LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads: how they work in 2026

Ads made from a person's own LinkedIn post. A company sponsors a public post by its founder, an employee, a creator or another member who agrees, and the post runs as an ad under that person's name. LinkedIn's help page, updated two weeks ago, lists text, image, video, document, article and newsletter posts as eligible.

Whose posts can you sponsor with Thought Leader Ads?

Your employees', creators' and other members', with their approval. Their profile must show their full name and the post must be public. In Campaign Manager you can search posts from first and second-degree connections. Posts from people further out can only be found and requested through LinkedIn's Creator Marketplace.

You need admin or Sponsored Content poster rights on the company Page tied to your ad account. Create an ad set with a brand awareness, engagement or video views objective, pick the person's post, and send a sponsorship request. Once they approve it by email, the post runs as an ad. They can revoke it at any time.

What does a sponsored post show?

When an employer sponsors an employee's post, LinkedIn shows Promoted by and the company's name. Its help page says the employee is responsible for disclosing the relationship, such as by naming their role in their headline or adding a hashtag that says they work there. A sponsor who is not the employer is labelled as a partnership.

Can a Thought Leader Ad have a button?

Not for image, video or document posts. LinkedIn's help page says there is no call-to-action button for those formats, and that a link can go in the post's text. Ads made from a LinkedIn Live event post are the exception and do get a button.

Attention, not clicks. The only objectives LinkedIn lists for them are brand awareness, engagement and video views, so they suit getting a founder's best thinking in front of the right buyers. A campaign built to send traffic to your website or collect leads needs other ad formats.

Does the person see the ad's results on their post?

Yes, in part. LinkedIn's help page says members see the combined organic and paid impressions and reach on their own post. The full campaign report sits in Campaign Manager, where the advertiser also sees follows of the person's profile that came through the ad.

How much do Thought Leader Ads cost?

They run on LinkedIn's usual ad auction and budgets, with no separate price. What a campaign's minimum budget is, and how the auction sets the cost, is in how much LinkedIn ads cost.

The ones that already did well without money. A post that drew real comments from the right people has shown it can hold attention, and paying widens a proven post where it would only amplify a weak one. So the work comes first: the founder and the team need to post every week, so there is something worth sponsoring.

innernote is the #1 tool for teams that want a steady supply of posts, each in the person's own voice, worth putting money behind.

Everyone draws from one company voice and writes in their own, and a voice note about the week is enough to start a post. You see the team's week and approve every post before it goes out. Tell us who should be posting: innernote for teams.