How Much Do LinkedIn Ads Cost in 2025?

Planning your 2025 marketing budget? You may be wondering, “How much do LinkedIn ads cost, and are they worth it?” With over 1 billion users, LinkedIn is a key platform for B2B marketers looking to connect with professionals and decision-makers.

LinkedIn ads are highly effective for reaching professionals, though they generally cost more than ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Costs vary based on factors like audience targeting, bidding strategies, and campaign objectives. Knowing how these factors affect your budget is essential to creating a campaign that delivers results without overspending.

This guide will break down LinkedIn ad costs, the factors influencing them, and how to achieve the best possible return on your investment.

Key Takeaways

• LinkedIn ads, on average, cost $2.00–$3.00 per click (CPC), $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), and $0.26–$0.50 per send for Sponsored Messaging ads.
• Campaigns targeting competitive audiences, such as senior executives or industries like SaaS and recruiting, typically cost more.
• Refined targeting, strong ad messaging, and relevant landing pages can improve relevance scores and lower overall ad costs.
• Testing different ad formats, visuals, and headlines helps optimize performance and identify what works best.
• For businesses aiming to reach professionals and decision-makers, LinkedIn provides a reliable way to connect with high-value audiences.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What’s The Average LinkedIn Ads Cost?
• Factors That Increase The Cost of LinkedIn Ads
  • Budget
  • Bidding Strategy
  • Audience
  • Objective
  • Relevance
  • Targeting
  • Industry
• Is LinkedIn Advertising Worth The Cost?
• What Should You Spend On LinkedIn Ads?
  • How LinkedIn Ad Costs Compare To Other Platforms
• How To Reduce Your LinkedIn Ad Costs
  • Refine Your Targeting
  • Leverage Predictive Audiences
  • Improve Ad Relevance
  • Test and Optimize
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What’s The Average LinkedIn Ads Cost?

On average, LinkedIn ads cost:

• $2.00–$3.00 per click (CPC)
• $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions (CPM)
• $0.26–$0.50 per send for Sponsored Messaging ads

These figures place LinkedIn among the higher-priced advertising platforms, which aligns with its ability to deliver access to professional and decision-making audiences.

Costs depend on the campaign objective, target audience, bidding strategy, and ad relevance score. For instance, a lead generation campaign targeting senior executives in a competitive sector will likely cost more than a brand awareness campaign focused on entry-level professionals.

LinkedIn’s pricing models offer flexibility. CPC works well for campaigns focused on driving engagement, while CPM is better suited for building brand awareness. Sponsored Messaging can be effective for direct communication with a specific audience. Aligning these pricing models with your objectives can help you manage costs effectively and maximize ROI.

Factors That Increase The Cost of LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn ad costs are influenced by several factors, including your target audience, budget, bidding strategy, campaign objective, and industry competition. 

The more competitive or narrow your audience, the higher your costs will be. Your budget and bidding strategy also directly impact what you spend, as they dictate how LinkedIn prioritizes your ads in its auction system. These factors mean that LinkedIn ad costs can vary widely—even between campaigns run by the same advertiser.

Let’s break down these factors further. 

Budget

Your budget directly impacts LinkedIn ad costs because it determines how much your campaign can spend daily or over its entire duration. LinkedIn provides three main budget options:

• Daily Budget: This option sets a fixed daily spend, starting at $10 per day. It works well for ongoing campaigns with consistent activity.
• Lifetime Budget: This allocates a total spend for the campaign’s duration, starting at $100 for inactive campaigns or $10 per active day. It is ideal for campaigns with a defined timeline.
• Dynamic Group Budget: Combines budgets across a group of campaigns, allowing LinkedIn to distribute funds to the best-performing ones.

A larger budget enables LinkedIn to collect data faster and optimize campaign performance. However, without precise targeting or a clear strategy, this can lead to wasted spending. Start with a smaller budget to gather insights and scale once you identify what drives performance.

Bidding Strategy

LinkedIn offers three main bidding strategies to manage how you spend:

• Maximum Delivery: Uses your entire budget automatically to get the most results. This is a good choice for advertisers who want broad exposure without needing to adjust bids manually.
• Cost Cap: Sets a maximum cost per action, such as a click or lead, allowing you to control costs while staying focused on your goals.
• Manual Bidding: Gives full control over how much you bid for clicks, impressions, or other actions. This option works best for experienced advertisers who prefer a hands-on approach.

