Insights
LinkedIn Video Ads for B2B: Formats, Specs and Creative That Earn Attention
LinkedIn video ads reach your buyers while they are in a working frame of mind, and that changes what earns their attention. Useful information travels further there than on general social platforms, the opening seconds decide whether the rest gets watched, and every cut needs captions a regional audience can follow. Here are the formats, the specs from LinkedIn’s own help centre, and the creative choices the research supports.
Why LinkedIn video ads need their own creative
Most B2B teams ask how to repurpose the brand video for LinkedIn. The better question is what a finance director scrolling between two meetings will stop for. The answer is usually something they can use: a sharper way to see a problem, a number that reframes it, a product moment that saves them an hour.
The research backs that instinct. Tellis, MacInnis, Tirunillai and Zhang studied how video ads were shared across social platforms, coding emotions and more than 60 ad characteristics. Emotional ads were shared more on general platforms than on LinkedIn, and for informational ads “the reverse holds”: they did relatively better on LinkedIn.[1] The study measured sharing, which is one signal of attention and relevance, and its data predate today’s vertical video feeds. The direction is still the clearest guide you have: on LinkedIn, lead with substance.
This guide covers paid LinkedIn video ads. For organic clips your team posts from company and personal pages, see our short-form video ideas for B2B, which covers ideas drawn from your product, your people and your customers.
LinkedIn video ad formats and placements
In Campaign Manager, video is a Sponsored Content format. You can promote a video already posted on your LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page, or upload a new video directly as an ad.[2] Where it runs, and what the viewer is doing at that moment, shapes the creative.
| Format or placement | Where it plays | The creative job |
|---|---|---|
| Video ad in the LinkedIn Feed | Between posts in a member’s feed, on desktop and mobile | Earn the stop in the first seconds, then deliver one useful idea |
| Sponsored Page video post | The feed, as your existing Page or Showcase Page post | Extend the reach of a post that already holds attention |
| LinkedIn Audience Network: outstream | Trusted third-party apps and sites in the Audience Network | Make sense with no LinkedIn context around it |
| LinkedIn Audience Network: in-stream | As pre-roll paired with publisher or creator videos | Match the host content; in-stream ads can run up to 90 seconds |
LinkedIn describes in-stream video ads as in testing and gradually released, so check whether your account has access before planning a 90-second cut.[3] Video ads can be used in brand awareness, video views, website visits, engagement, lead generation and website conversion ad sets, although lead generation is not eligible for Audience Network video placements.[2] Decide the objective before the script, because a video-views ad and a lead generation ad need different endings.
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Plan your LinkedIn video ads →LinkedIn video ad specs, from LinkedIn’s help centre
These LinkedIn video ad specs come from LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions help centre, accessed 15 September 2026.[3] LinkedIn updates them, so confirm on that page before final delivery.
| Specification | What LinkedIn states |
|---|---|
| Length | 3 seconds to 30 minutes. LinkedIn recommends 15–30 seconds so a video qualifies for all placements across the Feed and the Audience Network. In-stream ads can run up to 90 seconds. |
| File | MP4; H.264 or VP8 codec; AAC or MPEG4 audio; 75 KB to 500 MB. Apple ProRes is not supported. |
| Vertical 4:5 (recommended ratio) | Recommended 720 × 900 px; minimum 360 × 450, maximum 1080 × 1350 |
| Square 1:1 | Minimum 360 × 360, maximum 1920 × 1920 px |
| Horizontal 16:9 | Recommended 1920 × 1080 or 1200 × 675 px; minimum 640 × 360, maximum 1920 × 1080 |
| Vertical 9:16 | Recommended 720 × 1280 px; minimum 360 × 640, maximum 1080 × 1920 |
| Captions | SRT file, text only; custom formatting such as font colours is not supported |
| Thumbnail | Optional; JPG or PNG up to 2 MB, matching the video’s aspect ratio and resolution |
| Headline | Up to 70 characters to avoid truncation on most devices (200 maximum) |
| Introductory text | Up to 150 characters to avoid truncation |
| Playback | Videos under 30 seconds loop until at least 30 seconds of playback; longer videos play once |
| Upload | Upload the file to LinkedIn directly, from a desktop; a YouTube or Vimeo link is not accepted |
Three of these rows change the edit. The loop rule means a 10-second ad plays three times, so design its last frame to lead back into its first. The 150-character introductory text means the post copy above the video gets one sentence, which the video should not repeat. And SRT captions carry no styling, so if your brand needs designed on-screen type, build it into the video itself.
