LinkedIn now allows brands to sponsor any organic post

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.

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.