LinkedIn Text Ads: The Ultimate Guide + Examples

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.

Key Takeaways

• LinkedIn text ads cost ~$2 CPM – making them 30x cheaper per impression than single image ads ($59 CPM)
• Text ads only show on desktop – which is actually an advantage for B2B since decision-makers browse LinkedIn on work computers
• CTR is extremely low (~0.01% or less) – but that is a feature, not a bug, when using CPC bidding
• The biggest use case is free website visitor deanonymization – retarget website visitors with text ads, use CPC bidding, and identify which companies visited your high-intent pages for nearly zero cost
• Budget recommendation: ~$250/month – text ads should be 1-2% of your total LinkedIn ABM budget, providing massive reach at negligible cost

What Are LinkedIn Text Ads

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.

LinkedIn Text Ads Specs

LinkedIn Text Ads vs. Other Ad Formats: Cost Comparison

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:

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.

LinkedIn Text Ads Examples: Real Performance Data

Here is a real example from one of our ABM campaigns. Aquablu ran a text ad campaign with the following creative:

• Headline: “Cut plastic. Cut costs.”
• Description: “Are you still managing bottled water?”
• Result: 28,506 impressions, 1 click, $62.54 total spend
• Effective CPM: $2.19

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.

What Good LinkedIn Text Ad Copy Looks Like

With only 25 characters for a headline and 75 for a description, every word counts. Here are patterns that work:

• Problem-first headlines: “Still using spreadsheets?” / “ABM costs too much?” / “Blind to your pipeline?
• Benefit-first headlines: “Cut reporting by 75%” / “See your ABM ROI” / “Track ad engagement”
• Descriptions that extend the headline: Use the 75 characters to complete the thought started in the headline, then add a soft CTA

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.

The Hidden Superpower: Free Website Visitor Deanonymization with LinkedIn Text Ads

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:

Step-by-Step: Text Ads for Deanonymization

1. Group your high-intent website pages by intent. For example: pricing pages, demo request pages, onboarding pages, feature comparison pages. These are the pages where a visit signals genuine buying interest.
2. Create matched audiences in LinkedIn Campaign Manager. Set up website retargeting audiences for each group of high-intent pages. Give LinkedIn 24-48 hours to build the audience.
3. Run text ads targeted at these matched audiences. Create simple text ads with your brand name and a basic CTA. Point them to your website. The creative does not matter much here – the goal is cheap impressions, not clicks.
4. Use CPC bidding, not CPM. This is the critical detail. With CPC bidding, you only pay when someone clicks. Since text ads have a CTR below 0.01%, you will get thousands of impressions for almost nothing. In the Aquablu example above: 28,506 impressions, 1 click, $62.54 total spend.
5. Read back the company-level impression data. ZenABM pulls company-level engagement data from the LinkedIn Ads API, showing you exactly which companies were served those text ad impressions. Since you targeted website visitors of specific high-intent pages, this tells you which companies visited your pricing page, demo page, or other key pages.
6. Use the data to trigger outbound. Now you have a list of companies that visited your high-intent pages – identified through first-party LinkedIn data, not IP matching. Pass this to your sales team or feed it into your intent-based outbound workflows.

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.

When LinkedIn Text Ads Make Sense (and When They Do Not)

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:

Use text ads for:

• Free website visitor deanonymization – the strategy described above
• Cheap brand awareness – maintaining visibility with your target account list at a fraction of the cost of sponsored content
• Supplemental reach in ABM campaigns – adding a low-cost impression layer alongside your Thought Leader Ads, single image ads, and carousels
• Desktop-heavy audiences – since text ads only show on desktop, they work well for B2B audiences who browse LinkedIn during work hours on their office computers

Do not use text ads for:

• Driving clicks – the CTR is too low to generate meaningful traffic
• Lead generation – text ads do not support lead gen forms
• Mobile audiences – text ads do not display on mobile at all
• Primary campaign format – they should supplement, not replace, your single image ads and TLAs

How to Set Up LinkedIn Text Ads

Setting up text ads in LinkedIn Campaign Manager takes about 10 minutes:

1. Create a new campaign and select “Website Visits” as the objective
2. Choose “Text Ad” as the ad format under the Placement section
3. Set your targeting. For deanonymization: target matched audiences based on website visits. For brand awareness: target your ABM company list
4. Set a daily budget of $10-15. With ~$2 CPM, this gives you 5,000-7,500 impressions per day
5. Choose CPC bidding. This is essential for the deanonymization play. You will get impressions without paying for them (since nobody clicks)
6. Create 3-5 ad variations. Test different headlines and descriptions. Even with low engagement, you will see which ones generate the occasional click

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 Best Practices

• Always use CPC bidding for deanonymization. CPM bidding will eat your budget on impressions you are already getting for free with CPC
• Include your logo as the 50×50 image. Brand recognition matters, even in the right rail
• Run 3-5 text ads per campaign. Rotate creative to maintain freshness, same as with any other format
• Point deanonymization text ads to high-intent pages. Pricing, demo, product pages – not your blog or homepage
• Monitor company-level data weekly. Use ZenABM’s analytics to see which companies are accumulating text ad impressions and cross-reference with your target account list

  

• Combine with other formats. Text ads work best as part of a multi-format campaign. Use them for cheap reach while TLAs handle engagement and single image ads drive clicks

Summary

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.

FAQs About LinkedIn Text Ads

Are LinkedIn text ads worth it in 2026?

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.

How much do LinkedIn text ads cost?

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.

Where do LinkedIn text ads appear?

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.

How do LinkedIn text ads help with website visitor identification?

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.

What is a good CTR for LinkedIn text ads?

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.