Each strategy has trade-offs. Automated options like Maximum Delivery simplify management, while Manual Bidding allows for more precision. Choose the one that fits your campaign goals and budget constraints.

Audience

Your target audience is one of the biggest factors influencing LinkedIn ad costs. LinkedIn’s auction system means advertisers compete for the same audience, with highly competitive groups—like senior executives or niche professionals—costing more to reach.

Broadening your audience can lower costs but often reduces lead quality. Precise targeting by job title, industry, or location may raise costs but often results in higher-quality leads. LinkedIn’s advanced segmentation tools allow you to strike the right balance between cost and lead quality.

Objective

Your campaign’s objective determines how LinkedIn charges you. Common objectives include:

• Brand Awareness: Optimized for maximum impressions.
• Engagement: Focused on increasing clicks or interactions.
• Lead Generation: Targets users likely to share their information.
• Website Visits: Drives traffic to a specific landing page.
• Video Views: Promotes visibility for video content.
• Job Applicants: Reaches users searching for opportunities.

Each objective aligns with specific bidding models, such as CPC, CPM, or CPS, and affects overall costs. For example, lead generation campaigns often cost more than brand awareness but can deliver higher ROI if you’re capturing valuable leads.

Relevance

LinkedIn assigns a Relevance Score to your ads based on how well they align with your audience’s interests and engagement. Ads with higher scores perform better in auctions and cost less. To improve your score:

• Write clear and focused ad copy that connects with your audience.
• Use high-quality visuals that draw attention.
• Align landing page content with the message in your ad.

Higher relevance can lead to lower costs and better conversion rates, making it a critical component of any campaign.

Targeting

LinkedIn provides a wide range of targeting options to help you reach the right audience, including:

• Job Titles
• Industries
• Company Size
• Geographic Location
• Skills
• Seniority Levels

Precise targeting often raises costs because of competition but delivers higher-quality leads. Broader targeting can reduce costs, though it risks attracting less-qualified prospects. Experiment with different combinations to find an approach that balances quality with cost.

Industry

The industry you target plays a significant role in your LinkedIn ad costs. Sectors like recruiting, B2B SaaS, and financial services often experience higher costs because their audiences align closely with LinkedIn’s professional user base.

For example, a recruiting firm seeking top talent will likely pay more than a nonprofit promoting an online event. Knowing how your industry influences ad costs helps you set realistic budgets and prioritize campaigns that deliver the most value.

Is LinkedIn Advertising Worth The Cost?

For many businesses, LinkedIn is an effective platform for reaching professionals, decision-makers, and B2B audiences. 

What sets LinkedIn apart is its ability to target high-value audiences. Whether promoting a product, generating leads, or recruiting talent, LinkedIn provides access to professionals who actively engage with career-related content. This precision often justifies LinkedIn’s higher costs compared to platforms like Facebook or Instagram.

Success requires aligning your campaign objectives with the right audience and messaging. Campaigns that use LinkedIn’s advanced targeting tools and provide clear, valuable offers typically perform well. For example, Lead Gen Forms can simplify the conversion process and attract quality leads.

LinkedIn works best for businesses with a defined strategy and a professional audience. If your target audience is active on the platform and fits your business goals, LinkedIn can deliver strong results. Monitoring performance metrics like conversions and engagement allows you to fine-tune campaigns and improve results over time.

What Should You Spend On LinkedIn Ads?

As mentioned earlier, LinkedIn ads typically cost:

• $2.00–$3.00 per click (CPC)
• $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions (CPM)
• $0.26–$0.50 per send for Sponsored Messaging

These figures serve as a starting point, but actual costs can vary depending on factors like your target audience, industry, and campaign objectives.

Industries like recruiting, SaaS, and finance often face higher costs due to competition for LinkedIn’s professional audience. Campaigns using Sponsored Content or Lead Gen Forms may require more upfront investment but often yield stronger engagement and better-qualified leads.

To calculate ROI, compare your ad spend to the revenue generated. For instance, spending $1,000 on ads that generate 100 leads at $10 each, with a 10% conversion rate, could produce $5,000 in revenue—a clear profit. This method works for a variety of ad types, including Connected TV campaigns.