The opening seconds: LinkedIn video best practices
LinkedIn’s own guidance for video ads starts with the opening: show the most impactful content in the first 10 seconds, deliver the message through graphics, people and text, consider subtitles, and make sure the content matches the campaign objective.[2] Research on internet video ads explains why the opening carries so much weight.
Teixeira, Wedel and Pieters tracked viewers’ facial expressions and when they stopped watching. The level of surprise did most to concentrate attention, and the speed at which joy rose did most to keep people watching.[4] For a B2B ad, surprise rarely means a gag. It means an unexpected number, a before-and-after that lands in two seconds, or a product doing in one click what the viewer does in twenty.
Context matters too. In experiments on skippable video ads, high-arousal ads were watched for longer and worked better when they matched the content around them.[5] On LinkedIn the surrounding content is professional, so energy that belongs to the viewer’s working world — a problem solved, a risk avoided — fits the feed and earns the longer watch.
- Seconds 0–2: the surprising fact, the visible problem, or the product result. No logo sting and no slow title card.
- Seconds 2–10: the one idea, stated in words a buyer would use, with on-screen text carrying it for viewers watching silently.
- After 10 seconds: the proof and the next step, matched to the objective of the ad set.
Make the ad useful, then brand it lightly
Given the Tellis finding, the strongest B2B LinkedIn video ads teach something. A benchmark from your data, a three-step method, a mistake your buyers keep making and how to spot it. The product appears as the natural way to act on what the viewer has just learned.
On LinkedIn, teach something in the first ten seconds, and the viewer stays to find out who taught it.
Branding needs the same restraint. The same study found that prominent early or persistent branding reduced sharing.[1] Earlier eye-tracking work on TV commercials, with nearly 2,000 participants, found that showing the brand in short repeated pulses, while keeping total brand exposure the same, significantly reduced avoidance.[6] That study tested television, but the mechanism suits a feed: a small logo in the corner at the hook, your product interface in the middle, a brand card at the end.
Entertainment follows a similar rule. A facial-tracking study of 82 ads and 178 consumers found an inverted-U relationship between entertainment and purchase intent, and entertainment placed after the brand appeared was positively associated with purchase intent, while entertainment before it was not.[7] Keep humour moderate, and let the brand arrive before the payoff.
People, polish and proof in B2B LinkedIn video
Polish is a choice on LinkedIn, and a simple finish can carry more trust. In an experiment on video ads, user-made videos showed no general advantage over agency-made videos, but at low technical quality they had a significantly stronger positive effect on perceived trustworthiness and expertise of the source.[8] That study used a tourism video, so treat it as a principle to test in B2B.
In practice, that supports running two kinds of creative side by side. A polished product cut, often built in motion graphics or character animation, explains what you do. A simply shot clip of a customer, an engineer or your founder, honestly presented as what it is, shows who stands behind it. A buying committee weighs a peer’s words differently from yours, and our guide to testimonial video production in Singapore covers how to capture it so it cuts down well for the feed.
Captions and languages for APAC feeds
Caption every cut. A research review of more than 100 empirical studies concluded that captions improve comprehension of, attention to and memory for video, with especially strong benefits for people watching in a language that is not their first.[9] The review did not study social feeds or muted autoplay, so the case rests on comprehension. For a regional audience watching English-language ads in Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City or Bangkok, that is reason enough.
Plan languages at the brief. Deliver a clean master, an SRT file per language for LinkedIn’s caption field, and designed on-screen text as editable layers so a Bahasa Indonesia or Thai version is a re-render. Decide market by market which ads need translated captions, which need a local voiceover, and which need a local customer. Our guide to multilingual video localisation in Southeast Asia sets out how to make those calls.
Plan the ad as a set of cuts
One LinkedIn video ad is rarely enough. Plan a small set from one script and one shoot or animation, so each placement and objective gets a cut built for it. For how running time changes what a video can carry, see our guide to explainer video length. These lengths and ratios are our planning rules of thumb, set inside LinkedIn’s specs.
| Cut | Length | Ratio | Its job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook cut | 6–10 sec, designed to loop | 4:5 | One surprising fact or result, for awareness |
| Core cut | 15–30 sec | 4:5 and 1:1 | The one idea plus proof; qualifies for every placement |
| Proof cut | 60–90 sec | 4:5 and 16:9 | A customer story or product walkthrough for engaged viewers |
| Vertical cut | 15–30 sec | 9:16 | A full-height version for viewers on mobile |
The proof cut sits close to the moderate length at which Tellis and colleagues found sharing peaked, 1.2 to 1.7 minutes,[1] and suits viewers who have already watched a shorter ad. LinkedIn lets you build a Matched Audiences segment from people who viewed your video ads, which is the natural audience for it.[2]
For the ideas behind each cut, from founder point-of-view films to product launch stories, see our creative video ideas for B2B brands. To see how we have built short product and brand cuts for technology companies, browse the portfolio.
