For a long time, reaching the Hungarian audience on LinkedIn required workarounds. Although the platform offered great opportunities, the available ad languages didn't make it easy to create local advertisements. However, an innovation announced in spring 2025 brought a major change: LinkedIn now supports Hungarian-language ads.
Beyond the technical development, let's try to look at this a little differently, as this new feature could hold many small treasures for you too. Let's see who might find this particularly useful, and what practical advice is worth considering if you dive in – illustrated with our own case study!
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“Everyone speaks English, what's the big deal?”
LinkedIn has always played a prominent role in the world of B2B marketing, and it works particularly well when we want to target specific industries, positions, or decision-making roles. However, since ad texts were previously only available in English, many Hungarian companies had to compromise.
But what exactly did they have to give up?
- A portion of the target audience didn't respond to English-language messages (which is completely understandable, as a potential language barrier often creates distance, but we'll come back to this later).
- In many topics, it's difficult to find words and phrases that are sophisticated and impactful, yet don't exceed the target audience's language proficiency, thus avoiding a language gap.
This makes it clearer why we're excited about this development. I could even insert a text box here for you, dear Reader, because I'm sure you could list 100 other disadvantages besides the ones just mentioned if you've been advertising Hungarian products or services on LinkedIn until now. But we'll set that aside for now, because headlines, descriptions, and CTAs can now appear in Hungarian. If you feel it would be worthwhile to get to know LinkedIn a bit better before we dive into the thick of it, a previous article you can do so by reading.
Why is it worth creating Hungarian-language LinkedIn ads?
We don't need to delve deep into research to state that people respond better to ads written in their native language.
This is especially true if the ad touches on a sensitive or personal topic, as it's important to feel a sense of being addressed. Some such areas, without being exhaustive, include:
- recruitment,
- professional services,
- and educational services.
How strange (and surreal) it is to pore over an English ad on a language school's website with only beginner English skills. Not very effective, is it? Advertising in the native language is therefore more credible, resonates better emotionally with the target user, and, not least, is easier to understand.
There's also a kind of cultural relevance to this. The Hungarian audience resonates with different content, both visually and linguistically, than, for example, a German or British target group. A particular turn of phrase, slang, or humorous element works much better in Hungarian – and the visual world can also generate greater engagement, or follower activity, if it's truly "Hungarian-style".
We also cannot ignore the fact that LinkedIn has been an outlier among campaigns until now, as we don't often create English-language ads on Facebook, Google Ads, or Instagram if the target audience is Hungarian. This development simplifies and accelerates the launch of advertisements.
Who should advertise in Hungarian on LinkedIn?
Make no mistake: Hungarian-language advertising won't bring immediate breakthroughs for every brand or campaign. However, there are segments where it can be a particularly worthwhile investment.
#m1-p#Let's see who can truly benefit from switching to Hungarian-language campaigns:##
B2B Companies Targeting the Domestic Market
LinkedIn's strength lies in precise professional targeting, but we already know that.
For businesses aiming to reach decision-makers, procurement specialists, financial, or technology leaders who operate in the Hungarian market, advertising in Hungarian is particularly advantageous.
Let's consider an example: a company offering enterprise software solutions and targeting leaders of medium-sized businesses can be much more convincing if its campaign addresses them on LinkedIn in their own language, resonating with their specific problems. Hungarian-language communication helps not only to inform but also to build trust.
Employer Branding and Recruitment
There is fierce competition for talent in the Hungarian labor market. LinkedIn has become an increasingly important tool for advertising not only IT positions but also roles in finance, HR, marketing, and engineering.
The advantage of Hungarian-language advertisements in this case is not only that the message is clearer, but also that it resonates more culturally with candidates.
#m1-y#Tip: Use a friendly, approachable style, kind words, and genuinely present your office life, team, and values – in Hungarian, with true sincerity.##
Education, Training Organization
The saying "You're never too old to learn" holds true, especially in the 21st century. Continuous development is an integral part of the lives of the current generation. What's more, young people are increasingly discerning about the information they encounter, carefully considering and filtering it. They are particularly sensitive to how they are addressed – and this applies not only to them! Those contemplating a career change or building their careers also seek a safe, friendly, and human tone.
A downloadable e-book in Hungarian, a free lesson, or an invitation to a live webinar can be much more effective than a formal English-language text.
Conferences, Event Organizers
Conferences, meetups, business breakfasts, online professional events – the Hungarian language comes in handy here too!
Participation often requires registration, application, or payment, and cultural proximity is key to building trust for these. If the form is in Hungarian but the advertisement is in English, conversions can easily be lost because a connection and trust with the potential customer or participant won't develop quickly enough.
Companies Targeting Hungarian Business Leaders and Decision-Makers
This is perhaps one of the strongest arguments for advertising in Hungarian. While most Hungarian business leaders, founders, and decision-makers have English language skills, they often make their daily decisions in Hungarian. If you offer them consulting services, software, training, or financial products, linguistic identification can be particularly important.
