LinkedIn publishes its ad specs across fifteen separate pages and changes them a couple of times a year, and none of those pages tell you what a format costs or how often anyone clicks it. This page puts the specs for every format in one place and, under each one, the benchmark from Kiin Labs' 944-account panel so you can pick a format on the numbers as well as the pixel sizes. Specs are LinkedIn's; the numbers are ours (median account, 12 months to 7 September 2026, LinkedIn Audience Network excluded). Formats are ordered by how much B2B budget goes into them.
Every LinkedIn ad format, one table
| Format | Where it shows | Recommended size / ratio | File | Text limits | CPM · LP CPC (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single image | Feed, desktop and mobile | 1200 x 628 (1.91:1) · 1200 x 1200 (1:1) · 720 x 900 (4:5, mobile only) | JPG, PNG, GIF · 5 MB | Intro 150 · headline 70 | $48 · $13.63 |
| Video | Feed | 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 or 9:16 · 360 to 1920 px per side · 3 s to 30 min | MP4 · 75 KB to 500 MB | Intro 150 (600 max) · headline 70 (200 max) | $41 · $33.68 |
| Carousel | Feed | 2 to 10 cards · 1:1 · 1080 x 1080+ | JPG, PNG · 10 MB per card | Intro 255 · card headline 45 | $54 · $14.01 |
| Document | Feed | Any standard page size · under 10 pages recommended | PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX · 100 MB · 300 pages | Intro 150 · headline 70 | $62 · $101 (opens count as clicks) |
| Thought leader ad | Feed, from a member's profile | The original post: single image or video at organic post specs | As posted | No headline, intro, CTA or URL added | $63 (image) · $60 (video) · $25.02 · $73.56 |
| Event ad | Feed | 4:1 banner pulled from the Event page | Event page | Intro 600 | $49 · $21.61 |
| Article / newsletter ad | Feed | The organic article post; image at single image specs | As posted | No headline or intro added | Too few accounts to report |
| Message ad | Inbox | Optional 300 x 250 banner, desktop only | JPG, PNG · 2 MB | Message 8,000 · footer 20,000 · CTA 25 | $0.36 to $0.49 per send · $56 / $175 per lead |
| Conversation ad | Inbox | Optional 300 x 250 banner, desktop only | JPG, PNG · 2 MB | Message 8,000 · up to 5 CTAs · CTA 25 | $0.42 per send · $200 per lead |
| Lead gen form | Attached to feed or inbox ads | 3 to 4 fields recommended · 12 max | — | Headline 60 · detail 160 · CTA 20 · thank-you 300 | $164 content · $343 demo per lead |
| Text ad | Right rail, desktop | 100 x 100 logo | JPG, PNG · 2 MB | Headline 25 · description 75 | $0.22 · $6.02 |
| Spotlight ad | Right rail, desktop | 100 x 100 logo · optional 300 x 250 background | JPG, PNG · 2 MB | Headline 50 · description 70 · CTA 18 | $1.72 · $6.86 |
| Follower ad | Right rail, desktop | 100 x 100 logo | JPG, PNG · 2 MB | Headline 50 · description 70 | $1.51 · — |
| Connected TV | Streaming TV apps | 1920 x 1080 · 16:9 · 6 to 60 s | MP4, H.264 · 500 MB | — | Quoted per campaign |
CPM and cost per landing page click are the median account across every objective except lead generation; lead gen figures are the median account in the lead gen forms study. Full tables, including every format by objective, are on the benchmarks page.
Single image ad specs
The default LinkedIn ad and 774 of the 944 accounts in the panel run it. One image, intro text above, headline and CTA below, in the feed on desktop and mobile.
Kiin notes. Square is the safe default because it serves everywhere; LinkedIn's own guidance is that 4:5 vertical gets the best mobile CTR, and mobile is most of the feed, so we run 1:1 and 4:5 versions of the same ad and let the ad set split them. The old 1:1.91 vertical still works but now gets side borders. Keep text on the image outside the bottom 20% where the headline bar sits on mobile. GIFs are accepted but play as a static first frame in most placements.
Video ad specs
Native video in the feed, autoplays muted. Runs on the video views, engagement, brand awareness, website visits and lead generation objectives.
