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Single image ads eat up 61.87% of all LinkedIn ad budgets. They are the dominant format by a wide margin – and yet most teams have no idea whether their numbers are good, average, or terrible.
I wrote this Linkedin Single Image ads benchmarks post from the ZenABM 2026 LinkedIn ABM Benchmarks Report – 2,828 ads across 211 companies and $5.5M in total spend. Below you will find the median CTR, CPC, CPM, and dwell time for single image ads, how they compare to other LinkedIn ad formats, and what the top-performing creatives have in common.
If you are running LinkedIn ads and spending real budget on single image ads, use these numbers to audit your own performance.
Here is the full picture. These are median values from our dataset – meaning half of all single image ads performed better, and half performed worse.
Metric | Median Value | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
CTR (Click-Through Rate) | 0.42% | About 4 clicks per 1,000 impressions |
CPC (Cost Per Click) | $13.23 | Each landing page click costs roughly $13 |
CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions) | $59.15 | The most expensive impression cost of any in-feed format |
Dwell Time | 3.64 seconds | How long users pause on the ad in their feed |
Efficiency Score | 3.2 / 10 | Low – driven by high CPM relative to CTR |
Budget Share | 61.87% | The dominant format across LinkedIn ad budgets |
The efficiency score stands out. At 3.2 out of 10, single image ads are the least cost-efficient format for driving landing page clicks. They deliver clicks – but at a premium price compared to formats like Thought Leader Ads, which hit $2.29 median CPC.
That does not mean you should stop using them. It means you need to understand exactly what you are paying for and optimize accordingly.
The median CTR for LinkedIn single image ads is 0.42%. That is roughly 4 clicks for every 1,000 impressions served.
Here is how CTR distributes across the dataset:
CTR Range | Performance Tier | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
Below 0.20% | Poor | Pause and rework creative and targeting |
0.20% – 0.35% | Below Average | Test new visuals and headline copy |
0.35% – 0.50% | Average | You are in the middle of the pack |
0.50% – 0.80% | Above Average | Good performance – optimize around the edges |
0.80% – 1.20% | Strong | Top 15% of single image ads |
Above 1.20% | Exceptional | Top 5% – document what you did and replicate it |
A few things I have learned about CTR from analyzing this data:
If you are hitting 0.42% or above, you are at or above the median. If you are consistently below 0.30%, something needs to change – either your targeting, your creative, or both. I cover specific best practices for improving single image ad performance in a separate guide.
The median CPC for LinkedIn single image ads is $13.23. The median CPM is $59.15.
Let me put that into a practical context. If you spend $1,000 on single image ads at the median CPC, you will get approximately 71 landing page clicks. At a 3-5% landing page conversion rate (typical for mid-funnel B2B offers), that translates to 2-4 conversions per $1,000 spent.
Spend Level | Est. Clicks (at $13.23 CPC) | Est. Conversions (at 3-5% LP CVR) | Cost Per Conversion |
|---|---|---|---|
$1,000/month | ~71 | 2-4 | $250-$500 |
$3,000/month | ~227 | 7-11 | $273-$429 |
$5,000/month | ~378 | 11-19 | $263-$455 |
$10,000/month | ~756 | 23-38 | $263-$435 |
The CPM of $59.15 makes single image ads the most expensive in-feed format for raw impressions. For comparison, video ads run at $38.94 CPM and carousel ads at $45.28 CPM. If your primary goal is brand exposure and awareness, single image ads are not the most efficient use of budget.
But here is the thing – single image ads consistently deliver more clicks than video or carousel because the higher CTR (0.42% vs. 0.24% for video) more than compensates for the higher impression cost. It is a trade-off between impression efficiency and click efficiency.
Here is the full format comparison from our benchmarks dataset. This is the table I reference constantly when planning campaign budgets and choosing formats.
Metric | Single Image | Thought Leader Ads | Video | Carousel | Text Ads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median CTR | 0.42% | 2.68% | 0.24% | 0.32% | Below 0.01% |
Median CPC | $13.23 | $2.29 | $15.61 | $13.30 | $62+ |
Median CPM | $59.15 | $49.37 | $38.94 | $45.28 | ~$2 |
Dwell Time | 3.64s | 5.2s | varies | 4.56s | N/A |
Budget Share | 61.87% | 17.2% | 14.8% | 2.73% | 3.4% |
The biggest insight from this comparison: single image ads cost 77% more per landing page click than Thought Leader Ads. TLAs deliver clicks at $2.29 vs. $13.23 for single image. That is a massive difference.
So why do single image ads still get 61.87% of budget? A few reasons:
My recommendation? Allocate 40-50% to single image ads (down from the 61.87% average) and redistribute toward TLAs and carousels. You will get more total clicks for the same budget.
When I analyzed the top-performing single image ads in our dataset – the ones consistently hitting above 0.80% CTR – clear creative patterns emerged.
The top-performing ads almost always follow this structure: name a specific pain point in the headline or intro text, then present the solution in the image and CTA. Generic messaging like “Learn more about our platform” does not cut it. Specificity wins.
Ads that included customer logos, specific metrics, or testimonial snippets in the image itself consistently outperformed ads without social proof. Even something as simple as “Used by 200+ B2B teams” overlaid on the visual lifts engagement.
Before/after visuals drive clicks because they create a clear narrative arc in a single frame. “Before: manually tracking pipeline in spreadsheets. After: automated ABM reporting.” People see themselves in the “before” and want the “after.
For product-led companies, clean screenshots of the actual product interface work extremely well. This only works if the interface is visually appealing and the value is immediately clear from looking at it. Cluttered dashboards with tiny text do not perform.
Flowchart-style or process visuals generate the highest dwell times in our dataset (above 5 seconds vs. the 3.64-second median). People stop scrolling to read the steps. Higher dwell time correlates with higher recall and downstream conversion – even if CTR is average.
This is less about creative strategy and more about operational discipline. The data is clear: single image ads that run longer than 4-6 weeks see declining CTR. Build a rotation schedule and stick to it. I run 3-4 active creatives per campaign at any given time and rotate one per week.
Based on our 2026 benchmarks data from 211 companies, the median CTR is 0.42%. Anything above 0.50% puts you in the above-average tier. Ads hitting 0.80% or higher are in the top 15%. If you are consistently below 0.30%, your creative or targeting needs work. Keep in mind that CTR varies by funnel stage – awareness ads typically have higher CTR than bottom-funnel conversion ads, but the latter drive more valuable actions.
At the median CPC of $13.23, you need roughly $1,000/month to generate about 71 landing page clicks. For meaningful testing and optimization, I recommend at least $3,000/month, which gives you approximately 227 clicks and enough data to identify what is working. Most companies in our dataset allocate 61.87% of their total LinkedIn ad budget to single image ads, though I recommend bringing that down to 40-50% and diversifying across formats.
They serve different purposes. Single image ads give you full creative control and are easier to scale – you can run dozens of variations without needing employee-authored content. But Thought Leader Ads are dramatically cheaper per click ($2.29 vs. $13.23 CPC) and generate higher engagement (2.68% vs. 0.42% CTR). In practice, I use both: TLAs for top-of-funnel engagement and brand awareness, single image ads for mid-to-bottom funnel campaigns where I need to control the landing page experience and the creative message. The smartest approach is a mix, not an either/or decision.
