What Are Thought Leader Ads?

Think of them as stealth mode advertising. Thought Leader ads look like regular LinkedIn posts but give you the targeting superpowers of paid ads. They feel native because they literally are.   You're promoting real posts from real people's profiles.

Here's what makes them sneaky good: They don't scream "advertisement." They just show up in feeds looking like organic content, with only a tiny "promoted by [company]" tag giving them away.

The Setup (It's Easier Than You Think)

Step 1: Choose Your Objective

• Pick "Engagement" or "Brand Awareness"

• Skip "Website Visits" - it's not available for Thought Leader ads

Step 2: Layer Your Targeting Gavin showed me you need both:

• Contact-level targeting: Job titles like "Head of Marketing," "CMO," "VP Marketing"

• Account-level targeting: Company size, industries, or better yet - upload your target account list

Pro tip from Gavin: "Upload a target account list if you can. You'll have 100% confidence you're hitting the right companies."

Step 3: Find Your Content

• Use the "Browse Existing Content" option

• Paste in the LinkedIn post URL

• Hit "Request Approval" and send it to the post owner

The Real Power Move

Here's where it gets interesting. Gavin's secret weapon isn't just running these ads - it's what happens next.

When someone clicks through to your website from a Thought Leader ad, you can identify them using tools like RB2B, Unify, or Warmly. Then you trigger automated follow-up sequences or sales outreach.

"Try running thought leader ads of people that don't work at your company," Gavin suggested. "If you can get a customer to post about you and then promote that - that's gold."

When to Use This vs. Regular Ads

I asked Gavin the obvious question: When should you choose Thought Leader ads over single image ads?

His answer: "Don't look at it as lead gen. It's very much for brand awareness, getting in front of the right people with the right message."

You measure success by:

• Which companies are engaging with your ads

• Website traffic from your target accounts

• Using engagement as a signal for outbound sales efforts

My Take

What I love about this approach is how it flips traditional advertising on its head. Instead of interrupting people with obvious ads, you're serving them valuable content that just happens to be strategically targeted.

It's like having control over the organic feed - you get to decide who sees your best content.

Action Items for This Week

1. Audit your recent LinkedIn posts - which ones got the most engagement?

2. Build a target account list of 50-100 companies you want to reach

3. Test one Thought Leader ad with your best-performing post

4. Set up website visitor identification so you can follow up with engaged prospects

About Gavin Tanner

Gavin is the founder of Fractional Demand. He's been in digital marketing for close to a decade, starting at agencies and scaling to Director of Demand Gen at tech companies like Matillion. You can find him sharing more insights like this on LinkedIn.

Want more 10-minute marketing lessons? Subscribe to our YouTube page here get notified when new episodes drop, and if you know a marketer with a playbook worth sharing, send them our way.