Kiin notes. Video is a reach and retargeting-pool format, not a click format: a landing page click costs three times what a single image click costs. Run it on video views, build 50% and 75% viewer audiences, and retarget those with single image or thought leader ads. Under 30 seconds for cold audiences, captions always (autoplay is muted), the point in the first three seconds. Vertical 4:5 or 9:16 for mobile; 16:9 only if you need desktop. Our video funnel guide covers the structure.
Carousel ad specs
Two to ten swipeable cards in the feed, each with its own headline and URL. Image only; carousel cards do not support video.
Kiin notes. Carousels cost 12% more per impression than single image and click about the same, so they earn their place only when the story needs the swipe: a process, a before-and-after, a set of features, a multi-stat report. Put the ask on card one; most viewers never reach card three. LinkedIn's carousel spec has not changed since 2023 and still lacks video cards, which is why we build "video carousels" as document ads instead.
Document ad specs
A PDF or slide deck that members flick through in the feed, with an optional gate: show the first pages free and ask for a lead gen form to download the rest.
Kiin notes. The best format on LinkedIn for a content lead and the worst for website traffic; do not attach a landing page objective to it. Five to eight pages, square or A4 portrait, one idea per page, the form gate after page two or three. The document is scraped by LinkedIn into text, so a deck with real words on the pages targets better than one that is all images. Do not upload the full report: gate it.
Thought leader ad specs
A post from a member (an employee, a founder, or since 2025 any member who approves it) sponsored from the company's ad account. The post is the creative.
Kiin notes. The format that gets read, and the reason the "clicks" column in Campaign Manager lies: reactions, comments and "see more" are all clicks. Report on landing page clicks. Engagement objective on audiences under 30,000, brand awareness above. Because there is no headline or CTA, the first two lines of the post are the whole ad; write them for the "see more" cut. The full study is at Thought Leader Ads Benchmarks 2026 and the how-to at what are thought leader ads.
Event ad specs
Promotes a LinkedIn Event (live audio, live video or external). The card pulls the banner and details from the Event page; since 2025 it can run on the lead generation objective with a registration form.
Kiin notes. Fine for webinars if the event lives on LinkedIn; if registration happens on your site, a single image ad to the registration page gets the same click for less and lets you retarget by page visit. Registrations from the LinkedIn Event page are not leads unless you use the lead gen objective.
Article and newsletter ad specs
Sponsors an organic post that shares a LinkedIn Article or a newsletter edition, from the company Page or from a thought leader. Added in 2025.
Kiin notes. Too new and too few accounts in the panel to report a benchmark. The gated article on the lead generation objective is the interesting one: the same mechanic as a document ad, with a newsletter subscription attached. We are testing it on two accounts; numbers in the next benchmark refresh.
Message ad and conversation ad specs
Both are delivered to the inbox from a named sender's profile and both count sends and opens rather than impressions. A message ad is one message with one CTA; a conversation ad is a branching script with up to five CTA buttons per message. LinkedIn stopped delivering both in the EU in 2022 and restored them in 2024 with a member opt-in, which is why EU sends are cheaper and fewer.
Kiin notes. The 8,000-character limit is not an invitation: under 500 characters, a question in the first line, sender is a person the recipient might plausibly know, no banner (desktop only, and it screams ad). Bid low; a send costs what you bid. Retargeting audiences open 18% more and produce 71% more leads per send than cold. The full data is in Conversation Ads Benchmarks 2026.
Lead gen form specs
Not a format but an attachment to one: single image, video, carousel, document, thought leader, event, message and conversation ads can all carry a form on the lead generation objective. LinkedIn pre-fills profile fields; the member taps submit.
Kiin notes. Work email plus name plus one qualifying question. Never phone. Put the form behind a document ad for content and inside a message ad for demos; the single image plus demo form combination is $600 a lead at 2.1% completion and we do not run it. The full study is at Lead Gen Forms Benchmarks 2026, and the setup, integrations and field-by-field guidance are in the lead gen forms guide.
Text ad specs
A small logo, headline and description in the right rail on desktop. Pay per click or per impression; the cheapest inventory LinkedIn sells.
