off. If swipe-through rate drops after card 2, your sequence isn't compelling enough. Strong carousels tell a story that rewards progression, use visual continuity between cards, and save the strongest CTA for later cards when engaged users reach them.

Improving Video Completion Rates

Front-load everything valuable: hook, key message, brand identification should happen in the first 10 seconds. Add captions for sound-off viewing. Test different lengths: sometimes a 15-second cut outperforms the full 60-second version. Use LinkedIn's video analytics to identify exact drop-off points and iterate accordingly.

Document Ad Engagement Tactics

Design documents specifically for in-feed viewing: larger fonts, more visual content, clear section breaks. The first 2-3 pages must hook readers; put your most compelling content upfront. Use gating strategically: letting users preview enough to demonstrate value increases qualified lead form submissions.

Message Format Response Optimization

Personalize sender selection by matching the sender's role to the recipient's seniority. A C-level executive sending to directors feels more appropriate than a junior marketer. Keep message copy concise and value-focused; lengthy messages see lower response rates. Test subject lines aggressively: they determine open rates.

Combining Formats in Full-Funnel Campaigns

The most effective LinkedIn advertising strategies combine multiple formats across the customer journey, using each format's strengths at the appropriate stage.

Example full-funnel campaign structure:

1. Awareness (Week 1-2): Video Ads introducing thought leadership content to cold audience
2. Consideration (Week 3-4): Document Ads with whitepaper to video viewers, Carousel Ads showcasing case studies
3. Conversion (Week 5+): Single Image + Lead Gen Form to document engagers, Conversation Ads to high-intent website visitors

Build audiences from each stage's engagement: video viewers become the consideration stage audience, document engagers become conversion targets. This sequential approach typically delivers lower cost per qualified lead than bottom-funnel-only campaigns because prospects are warmed up before receiving conversion-focused messages.

Budget Allocation Across Formats

Different formats have different cost profiles. Understanding typical costs helps allocate budget effectively.

For most B2B advertisers, allocate 60-70% of budget to Sponsored Content formats (Single Image, Carousel, Video), 15-25% to lead generation-specific formats (Document Ads with forms, Message/Conversation Ads), and 10-15% to supplemental formats (Text Ads, Dynamic Ads) for incremental reach.

Format Selection Checklist

Use this checklist when planning your next LinkedIn campaign:

• Objective defined: What specific outcome do you need?
• Audience stage identified: Awareness, consideration, or conversion?
• Creative resources assessed: What assets can you produce?
• Format-objective match: Does the format support your objective?
• Specs confirmed: Are assets built to correct dimensions?
• Variations created: Do you have 3-5 ads to test?
• Budget appropriate: Is spend sufficient for format costs?
• Tracking configured: Are conversions and engagement measured?

LinkedIn's variety of ad formats provides B2B marketers with tools for every stage of the customer journey. Master the formats covered here, starting with Single Image Ads and expanding based on performance data and creative capabilities. The key is matching format strengths to campaign objectives rather than using formats simply because they're available.