LinkedIn Dynamic Ads: Formats, Specs and Requirements

LinkedIn Dynamic Ads are personalized ads built from three formats — Follower Ads, Spotlight Ads and Jobs Ads — each adapting its content to the individual member viewing it.

This guide covers formats, text and image specifications, personalization macros, placements, tracking and creative best practices for LinkedIn Dynamic Ads.

What Are LinkedIn Dynamic Ads

LinkedIn Dynamic Ads are personalized ads that adapt their content to individual members.

Depending on the format, LinkedIn can use profile information such as the member's profile photo, first name, full name, company name and job title.

The personalized information is visible only to the member whose data is used. It is not shown to other LinkedIn members. Members can also limit the use of their profile information through their LinkedIn advertising settings.

Dynamic Ads are available in three main formats: Follower Ads, Spotlight Ads and Jobs Ads. Each supports a different campaign goal — Follower Ads grow a LinkedIn Page audience, Spotlight Ads drive traffic to a website, and Jobs Ads promote relevant vacancies.

How LinkedIn Dynamic Ad Personalization Works

The advertiser creates an ad template in Campaign Manager.

The template can include standard text and supported personalization macros. When LinkedIn serves the ad, it replaces the macros with information from the member's profile. For example:

%FIRSTNAME%, discover solutions for your team

A member named Alex may see:

Alex, discover solutions for your team

LinkedIn shows a live preview during ad creation so the advertiser can check whether the selected macros are supported and rendered correctly. Macros must be written in uppercase: %FIRSTNAME% works, but %firstname% does not.

If the required profile information is unavailable or the member has disabled ad personalization, LinkedIn uses generic fallback text. For example, a missing first name can be replaced with LinkedIn Member.

LinkedIn Dynamic Ad Formats

Follower Ads promote a LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page. Members who do not follow the Page see a Follow button; members who already follow it see another CTA that leads to the company Page, Jobs tab, or Life tab.

Spotlight Ads promote a product, service, event, content asset, offer, or landing page. A click anywhere on the ad directs the member to the destination URL selected by the advertiser.

Jobs Ads promote one or more vacancies to members whose experience and skills match available positions. LinkedIn selects the Jobs Ad rendering based on how many relevant open roles are available for the member.

Follower Ads

Follower Ads are designed to increase the audience of a LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page.

The ad combines the member's profile photo and name, the company logo, a short description, a headline and a Follow button. Follower Ads appear on desktop and allow members to follow the Page directly from the ad.

The format behaves differently depending on whether the member already follows the Page.

Members who do not follow the Page see the default Follow CTA. Clicking the button follows the organization and redirects the member to the Overview tab of the LinkedIn Page.

Existing followers can see one of these CTAs instead: Visit company, Visit jobs or Visit life — each directing the member to the corresponding section of the LinkedIn Page.

Follower Ad Specifications

Ad description. Appears above the images, with a maximum length of 70 characters including spaces. Advertisers can select a suggested description or write custom text — suggested descriptions are automatically translated according to the member's profile language, custom text is not.

Ad headline. Appears below the images, with a maximum length of 50 characters including spaces. Suggested headlines can be automatically translated; custom headlines cannot.

Ad name. Optional and visible only in Campaign Manager, with a maximum length of 255 characters including spaces.

Company name. Maximum length of 25 characters including spaces. The company name is displayed when the member moves the cursor over the company logo.

Company logo. JPG or PNG, minimum size 100 × 100 px, square format recommended. Larger logos are reduced to 100 × 100 px; non-square logos are resized so the largest dimension fits the available area.

Call-to-Action. Members who do not follow the Page see the default Follow button. For existing followers, the advertiser can choose Visit company, Visit jobs or Visit life.

Tracking. Third-party tracking is not available for Follower Ads because of the one-click follow function. Follower growth should be measured through the Analytics section of the LinkedIn Page.

Spotlight Ads

Spotlight Ads are personalized Dynamic Ads that send members to an external website or landing page.

They can be used to promote products, services, events, reports, webinars, demonstrations, content downloads, landing pages and special offers.

Spotlight Ads are shown on desktop. LinkedIn can personalize the creative with the member's profile photo and profile information.

