#027 - LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads – Worth the Hype?
At its heart, LinkedIn is still a networking site.
That’s why individuals often get more attention than brands. But for B2B brands, it’s still the best place to connect with customers. To grab their attention, though, you need to make your brand feel more human.
So, how can you promote your offerings on LinkedIn without appearing as a faceless corporation that people scroll past? Leverage real people rather than just a logo.
LinkedIn offers a feature called Thought Leader Ads. These are basically sponsored posts from individual profiles. This allows you to sponsor personal posts and target them to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). It combines LinkedIn’s paid advertising with the natural feel of personal profiles.

Instead of spending on the usual promotional content from a company page, you use a trusted voice—a real person—to share your message. When thought leader ads pop up, they look like regular posts from a person, except for a small “Promoted by” disclaimer. This way, your target audience sees posts about your brand without them looking like ads.
Major Benefits of Using Thought Leader Ads
1. Authenticity
Thought Leader Ads avoid the typical “salesy” feel of traditional ads. Messages from individual profiles tend to get more traction and engagement because they come from real people.
2. Humanising the Brand
These ads help humanise your brand. When people receive information about your company from real employees, like the CEO or Head of Marketing, it creates a deeper connection. This approach makes the audience feel more connected to the individuals behind the brand.
3. Showcasing Expertise
Thought Leader Ads allow you to showcase the expertise within your organization. Featuring posts from key team members helps establish trust and credibility with potential clients, giving them a better understanding of your company’s values and expertise.
Tips for Thought Leader Ads:
1. Use as Part of a Broader Strategy
Thought Leader Ads should be integrated with other ad types, as they don’t include headlines or call-to-action buttons. They are not designed to drive significant traffic to landing pages and should be used alongside other LinkedIn ad types.
2. Not Ideal for Smaller Businesses
These ads might not be suitable for those new to LinkedIn advertising if they lack other website traffic or paid channels. A mix of different ad types and optimised personal LinkedIn profiles is necessary to get your business the best results.
3. Chargeable Interactions
Every interaction with Thought Leader Ads, such as clicking “read more,” liking, or commenting, is considered a chargeable click with an awareness objective. While the cost per click is low, these interactions do not directly lead to website conversions. Thought Leader Ads should be part of a larger marketing strategy where other ad types drive website traffic.
Thought Leader Ads are a great tool if you’re focused on long-term brand building and not looking for short-term leads and sales. They hit the sweet spot by combining the authentic feel of personal posts with LinkedIn’s reach and targeting features.
What are you most excited about with Thought Leader Ads? Have you tried them yet?