Kiin notes. A retargeting and brand-recall line item at a few hundred dollars a month, nothing more. Bid CPC, never CPM, because almost nobody clicks. Run ten variants; LinkedIn rotates them and the click rate difference between the best and worst headline is large in relative terms and irrelevant in absolute terms.
Spotlight ad and follower ad specs (dynamic ads)
Right-rail ads personalised with the viewer's name and profile photo. Spotlight drives to a URL; follower ads drive to your Page's follow button.
Kiin notes. Follower ads are the only sensible way to buy Page followers, and Page followers are worth having because a follower who sees an organic post becomes a retargeting audience for free. Spotlight ads are text ads with a photo; treat them the same way.
Connected TV ad specs
Video ads on streaming TV apps (Paramount, Roku, Samsung TV Plus and others) targeted with LinkedIn professional data, bought from Campaign Manager. Available in the US, with Canada and UK inventory expanding.
Kiin notes. A reach format for accounts spending $30,000 a month or more, bought on a fixed CPM. Fifteen seconds, sound on, the brand in the first frame, and the same audience as the feed campaigns so the Companies tab can show the lift. How we run it is on the paid media page, and what it costs across 31 accounts ($25.76 CPM, 98.7% completion) is in the CTV benchmarks.
The character limits that actually matter
LinkedIn's limits are the maximum it will accept, which is not the same as what a member sees. Three cuts decide whether your copy is read:
| Element | Accepted | Shown before the cut | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro text (feed ads) | 600 (video) · 150 to 255 recommended | About 150 characters on desktop and 140 on mobile, then "…see more" | Put the whole point in the first 140 characters; treat everything after as a bonus for the 9% who expand |
| Headline (feed ads) | 70 (200 on video) | About 70 on desktop, 50 to 60 on mobile | Front-load; the CTA button sits to the right and steals width on mobile |
| Thought leader post | 3,000 (organic limit) | The first two to three lines, about 210 characters | The first line is the headline. No hashtags in it, no "I'm excited to" |
| Message and conversation ads | 8,000 | The inbox preview shows the first line; the message shows in full when opened | Subject and first line carry the open; keep the body under 500 |
| Carousel card headline | 45 | All 45 on desktop; about 35 on mobile | Two to four words per card |
| Text ad | 25 headline · 75 description | All of it | Use the viewer's job title in the headline; that is the only lever |
Which format for which objective
Campaign Manager only offers the formats each objective supports. Cross-referenced with what the formats cost on that objective (median account, whole panel):
| Objective | Formats available | Cheapest result in our data | Kiin default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand awareness | Single image, video, carousel, document, event, thought leader, text, spotlight, follower, CTV | Document ($24 CPM), carousel ($29), single image ($41), video ($41) | Thought leader ads on cold audiences over 30,000 |
| Engagement | Single image, video, carousel, document, event, thought leader | Carousel ($11.90 per landing page click), single image ($19.23), TLA image ($23.33) | Thought leader ads on audiences under 30,000 and all retargeting |
| Website visits | Single image, video, carousel, document, event, text, spotlight, message ads (conversation ads) | Single image ($11.33 per landing page click), event ($11.14), video ($11.66), carousel ($13.19) | Single image, 1:1 and 4:5, to a page that matches the ad |
| Website conversions | Single image, video, carousel, document, text, spotlight, message ads | Single image ($12.33), video ($16.20) | Rarely; needs 50+ conversions a month to optimise |
| Video views | Video, thought leader video | $0.43 per view, $38 CPM | Yes for every video; auto "maximise views" bidding |
| Lead generation | Single image, video, carousel, document, event, thought leader, article, message, conversation | Message ad ($56 / $175), conversation ad ($35 / $365), document ($180 content) | Document ad for content, message ad for demos |
The full objective-by-format table, with accounts and confidence, is on the benchmarks page; choosing between the feed formats is covered in best LinkedIn ad format for B2B SaaS, and every setting behind these choices in the Campaign Manager tutorial.
Specs are taken from LinkedIn's official ads guide (business.linkedin.com/advertise/ads) and checked every six months; the date in the header is the last check. Benchmarks are from Kiin Labs' three 2026 reports and the 944-account whole-panel table and are refreshed each quarter. If LinkedIn publishes a change between checks, the ads guide wins and this page will be a few weeks behind it.