LinkedIn Empowers Brands to Sponsor User Posts for Event Promotion

LinkedIn has extended its Thought Leader Event Ads to allow businesses to sponsor user posts with the LinkedIn event URL.

This brand new feature, known as “Thought Leader Event Ads“, can be used to sponsor any member’s posts that include a link to a LinkedIn event.

As you can see in the example that this increases the visibility of the upcoming LinkedIn events using the content created by users, including CEOs, employees, creators, and industry experts.

How Thought Leader Event Ads Work?

According to LinkedIn:

“When a member – executive, employee, creator, or industry expert – shares an event Page, marketers can now promote that post with a Thought Leader Event Ad. Marketers can login to Campaign Manager to set up their Thought Leader Event Ad. From there, they can choose ‘Browse Existing’ in the Content Library to search for a member’s post containing an event to sponsor.”

As explained, after logging in to Campaign Manager, companies can choose Browse Existing in the Content Library to locate relevant posts that they can promote. A written consent from the original content creator is required for sponsoring their content, which ensures authentic collaborations between thought-leaders and brands.

This strategy leverages the influence and trust of individuals’ voices to boost the visibility and interest of LinkedIn events, and bridges natural content and paid promotions efficiently.

Game Changer for Event Marketers

LinkedIn has published multiple studies that examine how influencers affect consumer perceptions.

LinkedIn’s research shows that Thought Leader Ads generate 1.6 times more engagement than single-image ads for B2B customers. Furthermore, live events on LinkedIn have increased by 15.3% throughout 2024, signalling the increasing demand for interactive event experiences.

In March last year, LinkedIn increased the reach of its Thought Leader Ads, which now include content from all users and not only employees, thereby increasing the possibilities for this feature.

This approach also expands the scope of promotion to include sponsors, speakers, as well as industry leaders, increasing the reach of campaigns and engagement.

Practical Benefits

This upgrade allows marketing teams to align their spending with clearly defined brand awareness or engagement goals, while generating qualified leads. 

Thought Leader Event ads enable targeted sponsors to generate natural buzz around events, fostering stronger connections with specialized professional audiences.

The use of trusted voices to endorse events can help cut through the typical ads and establish credibility faster. This is essential in today’s highly competitive B2B marketing environment.

Availability and Utilization

They are currently accessible worldwide through Facebook’s Campaign Manager. 

To utilize these ads, marketers must identify posts that contain hyperlinks for the LinkedIn event, get permission to sponsor the post creators, and launch campaigns focusing on branding visibility or engagement objectives.

For more detailed information, LinkedIn provides resources and a Help Center article to support advertisers in maximizing the potential of this feature.

Key Takeaways

Thought Leader Event Ads are an evolution of B2B event marketing that combines influencer authenticity with paid reach to increase engagement. 

For brands, creators, and marketers looking to increase the visibility of events on LinkedIn, this tool provides a flexible, data-driven method to engage with professionals in a meaningful way and measure their impact.

Note: As of now, Thought Leader Event Ads only support brand awareness or engagement objectives on LinkedIn.