LinkedIn has introduced a more intuitive way for brands to find and promote user-generated content, making its Thought Leader Ads easier to activate and manage through Campaign Manager. The new Partnerships tab simplifies discovery and permissions, allowing advertisers to boost authentic voices and credible commentary that mention their brand, product, or event.

The update reinforces LinkedIn’s focus on helping B2B marketers build trust through real people, not just polished brand messaging. By improving how companies identify and collaborate with thought leaders, the platform is aligning itself with one of the fastest-growing areas of business marketing: B2B influence.

A Simpler Route To Thought Leadership

Thought Leader Ads allow brands to sponsor organic posts from individuals on LinkedIn, turning high-performing, authentic content into paid campaigns. The format originally focused on employee posts but expanded in 2023 to include creators, customers and event content.

Now, with enhanced discovery, marketers can search across first, second and even third-degree connections to find public posts referencing their brand or event. Once a relevant post is identified, they can request permission from the author to promote it directly within Campaign Manager.

The process is managed through the Partnerships tab, where advertisers can filter by content type, company mention, creator or posting date. Once a creator grants approval, a campaign can be launched immediately from the same dashboard. For busy teams, it is a practical upgrade that removes the manual outreach and tracking once required to run this kind of activity.

Authentic Voices Drive Results

The case for Thought Leader Ads is strong. LinkedIn data shows these ads generate up to twice the click-through rate of standard single-image ads with similar objectives. The performance boost reflects the power of personal credibility, as audiences engage more readily with authentic, expert voices than with corporate content.

This aligns with the findings of the 2024 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study by LinkedIn and Edelman, which found that 64% of B2B decision-makers say thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing a company’s capabilities than marketing materials or product sheets. In the same study, 55% of buyers said a company’s thought leadership had directly contributed to awarding it business.

Authority and authenticity are driving influence in B2B marketing. It is not only what a brand says that matters, but who says it and how it is shared.

The Rise Of B2B Influence

Influencer marketing has matured beyond consumer sectors, with B2B adoption accelerating quickly. According to the Ogilvy Business Influence 2024 report, 75% of B2B marketers already work with industry influencers and 93% plan to maintain or increase that investment over the next year.

The report also highlights that professional audiences prefer insights from peers and experts over brands. Seven in ten B2B decision-makers say they trust information from people they perceive as industry experts more than brand-led communications.

This preference is reshaping how brands approach credibility. Instead of relying solely on owned channels or company spokespeople, leading marketers are forming structured partnerships with influential professionals, subject-matter experts and employees who already command respect in their fields.

LinkedIn’s new workflow directly supports this shift. It provides a way to identify those voices, secure permission to collaborate and amplify their content within the same platform.

A Transparent Collaboration Process

The Partnerships tool also formalises the relationship between creators and brands. When a marketer requests to promote a post, the author receives a notification and can approve or decline the request.

LinkedIn has introduced several permission statuses such as “Requested”, “Approved” and “Revoked” to ensure full transparency. Creators can even choose to auto-approve future sponsorships from brands they already trust.

If permission is withdrawn, any live campaign using that post automatically stops. It is a system designed to protect both parties, preserving authenticity while enabling scalable collaboration.

Early Steps Toward Creator Monetisation

Although LinkedIn has not yet introduced direct monetisation for creators whose posts are sponsored, the new discovery system could pave the way for future commercial arrangements. If the format grows, it would make sense for the platform to test a revenue-sharing model similar to those used by YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

For now, creators benefit primarily from increased exposure and association with respected brands. As B2B influence continues to professionalise, LinkedIn’s infrastructure for discovery, permissions and campaign management lays the groundwork for a more formal creator economy within the platform.

Practical Benefits For Marketers

Beyond authenticity, the new process offers tangible operational advantages. By managing discovery and permissions within Campaign Manager, LinkedIn has turned what was previously a relationship-driven effort into a streamlined, data-driven workflow.

Advertisers can filter by content type, such as video, article or newsletter, and use the same objectives available for standard ad campaigns, including brand awareness and engagement. The integration also ensures full compliance with LinkedIn’s advertising standards and transparency requirements.

The streamlined workflow makes it easier for B2B marketers to scale programmes that combine employee advocacy, influencer partnerships and event promotion, all using the same ad infrastructure.

The Bigger Picture

Enhanced discovery for Thought Leader Ads is now rolling out globally, starting with select markets. It is the latest in a series of updates positioning LinkedIn as the go-to platform for B2B brand building, combining paid amplification with genuine professional influence.

B2B influencer marketing is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2024 Benchmark Report estimates that the B2B segment will surpass USD 11 billion in annual spend by 2027, reflecting the growing recognition that credibility and expertise are key to driving business outcomes.

For marketers, the message is clear: authentic voices outperform corporate messaging. By making it easier to identify and amplify those voices, LinkedIn is helping brands reach decision-makers in a way that feels relevant, trustworthy and real.

In an environment where attention and credibility are in short supply, Thought Leader Ads could become one of the most effective tools in the modern B2B marketer’s toolkit.