LinkedIn text ads are the most underrated ad format on the platform. Most marketers dismiss them because the click-through rates are terrible. And they are right – the CTR is terrible. But that is exactly what makes LinkedIn text ads so powerful for B2B marketers who know how to use them. At around $2 CPM, text ads are the cheapest impression source on LinkedIn. For context, single image ads cost ~$59 CPM and video ads cost ~$39 CPM. That cost advantage unlocks use cases that no other format can match – including a free website visitor deanonymization hack that replaces tools costing $500+/month. In this guide, I will cover what LinkedIn text ads are, when they make sense, real examples with performance data, and the step-by-step deanonymization strategy that changed how I run ABM campaigns on LinkedIn. 
LinkedIn text ads are small, text-based advertisements that appear in the right rail and top banner area of LinkedIn’s desktop interface. They consist of a headline (25 characters max), a short description (75 characters max), and an optional 50×50 pixel image. Unlike sponsored content that appears in the feed, text ads sit in the peripheral areas of the page. They are easy to overlook – and that is reflected in the performance data. But their cost structure makes them uniquely valuable for specific use cases.
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Headline | 25 characters max |
| Description | 75 characters max |
| Image | 50×50 pixels (optional but recommended) |
| Destination URL | Required |
| Placement | Desktop only – right rail and top banner |
| Bidding | CPC or CPM |
| Typical CPM | ~$2 (vs. $59 for single image) |
| Typical CTR | Below 0.01% |
The cost difference between LinkedIn text ads and other formats is staggering. Here is what the data shows from our ZenABM benchmarks dataset of 2,828 ads and $5.5M in LinkedIn ad spend:
| Ad Format | Median CPM | Median CTR | Median CPC | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text Ads | ~$2 | Below 0.01% | $62+ (rare clicks) | Cheap impressions, deanonymization |
| TLAs | $49.37 | 2.68% | $2.29 | Engagement, LP traffic |
| Single Image | $59.15 | 0.42% | $13.23 | Direct response, offers |
| Video | $38.94 | 0.24% | $15.61 | Retargeting only |
| Carousel | $45.28 | 0.32% | $13.30 | Educational content |
The headline number: text ads deliver impressions for roughly 1/30th the cost of single image ads. With a $250/month budget on text ads, you can generate over 125,000 impressions. The same budget on single image ads would get you about 4,200. 
Here is a real example from one of our ABM campaigns. Aquablu ran a text ad campaign with the following creative:
One click from 28,506 impressions. Terrible click-through rate. But 28,506 impressions for $62.54 is extraordinary value on LinkedIn. And when combined with the deanonymization strategy below, those impressions become a goldmine of account-level data.
With only 25 characters for a headline and 75 for a description, every word counts. Here are patterns that work:
Always include the 50×50 pixel image. Even at that tiny size, a recognizable logo or headshot increases the ad’s visibility in the right rail. 
This is the use case that most marketers do not know about. And it is the primary reason I run LinkedIn text ads in every ABM campaign. Third-party website visitor identification tools (Clearbit, 6sense, Bombora, RB2B) cost $500-$5,000+/month and typically identify 30-50% of traffic at best. According to a study by Syft, even the most accurate services have significant blind spots. LinkedIn text ads offer a free alternative. Here is how it works:
The result: you are identifying website visitors at the company level for roughly $2-3 CPM instead of $500+/month for a dedicated deanonymization tool. And the data comes from LinkedIn’s own first-party matching, which is more reliable than IP-based identification.
Text ads are not a replacement for your core ad formats. They serve a specific role in the campaign mix. Here is when to use them:
Setting up text ads in LinkedIn Campaign Manager takes about 10 minutes:
Total monthly budget for text ads in a typical ABM campaign: $250. That is about 1-2% of a $15,000/month LinkedIn ABM budget – negligible cost for the data you get back.
LinkedIn text ads are not glamorous. They will not generate impressive CTR numbers for your dashboard. But at ~$2 CPM, they are the cheapest way to maintain visibility with your target accounts on LinkedIn – and the free website visitor deanonymization strategy alone makes them worth running in every ABM campaign. The setup takes 10 minutes. The monthly cost is ~$250. And the account-level data you get back can replace tools costing 10-20x more. If you are running ABM on LinkedIn and not using text ads, you are leaving money – and data – on the table.
For direct-response advertising (driving clicks and conversions), no. The CTR is too low. But for two specific use cases – cheap brand awareness and free website visitor deanonymization – LinkedIn text ads are extremely valuable. At ~$2 CPM, they cost 30x less per impression than single image ads. Every ABM campaign should include a small text ads budget alongside the core formats.
LinkedIn text ads cost approximately $2 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). If you use CPC bidding, you will pay even less since almost nobody clicks on text ads – you get thousands of impressions for near-zero cost. A typical ABM text ads budget is $250/month, which generates roughly 125,000 impressions.
LinkedIn text ads appear only on desktop – in the right sidebar rail and sometimes as a top banner above the feed. They do not appear on mobile devices. For B2B marketers targeting decision-makers who browse LinkedIn during work hours on desktop, this desktop-only placement is actually an advantage.
By retargeting website visitors with LinkedIn text ads using CPC bidding, you get thousands of impressions served to people who visited your site – at near-zero cost. Tools like ZenABM then pull company-level impression data from the LinkedIn Ads API, revealing which companies visited your high-intent pages. This replaces expensive third-party deanonymization tools.
A typical LinkedIn text ads CTR is below 0.01%. This is normal and expected. Text ads are not designed for click performance – they are designed for cheap impressions and brand visibility. If you are seeing a CTR above 0.02%, your creative is performing well above average. But for most use cases (deanonymization, brand awareness), low CTR is actually ideal since it means cheap impressions with CPC bidding.