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Send us the audience, the markets and the objective. We will plan the hook, core, proof and vertical cuts, with captions for every language, from a single script.
Scope your LinkedIn video ads →The short version
LinkedIn video ads work when they respect the feed they sit in. Lead with useful information, because informational ads did relatively better on LinkedIn in research on ad sharing. Put the surprising fact or result in the first seconds, brand in short repeated moments, and pair polished product cuts with simple, honest clips of real people. Build to LinkedIn’s own specs — 4:5 as the recommended ratio, 15–30 seconds for every placement, SRT captions — and plan a set of cuts and a caption file per language from one script.
Frequently asked questions
What are the LinkedIn video ad specs?
LinkedIn's help centre lists MP4 files from 75 KB to 500 MB, lasting 3 seconds to 30 minutes, with H.264 or VP8 video and AAC or MPEG4 audio. Supported ratios are 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16, with 4:5 marked as recommended. Captions upload as SRT files. Check the help centre before delivery, because LinkedIn updates its specs.
How long should a LinkedIn video ad be?
Aim for 15 to 30 seconds for your core cut, because LinkedIn recommends that length so a video qualifies for every placement across the Feed and the Audience Network. Add a shorter hook cut that loops cleanly, and a 60 to 90 second proof cut for viewers who have already engaged. Research on video ad sharing found sharing peaked at 1.2 to 1.7 minutes.
What aspect ratio works best for LinkedIn video ads?
Start with 4:5 vertical, which LinkedIn's help centre marks as the recommended ratio, at 720 by 900 pixels. Deliver 1:1 and 16:9 versions as well for placements and players that suit them, and a 9:16 cut for full-height mobile viewing. Frame the key action and on-screen text in the centre, so one shoot or animation crops cleanly into every ratio.
Do LinkedIn video ads need captions?
Yes, caption every LinkedIn video ad. LinkedIn suggests adding subtitles and accepts caption files in SRT format, text only. A research review of more than 100 studies found captions improve comprehension of, attention to and memory for video, especially for people watching in a second language, which describes much of a regional APAC audience watching ads in English.
What makes a good B2B LinkedIn video ad?
A good B2B LinkedIn video ad teaches the viewer something useful in its first seconds. Research on shared video ads found informational ads did relatively better on LinkedIn than on general platforms. Lead with a surprising fact or result, keep branding to short repeated moments, pair polished product cuts with simple clips of real people, and match the ending to the objective.
How do you adapt one LinkedIn video ad for Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia?
Plan the markets at the brief and build one master with editable on-screen text. Deliver an SRT caption file per language, then decide market by market whether an ad needs translated captions, a local voiceover or a local customer. Keep examples and numbers relevant to each market, and have a colleague there review the hook before the ad runs.
References
- Tellis, G. J., MacInnis, D. J., Tirunillai, S., & Zhang, Y. (2019). What drives virality (sharing) of online digital content? The critical role of information, emotion, and brand prominence. Journal of Marketing, 83(4), 1–20. doi:10.1177/0022242919841034
- LinkedIn. (2026). Video ads. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help. Accessed 15 September 2026. linkedin.com/help/lms
- LinkedIn. (2026). Video ads advertising specifications. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help. Accessed 15 September 2026. linkedin.com/help/lms
- Teixeira, T., Wedel, M., & Pieters, R. (2012). Emotion-induced engagement in internet video advertisements. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(2), 144–159. doi:10.1509/jmr.10.0207
- Belanche, D., Flavián, C., & Pérez-Rueda, A. (2017). Understanding interactive online advertising: Congruence and product involvement in highly and lowly arousing, skippable video ads. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 37, 75–88. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2016.06.004
- Teixeira, T. S., Wedel, M., & Pieters, R. (2010). Moment-to-moment optimal branding in TV commercials: Preventing avoidance by pulsing. Marketing Science, 29(5), 783–804. doi:10.1287/mksc.1100.0567
- Teixeira, T., Picard, R., & el Kaliouby, R. (2014). Why, when, and how much to entertain consumers in advertisements? A web-based facial tracking field study. Marketing Science, 33(6), 809–827. doi:10.1287/mksc.2014.0854
- Hautz, J., Füller, J., Hutter, K., & Thürridl, C. (2014). Let users generate your video ads? The impact of video source and quality on consumers’ perceptions and intended behaviors. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(1), 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2013.06.003
- Gernsbacher, M. A. (2015). Video captions benefit everyone. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2(1), 195–202. doi:10.1177/2372732215602130
