Thought Leader Ads on LinkedIn - How You Can Leverage Your Expertise to Increase Your Leads

The advertising industry never stands still, and LinkedIn has turned a new chapter in advertising on the platform with the introduction of Thought Leader Ads (TLA). In this article, you'll learn everything you need to know about this innovative ad format and how it can take your business to the next level.

What are Thought Leader Ads?

Thought Leader Ads are a new ad format on LinkedIn that allows the promotion of posts from employees and executives of the company. Unlike traditional ads, this format offers the advantage of leveraging the credibility and authenticity of the people behind the posts to convey messages.

Why are Thought Leader Ads so significant?

The success of advertising often depends on the ability to create a personal connection with the target audiences. People are more likely to trust the opinions and experiences of individuals they know and respect. With Thought Leader Ads, you can establish this personal connection and increase the reach of your messages.

According to LinkedIn, Thought Leader Ads can achieve a 1.7x higher click rate and a 1.6x higher engagement rate.

Use cases for Thought Leader Ads

There are several strategic use cases for Thought Leader Ads to help achieve your marketing goals:

1. Customer Acquisition

Thought Leader Ads provide an effective way to reach potential customers and bring them closer to the strengths and positioning of the company. By crafting clear messages and choosing the right sender, you can spark the interest of your target audience and move them to action.
2. Customer Retention

It often makes sense to stay in touch with existing customers and build a personal relationship. Thought Leader Ads offer the opportunity to build trust through personal communication with customers and deepen the relationship.

3. Employer Branding
Thought Leader Ads can also be used to present the company as an attractive employer. Employees can share positive experiences, and executives can present themselves as personable and approachable. This strengthens trust in the company, and potential applicants can identify with the brand.

How to implement Thought Leader Ads?

To use Thought Leader Ads on LinkedIn, you need to meet certain prerequisites and follow the right process:

- Check if your company has an advertising account on LinkedIn and if the necessary permissions for creating ads are available.

- Ensure that employees have listed the company as their employer in their profiles and that their profiles are publicly accessible.

Step by step setup

1. Select campaign objective

Currently, only Brand Awareness and Engagement are available for Thought Leader Ads.

2. Choose the desired ad format (only Single Image Ads and Video Ads are currently available)

3. Disable Audience Network

Summary: The LinkedIn Audience Network must be disabled for Thought Leader Ads to run.

4. Browse existing content

5. Search and select employees

Select the relevant post by an employee or executive from the content library and set the budget and target audience.

6. Search & select posts

7. Send request

- Attention: There is a limit of five requests that you can send to each Thought Leader.

- If you do not receive a response to this request, you cannot send more.

- The link can also be copied and sent directly to the person.

Best practices for Thought Leader Ads

To maximize the potential of Thought Leader Ads, there are some proven strategies you should consider:

- Don't use a “Leader” who hasn't posted anything beforeThought

- Carefully select Thought Leaders

- Use only one image (posts with multiple images cannot be used)

- Do not use re-posting

- Use for retargeting campaigns

- Creation of target audiences from clicks on the ads

- Evaluate KPIs correctly:

Campaign metrics such as click rate and cost-per-click tend to be much better with Thought Leader Ads than with traditional company ads.

However, we recommend examining the metrics in detail. Especially with the campaign objective “Engagement,” all engagement actions are included in the engagement rate. It may be that only a fraction of engagement clicks make up the “clicks to the landing page,” and a majority of clicks fall under “other clicks.” Check the growth of followers. Rates and direct messages to the person whose posts you are using. The true impact of this campaign is most apparent here.

- Link relevant articles or resources to enhance the user value and impact of your messages.

- Make sure that the length of the posts does not exceed 200 words to maintain the target audience's attention.

- Mention other relevant pages or people to increase the visibility of your posts.

- Carefully select the duration of your campaign and ads (3-4 weeks is generally optimal) to achieve the best results.

- Use engaging images and videos: Visualization is an important aspect of advertising. Use engaging images or videos that support the message of your Thought Leader Ads. Ensure that visual elements are professional and of high quality.

- Personalized targeting: Use LinkedIn's extensive targeting options to tailor Thought Leader Ads to your target audience. You can segment by demographics, interests, job titles, and more to ensure your ads reach the right people.

- Utilize social proof: If the promoted posts already have many likes, comments, or shares, use this as social proof in your ads. Show that the content of your Thought Leaders already resonates to strengthen the target audience's trust.

You can use the following content:

- Success stories and case studies: Promote posts that showcase successful projects, customer stories, or case studies. This shows potential clients how your company provides real value.

- Industry insights and trends: Share insights into current industry trends, research results, or relevant statistics. This establishes your employees as experts in their field and attracts interested parties.

- Tips and advice: Publish practical advice and tips that help your target audience tackle challenges or improve skills. This type of content fosters engagement and showcases your expertise.

- Behind-the-scenes insights: Give your audience a glimpse behind the scenes of your company. Show how projects come about, what the workday looks like, or how employees develop their expertise.
Questions and discussions: Pose questions or start discussions on relevant topics. This encourages the target audience to interact and promotes opinion exchange.

- Linking with current events: Use current events, holidays, or special occasions to create relevant content and adjust your Thought Leader Ads to the current zeitgeist.

- Customer reviews and testimonials: Show customer reviews and testimonials in the Thought Leader Ads to strengthen the trust of potential clients. Authentic experiences from satisfied customers are a compelling sales argument.

Conclusion

Thought Leader Ads offer a unique opportunity to extend the reach of your messages and forge a personal connection with your target audience. Use this innovative ad format to leverage the credibility and authenticity of your employees and executives to achieve your marketing goals.
We are happy to assist you in optimizing and building your Thought Leader Ads. Feel free to contact our LinkedIn experts at internetwarriors without any obligation.