When a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form gets opened but almost never submitted, look at the ad's button before you rebuild the form. A Learn More button promises more information. A form asking for your details is something else, and people close it.
LinkedIn's advice for high form opens with low lead volume points the same way: cut fields or revise the wording in your creative, and make sure the message clearly relates to the form. The button is part of that message.
36 form opens, zero submissions
This one was our own account. A B2B services client of ours was running cold LinkedIn single image ads with a Lead Gen Form attached. One ad set had 61 clicks, 36 form opens and no submissions. Another, for other European countries, had 25 clicks at about $11 each, 19 form opens and no submissions. The same creatives were bringing in leads on Meta, so the offer didn't look like the problem.
We took it to a peer mentoring call, with the roles reversed: we were the ones asking. A few minutes in, another mentor spotted it. The button said Learn More, so people clicked expecting a website and got a form. The suggestion was to duplicate the ad and switch the CTA to Get Quote, the same action the client's website and our Meta and Google ads for them already used.
The CTA labels you can choose
LinkedIn's Marketing API documentation lists 14 button labels for lead generation creatives, including Apply now, Download, Get Quote, Learn More, Sign Up, Subscribe, Register, Request Demo, Join and Attend. Most of them tell the member what happens next. Learn More is the vaguest of the set, and since that call we treat it as the last choice for a Lead Gen Form.
Pick the label that names the trade: Get Quote for a quote request, Request Demo for a demo, Download for a guide. On a single image ad you can edit the call to action after launch, but we'd duplicate the ad instead, as suggested on the call, so the original keeps its numbers as a baseline.
Then check the copy and the form
- Say a form is coming. The other quick fix from the call: end the intro text with a line such as "Fill in a 30 second form to get your quote," so nobody is surprised.
- Count what people must type. LinkedIn prefills profile details, but custom questions are required fields a member has to answer to submit. LinkedIn recommends three to four fields in total, out of a maximum of 12. Our form asked three things a profile can't fill: monthly order volume, fulfillment location and website. The client's own website form had already dropped the location question.
- Don't strip it bare. We asked about removing every field. The answer was no: a form that's all prefilled is easy to send without thinking, and lead quality drops.
- Give a reason to submit. A free quote, audit or consultation tells people what they get for their details.
Read the numbers in the right order
LinkedIn counts lead form opens as the number of times a member opened the form, and completion rate as submissions divided by opens. Opens with no submissions means the click worked and the form didn't. Very few clicks is a creative or targeting problem, and no button change fixes that. And at 36 opens, one or two submissions swing the rate a lot, so judge the change over a few weeks. More on small samples in why your best-converting campaign might have made almost no sales.
The takeaways
- Form opens with zero submissions usually means the form isn't what the ad promised.
- Match the button to the trade: Get Quote, Request Demo, Download. Learn More promises information, not a form.
- Tell people in the intro text that a short form is coming.
- Custom questions are required on LinkedIn forms. Keep the ones sales needs, but don't strip the form bare.
- Completion rate is submissions divided by opens. Read it over weeks, not a weekend.
Common questions
Why are people opening my LinkedIn Lead Gen Form but not submitting it?
Often because the form isn't what the ad promised. A Learn More button suggests a website with information, then a form asking for details opens. LinkedIn's own advice for high form opens with low lead volume is to reduce the number of fields or revise the wording in your creative, and to make sure the message clearly relates to the form.
What CTA buttons can I use with a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form?
LinkedIn's Marketing API documentation lists 14 labels for lead generation creatives, including Apply now, Download, Get Quote, Learn More, Sign Up, Subscribe, Register, Request Demo, Join and Attend. Pick the one that names what people get for filling in the form.
Can I change the CTA on a live LinkedIn ad?
On single image ads, yes. LinkedIn lists the call to action among the fields you can edit, though Sponsored Content creatives can't be edited after the ad set has completed. We usually duplicate the ad with the new CTA instead, so the original keeps its numbers as a baseline.
How is LinkedIn lead form completion rate calculated?
LinkedIn defines it as the percentage of opened forms that were submitted: form submissions divided by lead form opens. Lead form opens is the number of times a member account opened a lead form.
How many fields should a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form have?
LinkedIn recommends three to four fields, and says including fewer than the maximum of 12 will likely improve conversion rates. You can add up to three custom questions, and custom questions are required fields a member must answer to submit.