LinkedIn is now allowing businesses to promote content from any user on the app, not just their own employees, expanding its Thought Leader ads into a form of branded content promotion.
Previously, brands could use Thought Leader ads to turn posts from verified employees into promotions. Now, businesses have the option to promote posts from non-employees too.
Why we care. Sharing insights and experiences from people not on your payroll could help enhance your brand’s reputation, credibility and trustworthiness, potentially leading to more conversions.
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How it works. A brand can set up a Thought Leader Ad by follow these simple steps:
- Log into Campaign Manager.
- Once logged in, search for a person (by name) who is a 1st or 2nd degree connection, or input the URL of the content you want to sponsor.
- The search results will display a list of posts from that member that the brand can sponsor.
- To prevent misuse or unauthorized promotion, when a company selects a post to sponsor, the creator will receive a notification asking them to approve or deny the request.
Availability. Thought Leader Ads for non-employee members will be available globally by the end of March.
What LinkedIn is saying. LinkedIn said in a statement:
- “Nearly 73% of decision-makers say that an organization’s thought-leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competencies than its marketing materials and product sheets.”
- “The expansion of our Thought Leader Ads format to enable brands to showcase voices beyond their employees gives them a new way to reach their target audience with relevant information, like customer testimonials.”
Deep dive. Read LinkedIn’s announcement in full for more information.