LinkedIn is the premier platform for professionals, offering companies and executives a space to engage in meaningful industry conversations, build credibility, and establish thought leadership. With the advent of Thought Leader Ads (TLA), that LinkedIn introduced in June 2023, businesses now have a new, authentic way to amplify their executives' voices, reaching the right audiences at scale.
What Are Thought Leader Ads?
Thought Leader Ads (TLA) are an advertising format on LinkedIn that allows companies to sponsor organic posts from executives, employees or testimonials, with their consent, without resharing them from a company page. Unlike traditional ads, TLAs maintain the personal and trusted voice of the original author while significantly increasing their reach and engagement.
Why Thought Leader Ads Matter
Thought Leader Ads enable executives to authentically engage their target audience while enhancing their reach as well as professional and brand reputation.
At Edelman, we recognize that credibility and trust are key assets for business leaders in today's digital-first world. With our expertise in executive positioning, digital strategy and content optimization, Edelman helps clients navigate LinkedIn’s advertising ecosystem to ensure their messages resonate, influence and drive engagement.
At Edelman, our data-driven approach ensures maximum reach and impact by:
- Identifying the right thought leaders within your organization.
- Crafting compelling content strategies that align with business goals.
- Executing and optimizing campaigns with targeted audience segmentation to maximize engagement and enhance impact.
- Providing in-depth analytics and reporting for data-driven insights.
Key Advantages of Thought Leader Ads
Thought Leader Ads offer a distinct advantage by combining the authenticity of individual voices with the scale and targeting capabilities of LinkedIn’s advertising platform. This unique format enables organizations to humanize their brand, extend executive reach, and build trust among key audiences—all while maintaining the credibility and personal tone of the original content.
Increased Credibility & Trust:
- 73% of business leaders say thought leadership enhances brand reputation.
- 70% of decision-makers claim it increases trust in an organization. (source: 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report)
- Humanizes the Brand: Showcasing executives as thought leaders creates an authentic and personal connection.
- Expands Executive Visibility: TLAs help increase the reach of executive content among target audiences, increasing visibility of executives within their own company and allowing to influence the structure of audience segments within their followers.
- Supports Employer Branding & Recruitment: Companies can use TLAs to showcase company culture and attract top talent.
When executed correctly, Thought Leader Ads (TLAs) benefit both the executive and the company—boosting credibility, industry influence, and stakeholder engagement. By amplifying authentic voices, TLAs foster trust, spark meaningful conversations, and position both the leader and organization as industry authorities.
Best Practices for Thought Leader Ads
To maximize the effectiveness of TLAs, organizations should follow these strategic best practices:
- Selecting the Right Thought Leaders
- Focus on senior executives, subject matter experts, or industry influencers, with an active presence on LinkedIn and content that aligns with company messaging and industry trends.
- Content Strategy & Messaging
- Provide Unique Perspectives: Executives should share insights, industry predictions, and lessons learned.
- Make It Personal: Authentic storytelling performs better than corporate-style posts. However, there is a balance to be had between long format narrative content and more structured corporate posts. While authenticity is key, there’s still a need for brevity to drive ultimate successes.
- Engage with the Community: Encourage interactions by asking questions and sparking meaningful discussions.
- Use Authentic, yet media-genic and social-first Visuals: People-centric visuals drive stronger engagement by enhancing connection and relatability. Unlike polished corporate content, candid visuals add authenticity—making TLAs feel more personal and approachable, fostering genuine audience engagement.
- Campaign Execution & Targeting
- Define KPIs & Success Metrics: Focus on engagement, reach, and audience growth and audience quality rather than direct conversions.
- Leverage Precise Targeting: Use LinkedIn’s B2B targeting to reach key decision-makers and industry professionals. Enhance impact with engagement-based retargeting to reach users who have previously interacted. Use LinkedIn’s first-party data to refine targeting.
- Test & Learn Approach: A/B test different thought leader posts to understand what resonates best.
Case Study: A Healthcare CEO in EMEA
Background & Challenge:
A leading CEO in the healthcare industry in EMEA wanted to establish a strong executive presence on LinkedIn to position themselves as an industry thought leader while enhancing trust in their organization. The goal was to increase engagement, expand reach, and drive industry-wide conversations.
Strategy & Execution:
- Identified high-impact topics aligned with industry trends, healthcare innovation, and leadership. Define tone-of-voice and content best practices.
- Utilized data-driven audience segmentation to ensure precise targeting of healthcare executives and key stakeholders.
- Executed Thought Leader Ads campaigns with ongoing optimization and continuous data-driven strategy adaption.
Results & Impact:
- 6x increase in daily follower growth
- More than 20k new followers since launch Aug 2023
- ~ 9€ cost per follower acquisition, demonstrating high efficiency.
- Increased LinkedIn engagement rate by 45%, positioning the CEO as an industry voice of authority and gaining him the Top Voice Badge.
- Strengthened perception of the organization’s leadership and credibility within the healthcare sector.
In Summary…
LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads enable brands to authentically scale executive influence. With a clear content strategy, precise targeting, and ongoing optimization, businesses can maximize their thought leadership impact. At Edelman DXI, we help executives amplify their voices, engage audiences, and drive industry conversations through expert LinkedIn strategy, content creation, and paid media execution.
For further consultation, reach out to the Edelman DXI Performance team.
