LinkedIn Ads UK: The 2024 Format Strategy for Leads

I see this all the time. A founder or marketing manager in the UK, struggling with LinkedIn ads, asks "Which format is best?". They've probably been told "video is king" or "carousel ads get great engagement" and now they're paralysed, terrified of pouring their budget down the drain on the wrong choice. The truth is, there is no single 'best' format. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either inexperienced or trying to sell you something. The *right* format depends entirely on what you're trying to acheive, who you're talking to, and what you're offering them.

Picking an ad format because it's trendy is like choosing a hammer to fix a leaky pipe. It's the wrong tool for the job and you'll just make a bigger mess. I'll give you a simple, practical framework for choosing the right LinkedIn ad format for generating leads in the UK, based on my experience running these exact types of campaigns. Let's ditch the fluff and focus on what actually works to get B2B leads that turn into revenue.

First, let's kill a common myth: Is "Brand Awareness" a waste of money?

You'll often hear that you need to run 'brand awareness' campaigns first. The logic seems sound: warm people up, get your name out there, then go for the lead. Here’s the uncomfortable truth about running 'Brand Awareness' or 'Reach' campaigns on platforms like LinkedIn. When you select that objective, you give the algorithm a very specific, and very dangerous, command: "Find me the most eyeballs for the least amount of money."

The algorithm, being a ruthlessly efficient machine, does exactly that. It scours your target audience and finds the people who are cheapest to show ads to. And who are those people? They're the ones who never click, never engage, and certainly never buy anything. Their attention is cheap because it's not in demand by other advertisers who are optimising for valuable actions like leads or sales. You are literally paying LinkedIn to find the worst possible prospects for your business. It's a trap that so many fall into, spending thousands of pounds to "build a brand" in front of an audience that was never going to convert anyway.

Real brand awareness, the kind that actually matters for a growing business, is a byproduct of performance. It comes from running a campaign that generates a lead, delivers immense value, and turns that lead into a happy customer who tells their peers. That's how you build a reputation. So, from this point forward, we'll assume your objective is tangible: getting leads. Every format choice will be judged on its ability to do just that.

So, what's your actual goal? Volume, Quality or Conversation?

Before you even think about uploading an image or writing a line of copy, you need to decide on your primary lead generation goal. Pretty much every B2B lead gen campaign falls into one of three buckets. Your choice here will dictate everything that follows.

1. High-Volume Leads: The goal here is to fill the top of your funnel. You want as many names and email addresses as possible for a low cost per lead (CPL). These leads are typically 'cold' or 'lukewarm'. They've shown a flicker of interest but will require significant nurturing from your sales team or email sequences to convert. This is about quantity over immediate quality.

2. High-Quality Leads: Here, you're willing to accept a higher CPL in exchange for a lead who is much further down the buying journey. They are problem-aware and actively seeking a solution. They've jumped through a few hoops to get to you, effectively pre-qualifying themselves. This is about quality over quantity.

3. Direct Conversations: This is for when you have a very specific, often small, list of high-value target accounts or individuals (Account-Based Marketing). The goal isn't just a lead in a CRM; it's to start a one-to-one dialogue with a key decision-maker. This is the most targeted and often most expensive approach.

Let's look at which ad formats are the right tool for each of these jobs.

The Workhorse Format for High-Volume Leads: Sponsored Content + Lead Gen Forms

If your objective is to get as many leads as possible for the lowest cost, your default choice should be Sponsored Content (either a Single Image Ad or a Video Ad) paired with a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form. This combination is the undisputed champion of low-cost, high-volume B2B lead generation on the platform.

Why it works: The magic here is the reduction of friction. When a user clicks your ad, they don't leave LinkedIn. A native form pops up, pre-filled with their profile information (name, email, job title, company, etc.). All they have to do is check the details and hit 'Submit'. It can take less than ten seconds. By removing the need to visit an external website, wait for it to load, and manually type in their information, you dramatically increase the conversion rate.

I've seen this work time and time again. I remember one B2B software client where we achieved a $22 cost per lead targeting senior decision-makers, a figure that would be almost impossible to hit by sending traffic to a clunky landing page. In the UK, you can realistically aim for CPLs in the £20 - £60 range for a decent quality lead, depending on the industry and seniority you're targeting.

Which creative to use?

• Single Image Ads: These are your bread and butter. They are quick to create and digest. The image needs to be bold, clear, and relevant. Avoid generic stock photos at all costs. Often, a simple graphic with a strong headline can outperform a complex photograph. The key is to stop the scroll. Your copy then does the heavy lifting, clearly articulating the value of the offer (e.g., the ebook, the checklist) and what problem it solves.
• Video Ads: Video can work exceptionally well here, but it needs to be done right. Forget the high-production corporate video. Think simple, direct-to-camera videos (like UGC style), screen recordings, or simple animated explainers. The first 3-5 seconds are everything. You must hook the viewer immediately and deliver your core message quickly. Keep it short, ideally under 60 seconds. Video can often lead to a slightly higher quality lead than a static image, as the viewer has consumed more information before converting.

The Downside: The low friction that makes this format so effective is also its biggest weakness. It's so easy to convert that you will inevitably get lower-intent leads. People who were mildly curious, clicked, and submitted the form on a whim. Your sales team needs to be aware of this. These leads require prompt and persistent follow-up and nurturing. Don't expect them to be banging down your door asking for a demo the next day. They are top-of-funnel for a reason.

The Pre-Qualifier Format for High-Quality Leads: Sponsored Content -> Landing Page

When the quality of each lead matters more than the raw number, you need to introduce a bit of 'positive friction'. This means sending traffic from a Sponsored Content ad (again, Single Image, Video, or Carousel) to a dedicated landing page on your own website. The goal of this landing page is to sell the prospect on one specific action: filling out your form.

Why it works: By asking a user to leave LinkedIn and visit your site, you are immediately filtering out the casually curious. The people who make it to your landing page and then take the time to fill out your form have shown a much higher level of intent. They are more invested. This approach is perfect for higher-value offers like webinar registrations, free trial sign-ups, demo requests (though you should rethink the standard demo offer), or downloads of in-depth reports and whitepapers.

The landing page itself is critical. It must be 100% focused on the conversion goal. That means no navigation bar, no links to other parts of your site, no distractions. Just a compelling headline, persuasive copy that speaks directly to the prospect's pain points, clear bullet points on the benefits of the offer, and a simple, obvious form. We often work with specialist copywriters for our SaaS clients just to get this part right, because a few percentage points increase in conversion rate on the landing page can make or break a campaign's profitability.

Which creative to use?

• Single Image/Video: The principles are the same as with Lead Gen Forms. The creative needs to grab attention and the copy needs to create enough desire to justify the click and the extra effort required on the landing page.
• Carousel Ads: This format can be particularly powerful for this objective. A carousel allows you to tell a more detailed story or break down a complex offer into digestible chunks. You can use the cards to showcase different features of a product, highlight steps in a process, or present testimonials. Each card is a mini-advertisement, building momentum towards the final call-to-action on the last card. It's a great way to educate a prospect before they even hit your landing page.

The Downside: You must be prepared for a significantly higher Cost Per Lead. In the UK market, it wouldn't be unusual to see CPLs range from £50 to well over £150, especially in competitive sectors like finance or tech in London. You also have an extra variable to manage and optimise: the landing page. Many campaigns fail not because the ads are bad, but because the landing page is slow, confusing, or unpersuasive. You need to get both parts of the equation right. For a complete look at building a campaign from scratch, you can check out our full 2024 UK strategy guide.

The Sniper Rifle for Direct Conversations: Conversation Ads

When you're not just looking for any lead, but a specific person at a specific company, you need a different tool. Conversation Ads (formerly Message Ads) are LinkedIn's answer to scalable, targeted outreach. They allow you to send a direct message to a user's LinkedIn inbox, starting a dialogue in a more personal and direct environment than the news feed.

