Stop Using LinkedIn Conversation Ads Now | The LinkedIn Ads Show

June 5, 2026 · 15 min · Episode 168

About this episode

AJ Wilcox warns B2B marketers to stop using LinkedIn Conversation Ads due to their lower performance compared to Message Ads.

NOTES Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert. Just hit 100 members so a shoutout to our awesome LI Ads fanatics for making it such an awesome community! Subscribe/Rate/Review Contact us with any questions, suggestions, or corrections! SUMMARY In this week's episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show, AJ Wilcox delivers a strong warning for B2B marketers: stop using LinkedIn Conversation Ads. After months of testing across multiple high-spend accounts, AJ reveals surprising evidence that Conversation Ads consistently generate significantly lower open rates than Message Ads—even when the audience, sender, subject line, and content are identical. He breaks down the data, shares LinkedIn's official explanations, explores possible causes behind the performance gap, and explains why the promised benefits of Conversation Ads may not outweigh the hidden costs. If you're running Sponsored Messaging campaigns on LinkedIn and want to maximize conversions while reducing wasted spend, this is an episode you won't want to miss. TRANSCRIPT For the full show transcript, see the show notes page here: Episode 168

People in this episode

Host: AJ Wilcox

Topics covered

LinkedIn Ads
B2B marketing
Conversation Ads
Message Ads
ad performance
marketing strategies

Keywords

LinkedIn
Conversation Ads
Message Ads
B2B marketing
ad performance
marketing
Sponsored Messaging
conversions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: LinkedIn, LinkedIn Ads Fanatics

Products: Conversation Ads, Message Ads