At a glance
0.68%
Avg CTR, saaS LinkedIn Ads
No other platform lets you target "VP of Engineering at a Series B SaaS company with 50–200 employees." LinkedIn's professional graph is unique — and justifies the premium CPL. For SaaS products targeting business buyers, LinkedIn is typically the highest-quality lead source by close rate and ACV, even when Google Ads CPL is 4–5x lower. The ROI calculation that matters: (LinkedIn CPL ÷ close rate) vs (Google CPL ÷ close rate), weighted by average ACV.
| Ad Format | CTR | CPC | CPL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Content (Single Image) | 0.56% | $9.84 | $88.40 | Most common; use for broad awareness to target companies |
| Sponsored Content (Carousel) | 0.44% | $11.20 | $101.80 | Multi-feature showcases; better for complex products |
| Sponsored Content (Video) | 0.48% | $8.40 | $87.50 | 30–60s product demos perform best; use captions |
| Lead Gen Forms (native) | 0.72% | $7.84 | $54.40 | Pre-fills LinkedIn profile data; 35% lower CPL vs. landing page |
| Message Ads (InMail) | 3.4%* | N/A | $64.20 | *CTR = open-to-click rate; use for named account targeting |
| Conversation Ads | 2.8%* | N/A | $58.80 | Interactive message with branching CTA options |
| Dynamic Ads (Spotlight) | 0.08% | $12.40 | $154.80 | Low CTR but high personalization; good for enterprise ABM |
| Text Ads | 0.02% | $4.84 | $242.00 | Cheapest CPC but very low CTR; low-investment brand presence only |
| Company Size | Avg CPC | Avg CPL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 employees | $5.84 | $31.40 | Low CPL; lower ACV — good for PLG tools |
| 11–50 employees | $7.44 | $44.80 | Sweet spot for SMB SaaS |
| 51–200 employees | $8.84 | $62.40 | Mid-market — strong ROI for $200–$2,000/yr products |
| 201–500 employees | $10.40 | $84.20 | Complex buying committee; use content offers |
| 501–1,000 employees | $12.84 | $108.40 | Enterprise sales cycle; optimize for pipeline, not lead count |
| 1,000+ employees | $14.40 | $148.80 | Enterprise ABM only; requires high ACV to be profitable |
These benchmarks are drawn from a multi-source benchmark cohort aggregated across industries and regions, covering the period Q1 2023 – Q4 2024. Figures on this page come from the Benchmarketing benchmark dataset: thousands of curated benchmark observations spanning channels, industries, and US metro areas, refreshed on a published schedule. Every statistic traces to a named source — no anonymous “studies show.” Data is sourced from:
The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method reads every marketing metric against four percentile bands — P25 (bottom quartile), median, P75 (top quartile), and elite (top ~10%) — for a specific industry and channel, instead of a single cross-industry average. Averages blend brand and non-brand campaigns, $500/month and $500,000/month accounts, and unrelated industries into a number almost nobody actually has.
Benchmarks reflect median values across large sample sets. Your industry, business model, and account maturity will cause variation. Use P25/P75 ranges to understand realistic distribution.
Read full methodologyYes — when ACV justifies it. LinkedIn CPLs of $74–$88 are 4–5x higher than Google Ads for the same SaaS product, but lead quality is dramatically higher. LinkedIn leads close at 2–3x the rate of Google Ads leads for mid-market and enterprise products. Break-even point: if ACV > $5,000, LinkedIn ROI is typically superior to any other paid channel.
SaaS Industry Benchmarks
All-channel benchmarks for SaaS
LinkedIn Ads Benchmarks
Full LinkedIn advertising benchmark data
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
Native lead form benchmarks on LinkedIn
Google Ads for SaaS
Google Ads benchmarks for SaaS companies
CPL Benchmarks
Cost per lead across all channels
LTV:CAC Benchmarks
SaaS growth health ratios
Every statistic on this page traces to a named source below. Benchmarketing does not publish anonymous "studies show" figures. Rows labeled Benchmarketing are our own aggregated, curated benchmark data.
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Written by
Benchmarketing Research Team
Data & Analytics
Reviewed by
Performance Marketing Editorial
Senior Review
Last updated
Reviewed March 2026
Observation period: Q1 2023 – Q4 2024