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LinkedIn Advertising Statistics & Benchmarks that B2B Marketers Need to Know

by 

Lauren O'Bryan

Last updated: January 12th, 2024

In the competitive world of B2B SaaS marketing, choosing LinkedIn as an advertising platform can make all the difference.

With its focus on business connections and precise targeting options, LinkedIn advertising can help you reach your target audience faster and get a better return on ad spend.

But what if management isn’t convinced of its value? To put some weight behind your pitch and justify the expense, you need some solid statistics and benchmarks.

In this article, we’ve selected key LinkedIn advertising stats that show just how great the platform can be for B2B SaaS marketing. We also detail the metrics benchmarks you need to keep in mind when you start your journey with LinkedIn advertising, so let’s get into it.

After going over many LinkedIn stats, we present you with the most convincing data that’ll help you make a great case for investing in LinkedIn ads.

The Demographics of LinkedIn

LinkedIn has a large user base – with around 1 billion members.

LinkedIn’s expansive user base provides a significant opportunity for reaching a broad and diverse audience, which is essential for effective social media marketing.

Over 67 million companies are listed on LinkedIn.

Not only is there a large audience base on LinkedIn, but there are also millions of companies listed, which makes it a great place for B2B advertising.

97% of Fortune 500 CEOs are on LinkedIn.

If you’re aiming for high-value B2B clients, then LinkedIn is the place to hone your account-based marketing strategy.

LinkedIn gives you global coverage with members in over 200 countries and availability in 26 languages.

Companies aiming for global expansion will find LinkedIn invaluable due to its worldwide popularity and availability in multiple languages.

LinkedIn’s user base is predicted to increase by over 11% in the next few years.

The popularity of LinkedIn is only set to increase, which makes 2024 a great time to invest in LinkedIn ads.

LinkedIn Marketing Statistics

58% of marketers say LinkedIn provides the best return on ad spend.

In terms of return on investment, a majority of marketers believe that LinkedIn ads provide a better return on investment, despite being typically more expensive than ads on other social platforms.

97% of B2B marketers are using LinkedIn for their content marketing.

LinkedIn has proven itself as a platform for increasing brand awareness, and the use statistics show that it is preferred by B2B marketers.

78% of B2B content marketers are using LinkedIn for paid ads.

According to the 13th Annual B2B Content Marketing Insights report for 2023, marketers rate LinkedIn paid advertising as more effective than paid ads on other social platforms.

LinkedIn is the most popular platform for B2B lead generation.

According to LinkedIn stats, the platform is number one for lead generation compared to other social platforms.

Conversion rates are up to 2x higher on LinkedIn.

Advertising on LinkedIn has a high conversion success rate. Audiences are more amenable to brand messages and there is generally a higher purchase intent from LinkedIn ads.

Ad revenue is expected to hit $10.35 billion by 2027.

LinkedIn ads are increasing in popularity, with revenue expected to almost double by 2027, so it’s clear there’s significant B2B marketing potential on the platform.

LinkedIn lead generation is considered to be 227% more effective than other advertising platforms.

The higher cost of advertising on LinkedIn is why some companies disregard this platform right from the start. Typically, you will spend a minimum of $10 USD per day per ad. However, you’re paying for highly targeted advertising that yields higher-quality leads – and the stats prove that!

LinkedIn Ad Statistics

Listicle-style content does 31.5% better than other content formats.

Polls and listicles are popular formats for engaging audiences effectively, particularly “how-to” listicles.

Including a high-quality image in your ad can result in a 98% higher comment rate.

It comes as no surprise that visual ads, particularly those with high-quality images that are well-tailored to the message of the ad, have a higher audience engagement rate.

Video content gets five times more engagement.

Video content is becoming increasingly popular among audiences and marketers that utilize video content get better engagement as a result.

Using lead generation forms can increase conversion rates by 2-3%.

Of the different ad types available on LinkedIn, lead generation forms cut down the excess time spent filling out a form, which, in turn, increases conversion rates.

Businesses see a 13.5% lower cost-per-acquisition when using LinkedIn’s conversion tracking tool.

By using some of the built-in analytics functionality LinkedIn ads provide, you can streamline marketing tasks and improve cost efficiency.

LinkedIn Benchmarks To Aim For

To effectively optimize and monitor your ad campaigns, you need to understand the key metrics and LinkedIn ads benchmarks to aim for. Here are the most important ones.

Note: These are broad benchmarks for the platform, and a healthy range for these metrics will vary depending on your industry and ICP. If you’d like help to understand what performance targets your B2B SaaS should specifically aim for, reach out to us for your Free Marketing Plan.

Click-Through-Rate

The click-through rate (CTR) on LinkedIn only takes into account chargeable clicks, with the average CTR benchmark ranging between 0.44%-0.65%. It’s important to note that these benchmarks can vary slightly, depending on the ad type you’re using.

The average CTRs for LinkedIn are:

• Sponsored content: 0.44% average CTR
• Text & dynamic ads: 0.024% average CTR
• Message ads: 3.2% average CTR

Cost-Per-Click

The cost-per-click (CPC) metric is not something within your control and tends to change depending on the level of competition within a specific region or industry type. For LinkedIn, the average CPC ranges from $5 to $10.

Cost-Per-Lead

Some CPL benchmarks to consider include:

• The average CPL for LinkedIn ranges from $15 to $350;
• By region, the lowest average CPL is in Latin America with $60 and the highest is in North America with $230.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rates vary depending on the definition and difficulty of the conversion. For example, if a conversion is simply getting the user to watch a video, the conversion rate will generally be higher than the conversion rate for submitting a request for a demo.

Conversion rates on LinkedIn vary substantially, as you can see from the following stats:

• Conversion rates can be anywhere from 5% to 15%;
• A good conversion rate is considered between 2% and 5%. Anything more is great.

Engagement Rate

Engagement rate benchmarks to pay attention to include the following:

• The LinkedIn benchmarks for engagement rate averages between 0.70% and 1.5%, depending on the region.
• Engagement rates in North America are typically lower than in other parts of the world.

In Summary

Despite being more expensive than ads on other social platforms, the figures don’t lie. LinkedIn ads offer access to a wide range of companies that can be precisely targeted, which is exactly what B2B marketers need.

Still, sometimes you might need a little help to get your paid ads to work for you. If you plan your marketing strategy effectively from the beginning while avoiding some common mistakes, you’ll be on the path to success with a steady stream of lead generation.