A standard Spotlight Ad includes the member's profile photo, a personalized description, the company logo, a headline, a CTA button and a destination URL. Clicks anywhere on the ad direct the member to the selected URL.

Spotlight Ad Specifications

Ad description. Maximum length of 70 characters including spaces, appears above the images. Custom Spotlight Ad text is not automatically translated.

Ad headline. Maximum length of 50 characters including spaces, appears below the images and is not automatically translated.

Ad name. Optional and visible only in Campaign Manager, with a maximum length of 255 characters including spaces.

Company name. Maximum length of 25 characters including spaces.

Company logo. JPG or PNG, minimum size 100 × 100 px, square format recommended. Smaller images may appear pixelated; larger images are reduced to fit the available area.

CTA button text. Maximum length of 18 characters including spaces. Use a short CTA that clearly describes the next step, for example:

• Learn More
• Register
• Get Started
• Download
• Request Demo
• Visit Website

Destination URL. Maximum length of 500 characters. It can include tracking parameters and can use third-party click tracking or redirects. Encode unsupported special characters in the query string if Campaign Manager returns a URL error.

Spotlight Ads With a Custom Background

Advertisers can add an optional background image to a Spotlight Ad. The image must be exactly 300 × 250 px and no larger than 2 MB.

The custom background version uses a different layout from the standard Spotlight Ad. When a custom background is added, the member profile photo and the ad description are removed, leaving a white content area of 276 × 148 px.

This means the background should support the offer visually without containing essential information that also needs to appear in the ad text.

Use the custom background when the campaign needs stronger brand recognition, a visual product cue, event branding, a campaign-specific design, or better separation from other right-rail ads.

Keep the background simple. The headline, logo, and CTA should remain easy to read.

Jobs Ads

Jobs Ads are personalized ads that promote vacancies to members whose skills and experience match current job opportunities.

LinkedIn can promote one role or several relevant roles from the same organization. Unlike a standard manually designed recruitment ad, the final Jobs Ad rendering depends on the number of suitable vacancies LinkedIn identifies for the member.

Jobs Ads can include the member's profile photo, a personalized headline, the company logo and name, recommended vacancies, job location, employment type and a CTA button.

Types of LinkedIn Jobs Ads

LinkedIn dynamically generates three Jobs Ad types.

Jobs You May Be Interested In is used when LinkedIn identifies at least three relevant job opportunities from the organization; the ad can display several recommended roles. Depending on the placement, clicks can lead to a specific Job Detail page, the Jobs tab of the LinkedIn Page, a company Jobs search page, or the Careers or Life tab.

Picture Yourself ads are shown when the member matches one or two open positions. The ad promotes the company and directs the member to a specific vacancy or the organization's Careers or Life section.

Jobs Page ads are used when LinkedIn does not identify a suitable current vacancy for the member. Instead of promoting a specific role, the ad directs the member to the Jobs tab of the LinkedIn Page to explore available opportunities.

Jobs Ad Specifications

Company name. Maximum length of 25 characters including spaces.

Company logo. Recommended minimum size of 100 × 100 px. Use a square logo with enough contrast to remain visible at a small size.

Ad name. Optional and visible only in Campaign Manager, with a maximum length of 255 characters including spaces.

Ad headline. Maximum length of 70 characters including spaces. Advertisers can use suggested text or create a custom headline.

CTA button label. Maximum length of 44 characters including spaces. Preset CTA options can be automatically translated; custom CTA text cannot. The CTA can be customized for Jobs You May Be Interested In Ads — LinkedIn automates the CTA for Picture Yourself and Jobs Page Ads.

LinkedIn Dynamic Ad Macros

LinkedIn macros insert personalized information into ad text. Macros must be written in uppercase and surrounded by percentage signs.

Supported macros

LinkedIn shows a live preview when a supported macro is added. Examples:

%FIRSTNAME%, follow our Page for industry updates

%FIRSTNAME%, discover a solution for your team

%FULLNAME%, explore opportunities at %COMPANYNAME%

When personalization is unavailable, LinkedIn uses generic fallback language.

Macro best practices. Use personalization only when it improves the message. A member's name should fit naturally into the sentence — avoid adding several macros to a short message, because the result can be difficult to read. Write the sentence so it still makes sense when LinkedIn replaces a macro with generic text.

