INFLUENCER MARKETING

15 Effective LinkedIn Influencer Marketing Strategies Tested in 2024

Alexandra Kazakova

By Alexandra Kazakova
12 min READ | Oct 31 2024

Table of contents

Nearly 80% of marketers recognize the power of influencer marketing for boosting brand visibility and engagement.

And social media platforms have become prime spaces to leverage this approach.

Among them, LinkedIn shines as a leading platform, boasting a professional network of over 310 million active members.

However, success on LinkedIn requires more than just diving in.

Without a well-thought-out plan, your efforts will fall flat.

To truly make an impact, it’s essential to know the insider strategies that distinguish successful LinkedIn influencer marketing campaigns.

In this article, we’ll explore:

  • A brief overview of LinkedIn influencer marketing
  • Why it’s a critical tool for your business
  • 15 proven strategies for LinkedIn influencer marketing

P.S.: Need help finding influencers for your LinkedIn campaign? inBeat.co can make it easy! Our platform simplifies your search for micro and nano influencers with advanced filters like follower count, location, language, engagement rates, and verification status. While LinkedIn influencers can’t be directly found, you can use “LinkedIn” as a keyword to discover influencers active on other platforms who also have a presence on LinkedIn.

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TL;DR:

LinkedIn influencer marketing involves collaborating with industry experts to boost brand visibility and credibility.

Influencer marketing on LinkedIn builds trust and enhances engagement within professional circles.

Key strategies include:

  • Content Whitelisting: Promote influencer posts through paid ads while maintaining organic feel.
  • Ambassadorship Programs: Build long-term relationships for consistent visibility.
  • Sponsored Content: Partner with influencers to share native content.
  • Live Events/Webinars: Co-host events to broaden reach and add authenticity.
  • Branded Hashtag Campaigns: Engage audiences using unique, brand-specific hashtags.
  • Long-Running Content Series: Ensure repeated exposure with consistent influencer content.
  • Polls & Surveys: Drive engagement and collect data through interactive posts.
  • LinkedIn Articles: Co-write in-depth content with influencers.
  • Case Studies & Testimonials: Use influencer experiences to add credibility.
  • Takeovers: Let influencers temporarily manage your brand’s LinkedIn account.
  • Interactive Challenges/Contests: Create engaging campaigns for followers to participate.
  • Affiliate Marketing: Collaborate with influencers for performance-based promotions.
  • Podcasts: Collaborate with influencers for in-depth discussions on industry topics.

Using these strategies, your brand can achieve stronger engagement and reach on LinkedIn.

What Is LinkedIn Influencer Marketing and Why Do You Need It?

LinkedIn influencer marketing involves collaborating with professionals who have a strong presence and following on LinkedIn to promote your brand.

Unlike traditional influencers, LinkedIn influencers are thought leaders or industry experts whose opinions and insights carry weight within professional circles.

The reason your brand needs LinkedIn influencer marketing is its ability to enhance your credibility and reach.

When you collaborate with influencers, you tap into their established audience to increase your brand’s visibility while delivering authentic content.

Here is an example from a LinkedIn influencer marketing campaign organized by inBeat Agency for Miro.

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Top 15 LinkedIn Influencer Marketing Strategies

Let’s discover some of the tested strategies by inBeat experts for a successful LinkedIn campaign:

1. Content Whitelisting

Content whitelisting allows you to amplify an influencer’s post by promoting it through your brand’s advertising channels.

This strategy combines the influencer's credibility with your targeted marketing approach to ensure the content reaches a broader audience.

It helps in making paid promotions feel more organic, which results in better engagement and trust.

For this, the influencer provides limited access to their LinkedIn account, so you can boost or promote selected content.

To achieve specific targeting, you can use LinkedIn’s ad tools or linkedin analytics tools to define your audience based on factors such as:

  • Job titles
  • Industries
  • Seniority levels
  • Geographic locations

Example: Miro

Miro utilized LinkedIn's version of content whitelisting in collaboration with inBeat Agency.

