For context - LinkedIn released a new feature. It allows you to personalize the intro text for image ads, calling out your name, your job title or your company.

E.g. “Hey X, you need to try product Y, it’s perfect for your company Z needs.” Basically, what cold email has had for gazillion years. Now it’s finally available in one of the most popular LinkedIn ad formats, single image ads.

I don’t know what I expected, a massive boost in engagement and CTR, but also quietly hoping for a higher lead volume.

On the first point (CTR), LinkedIn delivered. When we switched to personalization, our average CTR jumped from 0.84% to 1.32%.

That’s 0.5% increase in CTR on the same ad, no creative change. Just adding personalization. Amazing.

Now, for the lead volume part. No obvious change. The same pattern as before. I know a two-week test for a product with 6-month sales cycle is not significant. But I would have hoped to see some impact.

The current takeaway is that personalization is a nice add-on, but it will not significantly impact the pipeline. There will be more people who will engage with your ads due to personalization.

You can’t make a person interested in signing up for a demo, just by calling out their name or company.