Placements and Device Availability

Dynamic Ad placements depend on the format.

Follower Ads are available on desktop, in the LinkedIn right rail.

Spotlight Ads are available on desktop, in the LinkedIn right rail.

Jobs Ads have more placement variations. Depending on the ad rendering, they can appear in desktop placements, LinkedIn profile contexts, search experiences, mobile profile sections and mobile search results. Jobs You May Be Interested In Ads can appear on mobile when the member has applicable job opportunities from the advertiser.

Dynamic Ads should therefore not be treated as one placement type. Follower and Spotlight Ads are desktop formats, while Jobs Ads can include desktop and mobile delivery.

Tracking and Measurement

The primary metric should match the selected Dynamic Ad format.

Follower Ads. Track:

• New Page followers
• Cost per follower
• Follow rate
• Page visits
• Follower quality by job function, seniority, company size, or industry

Third-party tracking is not available for the one-click follow action. Use LinkedIn Page Analytics to measure follower growth.

Spotlight Ads. Track:

• Impressions
• Clicks
• Click-through rate
• Cost per click
• Landing page sessions
• Conversions
• Cost per conversion

Spotlight Ads support destination URL tracking and third-party click tracking. Google Campaign Manager 360 impression tracking is also supported for Dynamic Ads. Use URL parameters to separate results by campaign, audience, ad format, offer and creative version. LinkedIn Conversion Tracking can be used to measure actions completed after the landing page visit.

Jobs Ads. Track:

• Impressions
• Clicks
• Landing page clicks
• Job applications
• Cost per application
• Application conversion rate

Landing page clicks are a key result for the Job Applicants objective. Additional job applicant and conversion metrics are available in Campaign Manager reporting.

LinkedIn Dynamic Ads Best Practices

Match the format to one campaign goal. Use Follower Ads for Page growth, Spotlight Ads for external traffic, and Jobs Ads for recruitment. Do not compare the formats only by click-through rate, since they are designed to produce different actions.

Keep the message short. Dynamic Ads use a compact layout. Put the main action or benefit in the first part of the description, and avoid long introductions and unnecessary brand statements.

Use preset text for multilingual campaigns. LinkedIn can automatically translate suggested Follower Ad copy and preset Jobs Ad CTAs. Custom text is not automatically translated — create separate ads for each language when the wording must be controlled.

Check macro fallbacks. Preview the ad with and without personalization. The message should remain understandable if LinkedIn replaces the member's name with generic text.

Use a square logo. Prepare the logo at 100 × 100 px or larger. Avoid small text, thin lines, or wide horizontal logos — these elements become difficult to identify after resizing.

Give each Spotlight Ad one destination. The headline, CTA, and landing page should describe the same offer. Do not send a Request Demo ad to a general homepage or a Download CTA to a page without a visible download action.

Keep custom backgrounds simple. Do not place important copy inside the optional Spotlight Ad background. Use the image to support the campaign visually while keeping the headline and CTA readable.

Test several messages. Useful tests include:

• Personalized versus non-personalized text
• Preset versus custom copy
• Benefit-led versus action-led headline
• Company-focused versus member-focused message
• Standard versus custom Spotlight background
• Different CTA labels

Change one variable at a time so the result can be interpreted correctly.

Evaluate follower quality. A low cost per follower is not enough. Check whether new followers match the job functions, industries, seniority levels, and company types relevant to the Page.

Keep job inventory current. Jobs Ad rendering depends on the number of suitable active vacancies available to a member. Remove closed roles and keep job information accurate so members are directed to relevant opportunities.

Which LinkedIn Dynamic Ad Format Should You Choose

Choose Follower Ads when the main goal is to grow the audience of a LinkedIn Page.

Choose Spotlight Ads when the campaign needs to send members to an external landing page.

Choose Jobs Ads when the goal is to promote vacancies and attract relevant candidates.

Comparison Table

Follower Ads are the most suitable format for Page audience growth.

Spotlight Ads provide the most control over the destination, CTA, tracking, and landing page experience.

Jobs Ads are the appropriate choice when LinkedIn should match active vacancies with members based on their experience and skills.