LinkedIn expands Connected TV advertising to the UK for B2B campaigns

LinkedIn announced the expansion of Connected TV advertising to the United Kingdom on November 12. The offering brings professional audience criteria to video advertising on connected televisions, through inventory that includes LG, Paramount+ and Titan OS. The development concerns campaigns aimed at business buyers and decision-makers.

According to LinkedIn, its customers worldwide can use CTV Ads to target buyers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The announced expansion concerns British audiences; Romania is not included in this list of target markets.

Professional audiences beyond the LinkedIn feed

CTV refers to the delivery of video content through internet-connected televisions and streaming devices. LinkedIn advertisements appear within partners' content, including before or during films and programmes. The display device can be a smart television with built-in applications or an external device connected to a television.

LinkedIn's contribution is audience selection. The platform uses its own professional data, with criteria such as job role, industry and seniority, to define the people a campaign seeks to reach. The product also allows advertisers to continue communication in the LinkedIn feed with people exposed to television advertisements. Its product page includes lead form completions, website visits and social engagement among the actions measured.

In Campaign Manager, the format is associated with the brand awareness objective. Enabling a CTV-only ad set automatically selects LinkedIn Audience Network. The documentation describes optimisation for impressions or reach and automated bidding through Maximum delivery.

What television campaigns measure

Reports include impressions, reach, frequency, costs for impressions and reach, video completions and completion rate. Conversions appear when their measurement has been configured. For CTV, LinkedIn does not report video views, view rate or effective cost per view, because the commercials run within streaming content on large screens.

Delivery metrics are modelled. Reach represents unique member accounts with at least one impression; average frequency expresses the average number of impressions for each such account. Professional demographic reporting details the audience's job function, job title and industry.

Separately, Brand Lift tests measure changes in brand indicators through surveys. In the version administered directly by LinkedIn, members respond on web or mobile devices in the LinkedIn feed and Audience Network, and results appear in Campaign Manager's testing section. The survey is therefore a separate component from the delivery of the commercial on television.

Hybrid tests are also available, with a partner analysing results and delivering the report at the end, alongside studies administered entirely by third parties for large advertisers. Hybrid tests require at least one CTV ad set. Studies have their own eligibility and budget criteria.

Inventory and video assets have their own controls

Reports about publishers where advertisements have run are available at ad set or account level. They include the publisher's name, first and last delivery dates, content categories, property type and impressions. Account reports can cover a completed month or the current month, with daily updates for the latter; the available reporting history spans six months.

To select advertising environments, the platform provides publisher allow lists and block lists alongside IAB category exclusions. Custom DoubleVerify profiles add preferences for content suitability and contextual targeting. Access to this integration is available by request and requires a configured Pinnacle account linked to the LinkedIn account. The documentation indicates that profiles typically synchronise within approximately 24 hours.

Commercials have specifications for the television screen: a 16:9 aspect ratio, an MP4 file and the H.264 codec. Supported resolutions are 1920 × 1080 and 1280 × 720, with the former recommended. The file limit is 500 MB, and audio must have the same duration as the video. The specifications distinguish general requirements from technical delivery recommendations, separating a file's eligibility from the selection of available inventory.

Cisco is the British example presented by the company

LinkedIn presents Cisco as an early adopter in the United Kingdom and reports reaching 52% more midmarket accounts than the audience reached through in-feed video advertisements alone. LinkedIn also reports a 141% higher lead form completion rate for people previously exposed to CTV, compared with unexposed people, after the campaign continued in the feed. The comparisons belong to Cisco's campaign and measure different indicators: accounts reached and the rate of form completion.

Programmatic buying has separate conditions

The British expansion follows the October 22 announcement about buying LinkedIn CTV through Display & Video 360. That announcement concerned United States audiences and access through LinkedIn or Google representatives. It is a separate buying route from direct management in Campaign Manager.

The documentation for activation through DSP platforms still describes a test for selected managed accounts with a dedicated representative, targeting American audiences with English-language advertisements. It names The Trade Desk, Amazon Ads Agent and Display & Video 360. Published requirements include at least $50,000 in spending over 30 days and an audience of at least one million. These thresholds apply to the DSP route.

CTV Select is another distinct programme through which managed accounts can concentrate delivery on NBCUniversal or Paramount. Its documentation specifies American audiences, a fixed CPM rate and at least $100,000 per ad set. The general availability of CTV Ads in three countries does not automatically extend these special conditions to British inventory or to every buying route.