LinkedIn Influencer Marketing Just Got Better! | LinkedIn's *NEW* Thought Leader Ads

LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads

LinkedIn introduced a revolutionary feature: Influencer Thought Leader Ads. This allowed businesses to create adverts using content from an employee’s personal page, leveraging the personal connection employees have with their audience. Recently, LinkedIn expanded this feature, enabling collaboration with anyone on the platform. This opens up new avenues for influencer marketing and personal branding.

Steps to Create a LinkedIn Thought Leader Ad

Creating a LinkedIn Thought Leader Ad is straightforward and can significantly boost your marketing efforts. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Access Campaign Manager: Log in to your LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
2. Create a New Campaign: Click on the ‘Create Campaign’ button.
3. Select Objective: Choose either ‘Engagement’ or ‘Brand Awareness’ as your campaign objective.
4. Choose Ad Format: Select the ad format that best suits your content.
5. Add Thought Leader Content: In the ad creation process, choose ‘Browse existing content’.
6. Select the Thought Leader: Enter the LinkedIn profile URL of the thought leader you want to collaborate with or start typing in their name.
7. Customise Your Ad: Add necessary details like headline, description, and call-to-action.
8. Set Targeting Options: Define your target audience based on demographics, industry, job title, etc.
9. Set Budget and Schedule: Determine your budget and schedule for the ad campaign.
10. Launch Your Ad: Review all settings and launch your campaign.

Pros of LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads

Amplify Influencer Marketing

By promoting their content, you ensure that more of their audience, as well as new, similar audiences, see the post. This drives engagement for your brand to targeted audiences and increases the influencer’s exposure, making it a win-win situation.

Retarget Your Personal Audience

Previously, retargeting your personal LinkedIn followers with ads wasn’t possible. Now, by connecting your business page to your personal account using Thought Leader Ads, you can effectively turn yourself into an influencer. This enables you to retarget your audience, driving them back to your business page and amplifying your reach.

Cons of LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads

Limited Campaign Objectives

Currently, LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads only support engagement or awareness campaigns. While these are excellent for driving traffic to your company’s business page and increasing brand visibility, they do not yet optimise for conversions such as leads and sales. LinkedIn is positioning this as a ‘top of the funnel’ awareness campaign, helping you gain initial exposure which can then be retargeted for more focused campaigns.

Maximising Your LinkedIn Thought Leader Ad Campaigns

Despite the current limitations, LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads offer a powerful tool for enhancing your marketing strategy. By leveraging personal connections and influencer partnerships, you can create highly engaging content that resonates with a broader audience. This initial engagement builds a foundation that you can later convert into more targeted actions, such as lead generation and sales.

To learn more about maximising your LinkedIn marketing efforts, check out my latest video where I dive deeper into strategies and tips for using LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads effectively by clicking below:

For my best marketing tips, make sure you download 'The Formula ', free from my website.