A Sponsored Update is a paid advertisement that appears directly in the LinkedIn feeds of members. Also called "sponsored content," these posts allow businesses to reach a professional audience beyond their existing followers. Marketers use them to drive website traffic, generate leads, and increase brand awareness within a native browsing experience.
What is Sponsored Updates?
LinkedIn defines a sponsored update as a company page update that is promoted with an ad budget to reach a targeted audience. These updates include text combined with images, video, or documents and blend into the member's feed to look like organic content. While they mirror the format of standard user posts, they are always labeled as "sponsored" to maintain transparency.
A specific variation, Direct Sponsored Content, allows marketers to run ads without first posting them to their public Company Page or Showcase Page. This is primarily used to test different creative approaches without cluttering the brand's public profile.
Why Sponsored Updates matters
Organic reach on professional networks is often limited, making paid placement necessary for growth.
- Expanded Reach: [Typical posts only reach 20% of a company's followers] (Buffer), so sponsorship is required to hit the rest of the audience.
- Massive Scale: [The platform has over 165 million users in the United States] (Omnicore) available for targeting.
- High-Value Demographics: [The average annual income of a LinkedIn user is $83,000] (Jeff Haden), offering a prime audience for B2B and high-ticket services.
- Precise Targeting: You can filter audiences by location, job title, industry, company size, and education level.
- Performance Tracking: Integrated tools like Campaign Manager provide real-time analytics and conversion tracking to measure return on investment.
How Sponsored Updates works
The system operates on a bidding model where you compete with other advertisers for feed space.
- Establish a Company Page: You must have a LinkedIn Company Page to run sponsored updates.
- Launch a Campaign: Use Campaign Manager to start a new campaign and select "Sponsored Content."
- Define the Audience: Select targeting variables. LinkedIn then provides an estimated audience size for that segment.
- Choose a Pricing Model: Select between Cost-per-click (CPC) or Cost-per-impression (CPM).
- Set the Bid: Enter the maximum amount you are willing to pay. LinkedIn uses a bidding system, but you will never pay more than your upper limit.
- Monitor Performance: Check the dashboard regularly to adjust bids, change targeting, or stop underperforming ads.
Types of Sponsored Updates
| Type | Best Use Case | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Single Image Ads | General awareness and quick engagement. | High-quality JPG/PNG under 5MB. |
| Carousel Image Ads | Showcasing product features or multiple services. | 2 to 10 cards per ad. |
| Video Ads | Interactive storytelling and demos. | 3 seconds to 30 minutes in MP4 format. |
| Document Ads | Lead generation via whitepapers or case studies. | PDF format under 100MB. |
| Event Ads | Promoting webinars or live professional events. | Must be linked to a LinkedIn Event page. |
| Single Job Ads | Recruiting talent for specific openings. | Must link to an active LinkedIn job post. |
Best practices
Focus on the headline. Skimming users often ignore the main body text, so write headlines that grab attention, similar to magazine covers.
Keep intro text short. Limit your introductory text to 150 characters. This prevents the text from being truncated on mobile screens and ensures the call to action remains visible.
Include a clear visual. Posts with images or videos generally perform better than text-only updates because they break up the visual flow of the feed.
Test with Direct Sponsored Content. Use this feature to run A/B tests on different headlines or images to see which version produces better results before committing a large budget.
Use Lead Gen Forms with Document Ads. If you are sharing a whitepaper or ebook, use integrated forms to collect user data directly within the app before they download the file.
Common mistakes
Mistake: Oversaturating your audience with too many updates in a short period. Fix: Space out your campaigns and regularly change your content strategy to offer analysis rather than just news.
Mistake: Using generic or misleading content. Fix: Ensure your ads are relevant and content-rich. Higher relevance scores can actually lower your advertising costs.
Mistake: Ignoring mobile specifications. Fix: Test how your ad looks on a mobile screen within Campaign Manager. Keep teaser copy between 160 to 190 characters to ensure the point is made quickly.
Mistake: Keeping the same cost model indefinitely. Fix: Switch from CPM to CPC once your click-through rates rise, or move back to CPM if you need to boost general brand awareness.
FAQ
What is the difference between CPC and CPM? CPC (Cost-per-click) means you pay only when a user clicks on your ad to visit your site. This is better for driving traffic and conversions from an established audience. CPM (Cost-per-impression) means you pay for every 1,000 views of your ad. This is the preferred choice for brand awareness campaigns where the goal is visibility rather than immediate clicks.
Can I run ads without them showing on my company profile? Yes, by using Direct Sponsored Content. These ads are served to your target audience's feeds but do not appear as organic posts on your Company Page or Showcase Page. This allows for testing and more frequent posting without cluttering your public-facing page.
How do I lower my advertising costs? Costs are determined by your target audience demand and your relevance score. Creating highly relevant, content-rich ads that engage users can improve your score. Since the bidding system awards space based partly on relevance, better content can lead to lower costs per engagement.
How long should video ads be? While LinkedIn allows videos up to 30 minutes long, they must be between 3 seconds and 30 minutes. Marketers should typically aim for shorter, high-impact videos for feed-based updates, ensuring the frame rate is less than 30 frames per second and the file size is under 200 MB.
What happens if I post too frequently? LinkedIn monitors for spam. Businesses that post updates excessively are subject to review and risk having their Company Page deleted. It is better to focus on high-quality, curated content or repurposing older, successful content.
