What's a Good CTR for LinkedIn Ads by Industry in 2026?

A good click-through rate for LinkedIn Sponsored Content in 2026 falls between 0.55% and 0.80%, against a cross-industry average of roughly 0.61% (other benchmark reports put the average range slightly wider, at 0.44%-0.65%, with a median closer to 0.52%). Campaigns reaching 0.80%-1.30% or higher are performing in the excellent range for the platform.

Why LinkedIn's CTR benchmarks run lower than other platforms

LinkedIn's ad inventory sits inside a professional, high-intent but lower-frequency browsing environment compared to consumer social platforms — members scroll their feed less often and with more scrutiny than on Instagram or TikTok, which keeps average CTRs in the sub-1% range across nearly every industry rather than the 1%+ averages more common elsewhere. More on that in Social Media Advertising: The Complete Guide for 2026.

How CTR varies by industry and audience

• Technology and SaaS: these sectors typically see both lower cost per click and higher CTR, since the platform's audience pool for tech buyers is large and familiar with the kind of content technology brands run
• Manufacturing and healthcare: niche B2B industries like these tend to see higher CPCs and generally lower CTRs, driven by smaller addressable audiences and less ad inventory competition specific to those sectors
• Senior decision-makers as a targeting segment: campaigns targeting senior decision-makers specifically report a global CTR average around 0.55%, underscoring how much audience targeting choice — not just creative — moves the number

Where ad format changes the benchmark

CTR also depends heavily on which LinkedIn ad format is running. Standard Sponsored Content sits in the 0.35%-0.70% range depending on format, video ads perform toward the top of that band at 0.55%-0.70%, and Thought Leader Ads (organic-style posts boosted from an individual's profile rather than a company page) substantially outperform both, averaging 2.68%-3.40% CTR — a reflection of how much LinkedIn's audience trusts content that reads as a real person's post rather than a company ad unit. We cover the mechanics of this in What's the Minimum Daily Budget for Pinterest Ads?.

Reading your own CTR against these numbers

A campaign under roughly 0.44% is underperforming the platform average and is worth auditing on creative and targeting before increasing budget. A campaign consistently above 0.80% is already performing well by LinkedIn's own standards — pushing further gains from there usually comes from testing Thought Leader Ads or video formats rather than iterating further on standard Sponsored Content creative, given how much higher those formats benchmark across the board regardless of industry. If you are working through this, What's the Minimum Ad Budget for LinkedIn Ads in 2026? goes further.

Bottom Line

Benchmark a LinkedIn Sponsored Content campaign against 0.55%-0.80% CTR as the "good" range in 2026, expect tech and SaaS audiences to outperform niche B2B sectors like manufacturing or healthcare, and consider testing Thought Leader Ads or video creative if a standard Sponsored Content campaign is stuck near or below the 0.44%-0.65% platform average.