Start with a smaller budget to test performance and expand based on results. LinkedIn’s flexible budgeting options let you optimize campaigns and allocate spending to the strategies that deliver the strongest results.

How LinkedIn Ad Costs Compare To Other Platforms

LinkedIn ads are often more expensive than other platforms, but that cost reflects the platform’s ability to reach decision-makers and professionals. Let’s compare LinkedIn’s ad costs to other networks:

Ad Network	Average CPC	Average CPM
LinkedIn	$2.00–$3.00	$5.01–$8.00
Facebook	$0.26–$0.50	$1.01–$3.00
Google Ads	$0.11–$0.50	$0.51–$1.00
Instagram	$0.01–$0.25	$0.01–$4.00
Microsoft Advertising	$1.54	$2.00–$6.00
Pinterest	$0.01–$0.10	$0.01–$1.50
TikTok	$1.00	$10.00
YouTube	$0.11–$0.40	$9.68
X (formerly Twitter)	$0.26–$0.50	$6.50

LinkedIn’s CPC and CPM rates are higher than platforms like Facebook and Instagram but similar to specialized networks like YouTube and TikTok. LinkedIn’s premium pricing reflects its ability to reach professionals with significant purchasing power and intent.

Although LinkedIn ads may have higher upfront costs, they often provide better ROI for businesses targeting decision-makers or selling high-ticket products. For campaigns that prioritize reaching professionals, the platform’s pricing is a worthwhile investment.

How To Reduce Your LinkedIn Ad Costs

Lowering LinkedIn ad costs while maintaining strong results requires careful planning. Since LinkedIn’s advertising rates are higher than most platforms, focusing on precision and performance is key. Here are strategies to help you reduce costs and improve outcomes.

Refine Your Targeting

Targeting the right audience minimizes wasted impressions and improves engagement. Use LinkedIn’s advanced targeting options, such as job title, company size, industry, and interests, to connect with the most relevant prospects. Research your target market to align your campaign with how they interact on LinkedIn.

Leverage Predictive Audiences

Predictive audiences allow you to expand your reach based on users similar to your existing audience. This feature uses LinkedIn’s machine learning to identify users likely to take the desired action. Expanding efficiently with predictive audiences can help reduce costs while improving conversions.

Improve Ad Relevance

Ad relevance impacts costs directly. Align ad copy, visuals, and landing pages with your audience’s needs. Experiment with multiple creatives to determine which ones resonate most with your audience. Relevant ads perform better in auctions, resulting in lower costs and higher engagement.

Test and Optimize

A/B testing identifies which strategies work best for your audience. Experiment with headlines, images, CTAs, and targeting methods to find the most effective combinations. Analyzing campaign performance allows you to adjust in real time and focus your budget on top-performing ads.

Combining refined targeting, relevant ads, and continuous testing helps reduce LinkedIn ad costs while maintaining high-quality results.

FAQs

How much do LinkedIn ads cost?

LinkedIn ads typically range from $2.00–$3.00 per click (CPC), $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), and $0.26–$0.50 per send for Sponsored Messaging. Costs vary based on your campaign’s audience, objective, and bidding strategy.

What is the minimum budget for LinkedIn ads?

Daily budgets start at $10 per day, while lifetime budgets require a minimum of $100 or $10 multiplied by the number of active campaign days. Begin with a modest budget to gather data and scale as performance improves.

How can I improve my LinkedIn ad performance?

Focus on precise targeting, compelling ad copy, and visually engaging creatives. Testing different approaches, such as A/B testing, helps identify what resonates with your audience and can lower costs.

Are LinkedIn ads worth the cost?

LinkedIn ads are an excellent choice for businesses targeting professionals and decision-makers. While costs are higher compared to other platforms, the ability to reach niche audiences often results in a strong ROI when campaigns are well-planned.

Conclusion

LinkedIn ads provide a reliable way to connect with professionals and decision-makers, but success depends on understanding the platform’s costs and how to optimize campaigns. Average costs range from $2.00–$3.00 per click to $5.01–$8.00 per 1,000 impressions, which may seem high but reflects the platform’s focus on reaching high-value audiences. Refining your targeting, crafting compelling creatives, and consistently testing campaigns are essential for improving ROI on LinkedIn ads. Whether your focus is lead generation, brand awareness, or recruiting, LinkedIn offers the tools needed to reach the right audience effectively.