It's also worth noting that these leaders primarily seek partners and experts who not only figuratively but literally speak their language and have an in-depth understanding of their market. If you address them in their target market's language, Hungarian, you will immediately appear more credible to them.
For example: "As a leader, you make decisions every day – we help make them even better." Such a message resonates much more strongly in Hungarian than in English, even if the target audience has a high level of language proficiency.
+1: SMEs who haven't ventured into LinkedIn advertising until now
Many smaller companies previously avoided LinkedIn advertising because they didn't feel comfortable in the world of "corporate English." Now, however, the door has opened for domestic small and medium-sized enterprises as well.
A law firm, tax advisor, or even a business coach can confidently advertise without having to make linguistic compromises. For many entrepreneurs, this could be the first step to becoming visible to their community.
#promobox-newsletter-en###
Our own results, or the proof of the pudding is in the eating!
Our article wouldn't be complete without testing Selector's Hungarian-language LinkedIn ads. We decided to present a case study using two separate, consecutively run advertisements.
How did our experiment unfold?
We launched a Reach campaign targeting domestic decision-makers and professionals, with Hungarian texts and creatives tailored to the local context.
The first ad ran for 3 days at the end of April 2025, and the second also for 3 days in mid-May 2025.
For our first ad, we used the following animated creative:
Our second ad was similar in appearance and style to the first, and also connected in content.
However, for the first ad, we created the expressive animation shown above, while for the second, we made a simpler single-image creative.
Let's look at our results!
The two different ads produced quite different results, both in reach and in the number of engagements generated.
We've summarized this in the table below, and right after that, we'll show you what we can learn from it:
What conclusions can we draw from the results?
First and foremost, it's important to note that the primary goal of the Reach-type campaign we used is typically to achieve the widest possible reach (number of impressions) – this is more crucial than direct conversion (e.g., maximizing downloads, purchases, etc.). Therefore, when analyzing the results, we considered metrics that showed how many people we reached and how much engagement we generated with the ads.
- The first ad using an animated creative generated many impressions and more clicks. The lower CPC (cost per click) suggests that this ad performed more cost-effectively, meaning it reached more people and generated clicks more efficiently.
- The second ad running with a static creative generated significantly fewer impressions, and the number of clicks remained low. The CPC was much higher, meaning each click cost considerably more. Consequently, this campaign proved less effective, especially within the objective framework of a Reach campaign, where maximizing impressions is the primary goal.
What can we do differently next time?
While we can't draw general conclusions from just two ads, what we can take away is this:
- Regardless of language, it's important for the creative to be engaging.
- It's worth testing different segments to see how various target audience groups react to certain posts.
- It's worth testing different ad formats (image, video, carousel) and choosing the most impactful one.
Tips and Best Practices for Hungarian LinkedIn Ads
We believe that LinkedIn is not driven by impulse purchases. Here, professionalism and expertise replace cat memes. We've gathered a few tips that might come in handy if you're also experimenting with Hungarian LinkedIn ads field.
- Targeting: One of LinkedIn's biggest advantages is that based on position, industry, company name, or even city you can target. Think like decision-makers, put yourself in your consumers' shoes, and make your decisions that way! This can be much more impactful than an extra image or headline – so it's worth starting here.
- Creative: Alongside the Hungarian text, it's worth incorporating a Hungarian perspective. Consider what your target audience might culturally expect, and remember: overly formal text can feel stiff, while overly casual text quickly loses credibility. Use images that resonate with Hungarian users – avoid designs that feel like "stock photos."
- Create value: LinkedIn users operate a bit differently than, say, Facebook users. On LinkedIn, people aren't looking for a product, but rather knowledge, connections, and opportunities for growth. That's why the best-performing campaigns often provide some kind of value proposition. For instance, you could offer a free e-book, case study, or downloadable checklist, or registration for a professional event. The goal here remains the same: Make your brand memorable, make it stand out!
- Language accuracy: This is especially crucial! LinkedIn is a professional environment with educated users. A typo or incorrect phrasing can even suggest that your brand is unreliable or that you don't do precise work. We often say, "how beautiful the Hungarian language is" – usually referring to its complexities. So, take the time to check your spelling and write smooth, concise text (regardless of the language)!
- A/B testing – your friend too: It's not guaranteed that Hungarian ads will perform better for every target audience. It's worth running Hungarian and English ads in parallel as part of an A/B test. See where the click-through rate is better, where conversions are higher – and optimize accordingly.
Summary
LinkedIn's Hungarian-language ads open up new opportunities for more effective engagement with the domestic target audience. Of course, this isn't the ultimate solution for every brand, but where credibility, professionalism, and trust are key, you stand to gain a lot. What's the secret to success? Test, measure, and speak your audience's language! If you've been hesitant until now, it's time to give it a try – it might be exactly what your strategy was missing.
#promobox-en#Try a Hungarian-language LinkedIn campaign, test the results!##