Why it works: This format is the digital equivalent of walking up to a specific person at a conference and starting a conversation. It's highly personal and, when done correctly, can feel less like an advertisement and more like a helpful piece of outreach. It's the perfect tool for Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns where you have a list of target companies and job titles you want to reach. You can start a conversation, offer a piece of high-value content, or invite them to a private event, all within the messaging interface.

The key to success with Conversation Ads is to *not* sell. The initial message should be about providing value. Offer a unique insight, share a relevant article, or ask a thoughtful question related to their industry or role. Your goal is to get a reply. Once the dialogue is open, you can then guide the conversation towards your solution. A hard sell in the first message will get you ignored or blocked. I've seen many companies waste thousands on this format by treating it like a blunt sales tool.

The Downside: This is typically the most expensive format on a cost-per-send or cost-per-open basis. You're paying a premium for direct inbox access. Furthermore, because it's so direct, it can easily come across as spammy if the message is generic or irrelevant. You absolutely must do your homework on the audience you're targeting and craft a message that speaks directly to their world. Generic "Hi [First Name], I saw you're a [Job Title]..." messages don't work. For many UK SaaS companies, this can be a powerful tool, but it requires a much more delicate touch than feed-based advertising.

There are also Text Ads, the little text-only ads that appear on the right-hand rail on desktop. Honestly, I rarely recommend these for lead generation. Their click-through rates are generally very low, and while they can be cheap on a CPM basis, they struggle to drive meaningful volume for most B2B businesses. They can have a place in a hyper-targeted ABM campaign for name recognition, but they are not a primary lead generation tool.

How to Test and Budget for Different Formats

You should never go all-in on a single ad format from the start. The only way to know for sure what will work for your specific audience and offer is to test. A sensible approach is to structure your campaigns by objective.

For example, you could set up a "Lead Volume" campaign using Lead Gen Forms and a seperate "Lead Quality" campaign sending traffic to a landing page. Allocate a test budget to each – maybe a 70/30 split in favour of the volume campaign to start with, as it will likely generate data faster. Let them run for at least a week or two, long enough to get a statistically significant number of leads through each funnel.

Then, you analyse the results. Don't just look at the Cost Per Lead in LinkedIn's dashboard. That's a vanity metric. You need to look at the whole funnel. How many of the low-cost leads from the Lead Gen Form campaign actually turned into qualified sales conversations? How many of the more expensive landing page leads converted into customers? You need to calculate your Cost Per Qualified Lead (CPQL) and ultimately your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for each approach.

I remember one client in the environmental controls space. Their initial LinkedIn ads were driving leads at about £150 each to a landing page. The quality was good, but the volume was too low. We introduced a parallel campaign using Lead Gen forms with a downloadable guide. The CPL dropped to around £25. Initially, the sales team were sceptical about the quality. But after tracking the results for a month, we found that while the close rate was lower, the final cost to acquire a customer from the Lead Gen Form campaign was actually 30% cheaper. By finding the right blend of both campaign types, we reduced their overall CPL by 84% while increasing the number of new customers. This is the kind of optimisation that's only possible through structured testing.

Choosing the right ad format on LinkedIn isn't a dark art; it's a logical process. By starting with a clear objective—volume, quality, or conversation—you can select the right tool for the job and build a testing framework that lets the data, not guesswork, guide your budget. Stop chasing engagement metrics and focus on what really matters: generating leads that grow your business. If you are targeting businesses in London specifically, there are further nuances to consider, which we've covered in our in-depth guide to London LinkedIn lead generation.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Getting this right involves more than just picking a format; it's about aligning your message, your offer, and your targeting in a way that resonates with the UK market. It can be a complex process with a steep learning curve. If you're finding it difficult or simply don't have the time to manage the constant testing and optimisation required, it might be worth considering expert help. An experienced consultant or agency can bring years of cross-industry knowledge to your campaigns, helping you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your path to a positive return on investment. We offer a free, no-obligation strategy consultation where we can review your current efforts and provide specific, actionable advice on how to improve your LinkedIn lead generation. Feel free to get in touch if you'd like to have that conversation.