Launching on LinkedIn (single image, video and carousel)
LinkedIn ads are Sponsored Content: every ad is a post published by your Page and pointed at one ad group's audience. uplads creates that post and the ad in one step, for as many creatives and ad groups as you selected.
Before you start
- Connect your LinkedIn account in Configuration → Connections and pair the ad account.
- Have a campaign and ad group ready in Campaign Manager, or create them from the launcher: New → Campaign and New → Ad group sit in the Ad Groups card.
Start a launch
- Open the Ad Launcher and pick the LinkedIn ad account in the account picker at the top. The launcher switches to LinkedIn's wording by itself, and the Page the ads go out as shows next to the account name.
- Load creatives from the Media Library, Dropbox or Google Drive, or pick one of your Page's posts (see below).
- Pick the campaign and the ad groups the ads should go into. Ad groups from different campaigns can be selected together.
- Write the texts, check the ad names, choose Draft or Active, launch.
Formats have to match the ad group
A LinkedIn ad group is created for one ad format and only takes ads of that format:
| Creative | Ad group format |
|---|---|
| One image | Single image |
| One video | Video |
| Several images as one ad | Carousel |
| A Page post | Video for a video post, Carousel for a carousel post, Single image for image, article and text posts |
An ad group with no format yet takes whatever the first creative is; after that only that format. Launching an image into a video ad group fails on LinkedIn's side, so uplads checks it first and says which ad group would take it. If you need an ad group that does not exist yet, use New → Ad group in the launcher: it creates one in Campaign Manager without leaving uplads.
File limits: images up to 5 MB (JPG, PNG, GIF), videos as MP4 between 75 KB and 500 MB.
Campaigns, ad groups and objectives
Each ad group carries its own objective: "Website visits", "Lead generation", "Video views" and so on. A campaign's objective is optional. When the campaign has one, every ad group below it must match, so the create dialog locks the ad group's objective to it; when the campaign has none, you pick the objective per ad group. To launch with a different objective under a campaign that has one, pick or create another campaign.
New → Campaign creates a campaign with a name, an optional objective, and an optional total budget and schedule. The total budget is a lifetime cap across every ad group in the campaign; the ad groups keep their own daily or total budgets.
Texts
- Intro text - what the post says, up to 3,000 characters. The feed cuts it off after about 150, so put the point first.
- Headline - the line under the creative, up to 200 characters. LinkedIn truncates it at about 70, so keep it short.
- Destination URL - where the ad goes. Carousel ads need one as well; every card links to it.
- Call to action - the button label, from LinkedIn's fixed list.
- URL tags - appended to every destination in the batch, so you can pass UTM parameters once.
Generate with AI in the Ad Setup card writes intro text and headline for LinkedIn, in LinkedIn's voice and within its limits. See How to generate ad copy with AI.
Lead gen ad groups
An ad group with the objective Lead generation takes a Lead gen form and a Lead gen call to action instead of a destination URL and a CTA. The button opens the form inside LinkedIn; it does not link out. Only published forms owned by the ad account appear in the list and collect leads. Carousel cards carry no link in a lead gen ad group.
Carousel ads
Select the images that belong to one carousel, group them in the launcher, and give each card its headline. A carousel takes 2 to 10 cards. A card headline may run to 255 characters, but LinkedIn shows about 45, so keep it short; a card without a headline gets the ad's headline. Every card links to the batch's destination URL.
Draft or active
The switch at the end of the launcher decides, with one LinkedIn rule behind it.
Paused becomes a draft. LinkedIn does not allow a brand-new ad to be created paused - an ad can only be paused once it has passed review - so uplads creates it as a draft instead. Nothing is delivered and nothing is spent until somebody activates it in Campaign Manager or the uplads Ads Manager, and activating starts the review.
Active submits the ads for review immediately. They start delivering once LinkedIn approves them and the ad group and campaign above them are on. A campaign or ad group created from uplads is always a draft or paused; uplads never switches it on. Activate it in Campaign Manager or the uplads Ads Manager, and the ads waiting in it start.
Sponsoring an existing Page post
The LinkedIn Posts tab in Load Media lists your Page's own posts and turns one into an ad. A video post needs a Video ad group, a carousel post a Carousel ad group, and image, article and text posts a Single image ad group. If the tab says to reconnect, your LinkedIn connection predates that permission: reconnect once in Configuration and the posts appear.
Troubleshooting
- "The creative does not match the ad group format." The ad group is a Single image one and the file is a video, or the other way round. Pick an ad group of the matching format, or create one.
- "LinkedIn does not allow this combination of ad group settings." The objective, format, bid strategy and cost type of that ad group do not go together. Change one of them in Campaign Manager, or create the ad group from uplads, where only valid combinations are offered.
- "This LinkedIn ad group is full." LinkedIn takes 15 active ads per ad group. Pause or archive ads in it, or launch into another ad group.
- The ad group needs an audience of at least 300 members. LinkedIn's minimum. Widen the targeting and launch again.
- The ads are active but nothing delivers. The ad group or its campaign is still a draft or paused. Both must be on; see Draft or active.
- A launch failed halfway. Retry it from the launch page - uplads recognises the ads that were already created and only fills in the rest, so a retry never duplicates an ad.