Use Thought Leader Ads to promote content from LinkedIn members, creators, or employees of your company which can increase your reach and help you meet your brand goals. Thought Leader Ads help your content stay engaging and relevant by using authentic member experiences.
Thought Leader Ads
Last updated: 2 months agoConsiderations
| Consideration | Notes |
|---|---|
| Member's post permissions | You'll need to request permission from the thought leader or content creator to sponsor their post. To be eligible for sponsorship, the member’s profile must display their full name and the post must be public. |
| Call-to-action | A call-to-action (CTA) button isn't available for single image or video ads, but URLs can be added to the intro text. Event Thought Leader Ads include a CTA button. |
| Organic post type | Celebrations, documents, polls, and multi-image posts aren't eligible for promotion at this time. Reposted content isn't eligible for sponsorship. To promote content, request permission from the original author and promote the original post. |
| Ad duplication | You can't duplicate a Thought Leader Ad. |
| Post discoverability | You can search and request sponsorship for posts from your 1st and 2nd-degree connections in Campaign Manager or Creator Marketplace. You can only search and request sponsorship for posts from 3rd-degree+ connections in Creator Marketplace. |
| Content specifications | Member post content must meet the following advertising specifications: Member must be an attendee of your Page's LinkedIn Live Event and their post must include the event link which includes a preview of the event creation post. |
Types of content that can be promoted as a Thought Leader Ad
You can promote the following types of content for a Thought Leader Ad:
- Member posts - You can promote public text, single image, video, or article and newsletter posts from employees of your company, creators, and members who are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-degree+ connections. Eligible collaborative posts are also supported.
- Events - Posts from attendees of LinkedIn Live Events created by the LinkedIn page associated with your ad account.
- Articles and newsletters - Long-form articles and newsletter posts published natively on LinkedIn.
Available ad formats and objectives for Thought Leader Ads
The following ad formats and objectives are available when creating an ad set using member public posts as Thought Leader Ads:
| LinkedIn profile post content type | Ad format | Objective |
|---|---|---|
| Single image or text | Single image | Brand awareness Engagement |
| Video | Video | Brand awareness Engagement Video views |
| LinkedIn Live Event | Event | Brand awareness Engagement |
| Newsletters or article | Article and Newsletter | Brand awareness Engagement |
Sponsor permission requests for an organic post
Once a sponsor permission request has been sent, the author of the post will receive an email that'll redirect to a page with the post that the company is proposing to promote as well as:
- Option to approve or reject
- Option to turn auto-approvals on or off
- Terms and conditions
Here's a tip
There's no limit to the number of requests that you can send to each thought leader.
Reporting and metrics for thought leader ads
Campaign Manager reports on the performance of the Thought Leader Ad.
Members can view the aggregated total impressions and reach of organic and paid metrics on their organic post from their profile. Keep in mind that this total doesn't reflect LinkedIn Audience Network metrics.
The engagement metrics that apply to Thought Leader Ads include:
- Member follows - When an ad is a sponsored member post and a member follows the member profile through the ad.
- Clicks to member profile - When an ad is a sponsored member post and a member clicks the thought leader profile through the ad.