LinkedIn Thought Leader ads: which posts qualify and which don't

LinkedIn Thought Leader ads can promote a member's public text post, single image post, video post, article or newsletter post, or a LinkedIn Live event attendee post. They cannot promote celebrations, documents, polls or multi-image posts. That list is from LinkedIn's Thought leader ads help page, read on 2026-10-03, which says those types "aren't eligible for promotion at this time."

The second rule decides how you plan the creative: the post belongs to the person, not the company. You build the ad from their post, so the clip has to exist as a post first, and the thought leader has to approve it.

Who can run them and who can be featured

• To create one you need super admin, content admin or Sponsored Content poster permissions on the company Page (or its parent company Page).
• The featured person can be an employee, a creator, or a 1st, 2nd or 3rd-degree connection. Their profile must show a full name and the post must be public.
• You must request permission from the thought leader; the post author gets an email with approve and reject options, plus an auto-approval toggle and terms.
• Reposted content needs the original author's permission.
• The page says duplication is not allowed, and that you can send unlimited permission requests per thought leader.

Formats, objectives and the call to action

The page maps each post type to an ad format and the objectives it supports.

CTA buttons are not available on single image or video Thought Leader ads, so put the link in the post's intro text. Event ads do include a CTA button. Reporting in Campaign Manager covers impressions, reach, member follows and profile clicks.

The video and image still follow the normal specs

For a Thought Leader video, the Thought Leader page says member post content must meet the single image ads and video ads advertising specifications, so plan the asset to the same rules as any LinkedIn video ad (the video ads specifications page): see LinkedIn video ad specs. If the ad is a single image, the single image rules apply; see LinkedIn ad image size.

Because a multi-image post is not eligible, the carousel idea from LinkedIn multiImage posts does not carry over: if you want to boost a person's post, make it one image or one video.

What to ask Sume for

Cut the clip the founder or expert will actually post. Start from their recording, import it, and use video trim to take the best 15 to 30 seconds (start plus duration, $0.02 per job, frame-accurate by default). If there is no footage, generate a short clip: video generation lists seedance-2.5 at 4 to 30 seconds and 480p to 1080p. For a still, the Image API takes a prompt and optional references, with num_images from 1 to 4.

Sume does not post to LinkedIn or request the member's permission. The person still publishes the post from their own account, and your team requests permission in Campaign Manager. Do not make a clip that shows a real person saying something they did not say: the ad is under their name and they approve it.