Per-format LinkedIn benchmarks
Source: ZenABM's 2026 LinkedIn ABM Benchmarks Report (B2B SaaS). Full report: https://zenabm.com/linkedin-abm-benchmarks-report
These are the medians you grade the user's live numbers against. Higher is better for CTR, effective CTR to LP and dwell time; lower is better for CPC, effective CPC to LP and CPM.
| LinkedIn ad format | CTR | CPC | Effective CTR to LP | Effective CPC to LP | CPM | Dwell time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thought Leader Ads | 2.68% | $2.29 | 0.29% | $3.06 | $49.37 | 6.63s |
| Single Image Ads | 0.42% | $13.23 | 0.42% | $13.23 | $59.15 | 3.64s |
| Lead Gen Form Ads | 0.45% | $12.33 | 0.00% | n/a — $811.09 / lead | $75.59 | 3.18s |
| Carousel Ads | 0.32% | $13.30 | 0.31% | $13.30 | $45.28 | 4.56s |
| Document Ads | 0.30% | $12.05 | 0.00% | n/a | $72.02 | 3.15s |
| Video Ads | 0.24% | $15.61 | 0.24% | $15.61 | $38.94 | 3.91s |
Notes on reading the table:
- Thought Leader Ads are the headline value play — ~2.7% CTR and a $3.06 effective cost per landing-page click, roughly 4x cheaper per LP click than image ads. If a user is under-investing in TLAs, that is almost always the single biggest fix.
- Single Image Ads: CTR and effective CTR to LP are the same because a standard image ad's click is the landing-page click. Same for Carousel and Video. So for those formats, CTR ≈ effective CTR to LP and CPC ≈ effective CPC to LP — small differences come from non-LP clicks (likes, profile clicks) being stripped out.
- Lead Gen Form and Document ads have no outbound landing page, so effective CTR to LP is ~0 and effective CPC to LP is n/a. Do not grade these on LP metrics. Judge Lead Gen Forms on cost per lead (benchmark $811.09/lead) and Documents on CTR, CPM and dwell.
- TLAs are split by whether they carry a link. A TLA with no link in the post cannot produce landing-page clicks, so its effective-to-LP metrics are n/a — mark them "no link", not a failure. Only TLAs with a link get graded on the 0.29% / $3.06 effective columns.
- Dwell time may not be returned by the connector. Include the column only when the data has it; otherwise omit it from the report rather than showing blanks.
Pause thresholds (for the decay / prune check)
Once an ad has 1,000+ impressions, judge it on CTR vs its format median and flag it to pause if it falls below ~two-thirds of the median:
| Format | Median CTR | Pause below (after 1,000+ impressions) |
|---|---|---|
| TLA | 2.68% | ~1.8% |
| Image | 0.42% | ~0.30% |
| Carousel | 0.32% | ~0.21% |
| Document | 0.30% | ~0.20% |
| Video | 0.24% | ~0.16% |
An ad is decaying if its weekly CTR has dropped three weeks in a row, OR it is below the pause threshold for its format after clearing 1,000 impressions. Both are report-worthy; the second is the more urgent.
Which metric decides the grade
For link-driving formats (Single Image, Carousel, Video), the deciding cost metric is effective CPC to LP
(cost / landingPageClicks), not raw CPC. Compare it to the format's effective-CPC-to-LP benchmark above
(Image $13.23, Carousel $13.30, Video $15.61). Raw CPC is secondary context. This is because raw CPC bills for
non-landing-page clicks (likes, reactions, expands) that never reach the site, so it understates the true cost of
a real visit. TLAs are graded on both (raw CPC $2.29 and effective CPC to LP $3.06), because the two diverge
sharply. Lead-gen and document ads have no LP and are graded on cost-per-lead / CTR / CPM instead.
Grading convention
For each metric, mark a pass when the user is at or better than benchmark, a flag when worse. Use a neutral dash "—" for n/a metrics (no-link TLAs, LP metrics on lead-gen/document). Keep the marks consistent so a reader can skim the scorecard and know instantly what to fix.