Thought leadership ads are an excellent way for B2B businesses to boost engagement and grow trust, and we’re going to uncover how you can master the art of them.
What are LinkedIn thought leadership ads?
Thought leadership ads allow companies to sponsor posts from individual LinkedIn users, usually employees, customers, or subject-matter experts. By sponsoring the post, the ad seems native to others’ LinkedIn feeds.
Instead of using the normal company tone of voice, structure and sales tactics, you’re promoting a real person’s voice and opinion, generating more trust for your brand, because as we all know: people trust people.
The ad type was launched in 2023, and if you’re looking to humanise your brand, share real expertise and generate authentic engagement, without pushing for a hard sell, you’re going to want to read on!
Why LinkedIn thought leadership ads work better than you might think
Today, advertising is all about ‘stopping the scroll’, and it’s becoming increasingly challenging for brands to capture users’ attention. But posts from individuals; especially those with strong opinions, useful tips and industry insights, are what users actually go on LinkedIn to see.
Here’s where you can expect your thought leadership ads to excel:
- High engagement rates – as always when ads don’t look like ads
- Lower CPCs & CPMs – due to the higher engagement
- Trust signals – great for warming up the users at the top of your funnel
- Reaching decision makers – they’re blind to promotional fluff & want expert advice
How to smash your thought leadership ad content
Truthfully, this is the hardest part of a thought leadership ad strategy, it will only work if the content is truly worth amplifying, we’re looking for insight, relevance and authenticity. Let’s go through some tried and tested strategies for success:
Case studies and wins
It’s giving: ‘the proof is in the pudding’. In this scenario your team should be talking about the work, sharing behind the scenes context, lessons learned, and outcomes.
If we were going to do this at Hallam it could look like this:
