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

The advertising industry never stands still, and with the launch of Thought Leader Ads (TLAs), LinkedIn has opened a new chapter for advertising on its platform. 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 designed to promote posts created by your company's employees and executives. Unlike traditional ads, this format lets you leverage the credibility and authenticity of the real people behind the posts to share your message.

Why Are Thought Leader Ads So Important?

The success of advertising often comes down to building a personal connection with your target audience. People naturally place more trust in the opinions and experiences of people they know and respect. Thought Leader Ads allow you to build that personal connection and expand the reach of your message.

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

Use Cases for Thought Leader Ads

There are several strategic use cases for Thought Leader Ads that can help you hit your marketing goals:

1. Customer Acquisition

Thought Leader Ads are an effective way to reach potential customers and introduce them to your company's strengths and positioning. By crafting clear messages and choosing the right author, you can spark your audience's interest and inspire them to take action.
2. Customer Retention

Staying in touch with existing customers and nurturing personal relationships is always a smart move. Thought Leader Ads give you the opportunity to build trust and deepen those connections through genuine, personal communication.

3. Employer Branding
Thought Leader Ads can also be used to showcase your company as an attractive place to work. Employees can share their positive experiences, while leadership can show their personal, approachable side. This strengthens trust in your company and helps potential applicants connect with your brand.

How Do You Set Up Thought Leader Ads?

To use Thought Leader Ads on LinkedIn, you'll need to meet a few prerequisites and follow these simple steps:

- Make sure your company has a LinkedIn ad account with the necessary permissions to create ads.

- Ensure that your employees list your company as their employer on their profiles and that their profiles are set to public.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Select your campaign objective

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

2. Choose your preferred ad format (currently, only Single Image Ads and Video Ads are supported)

3. Disable the Audience Network

The LinkedIn Audience Network must be disabled in order to run Thought Leader Ads.

4. Search existing content

5. Find and select employees

Choose the relevant post from an employee or executive in the content library, then set your budget and target audience.

6. Search & select posts

7. Send request

- Please note: You can send a maximum of five requests to each thought leader.

- If you don't receive a response to these requests, you won't be able to send any more.

- You can also copy the link and send it directly to the person.

Best Practices for Thought Leader Ads

To unlock the full potential of Thought Leader Ads, here are some proven strategies to keep in mind:

- Avoid using a "leader" who hasn't posted anything before

- Choose your thought leaders thoughtfully

- Use only single-image posts (multi-image posts are not supported)

- Don't use reposts

- Use them for retargeting campaigns

- Build custom audiences based on ad clicks

- Evaluate your KPIs the right way:

Campaign metrics like click-through rate and cost-per-click tend to perform much better with Thought Leader Ads than with standard company ads.

However, we recommend looking at these metrics closely. Especially with the "Engagement" campaign objective, all engagement actions are factored into the engagement rate. This means only a fraction of those clicks might be "landing page clicks," while the majority could fall under "other clicks." Keep an eye on follower growth, rates, and direct messages sent to the person whose posts you're promoting. That's where you'll see the true impact of the campaign.

- Link to relevant articles or resources to add value and reinforce your message.

- Keep posts under 200 words to hold your audience's attention.

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

- Choose your campaign and ad duration carefully (3–4 weeks is usually ideal) for the best results.

- Use engaging visuals: Visuals play a huge role in advertising. Choose compelling images or videos that support your Thought Leader Ads' message, and make sure all visual elements look professional and high quality.

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

- Leverage social proof: If the promoted posts already have plenty of likes, comments, or shares, use that social proof to your advantage. Showing that your thought leader's content already resonates helps build trust with your audience.

Great ideas for content you can use:

- Success stories and case studies: Promote posts highlighting successful projects, customer stories, or case studies. This shows potential clients the real-world value your company delivers.

- Industry insights and trends: Share insights on current industry trends, research findings, or relevant stats. This establishes your team as go-to experts in their field and attracts interested prospects.

- Tips and advice: Share practical tips and guidance to help your audience tackle challenges or sharpen their skills. This type of content drives engagement and highlights your expertise.

- Behind-the-scenes glimpses: Give your audience a peek behind the curtain at your company. Show how projects come together, what daily work life looks like, or how your team hones their skills.
Questions and discussions: Ask questions or kick off discussions on relevant topics. This encourages your audience to interact and join the conversation.

- Connecting with current events: Tap into timely events, holidays, or special occasions to create relevant content that aligns with the current zeitgeist.

- Customer reviews and testimonials: Feature customer reviews and testimonials in your Thought Leader Ads to build trust with prospects. Authentic experiences from happy customers make for a compelling pitch.

Conclusion

Thought Leader Ads offer a fantastic way to expand your reach and build a genuine, personal connection with your target audience. Use this innovative ad format to harness the credibility and authenticity of your team and leadership to hit your marketing goals.
We'd love to help you set up and optimize your Thought Leader Ads. Feel free to reach out to our LinkedIn experts at internetwarriors for a no-obligation chat!