This approach allowed the promotion of posts created by influencers who had listed Miro as their employer or served as Miro brand ambassadors.

The promoted posts appeared organic, tagged with a small “promoted by Miro” label.

As a result, Miro achieved an impressive 5% CTR—double their previous best performance.

Their CPC also significantly dropped to $0.47.

Additionally, one of Miro’s campaigns hit a CTR of 6.7%, while another campaign featuring influencer Megan reached an exceptional CTR of 10%.

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2. Leverage Ambassadorship Programs

Ambassadorship programs are a smart way to build long-term relationships with LinkedIn influencers, as 71% of marketers admit.

Instead of a one-off collaboration, you work with someone who becomes a dedicated voice for your products or services.

This helps build an ongoing engagement with the influencer’s followers.

They will keep sharing updates, reviews, and content that align with your message to keep your brand front and center in a genuine way.

Example: SEMrush

SEMrush has partnered with content strategist and growth marketer Diandra Escobar as part of their ambassadorship program.

Diandra actively promotes SEMrush events; for instance, one of her posts mentioned their marketing conference, Spotlight.

Diandra highlighted the benefits of attending the event, including expert-led keynotes, interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and pre-event activities.

Her enthusiastic promotion, along with a flash sale discount, is aimed at encouraging engagement and driving attendance to SEMrush’s major marketing event.

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3. Collaborate For Sponsored Content

Sponsored content on LinkedIn involves partnerships with influencers to create and share content that promotes your brand.

This type of content is crafted to appear native to the platform and blends seamlessly with the influencer's usual output but is marked as sponsored.

These ads come in different formats, including:

  • Single image ads
  • Document ads
  • Carousel ads
  • Video ads
  • Event ads
  • Thought leader ads
  • Connected TV ads
  • Click-to-message ads

4. Co-Host Live LinkedIn Events and Webinars

LinkedIn events and webinars are virtual gatherings hosted on the platform that allow professionals to share knowledge, insights, and expertise with a wider audience.

These can range from industry panel discussions and product demonstrations to interactive Q&A sessions.

When you collaborate with influencers to co-host events, it broadens your brand’s reach and adds a layer of authenticity.

Attendees are more likely to stay engaged when they know they’re hearing from trusted voices.

Moreover, influencers can introduce new ideas, spark thought-provoking discussions, and guide conversations to make the event more dynamic.

Example: SAP

SAP, a global leader in enterprise software solutions, frequently organizes LinkedIn Live events and webinars to engage its professional audience and showcase innovative solutions.

For example, one of its notable events was "Scoutbee & SAP: Better Data. Better Decisions. Better Together!".

This webinar explored the recently announced partnership between Scoutbee and SAP and focused on how their combined innovations enhance sourcing events.

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5. Run Branded Hashtag Campaigns

A branded hashtag campaign is an effective way to encourage influencers to promote your products or services while engaging their audience with creative posts on LinkedIn.

To launch a successful campaign, you first need to create a unique and memorable hashtag that aligns with your brand’s messaging.

Then, influencers can share posts, stories, or videos to showcase how they interact with your services with the hashtag and encourage their followers to do the same.

The hashtag will serve as the centerpiece of the campaign and tie together all the content influencers and users generate around your brand.

Example: Deloitte

Deloitte launched the #DeloitteAudit on LinkedIn to promote its audit services and celebrate resilience in the industry.

The campaign’s focus on sharing personal stories and celebrating professionals helped it resonate with the audience.

Moreover, the involvement of influencers amplified the campaign’s visibility, which made the discussion more widespread and authentic.

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6. Craft a Long-Running Content Series

You can craft a long-term content series to ensure that your brand remains consistently visible to your audience.

This type of collaboration can take various forms, such as:

  • Weekly articles
  • Monthly videos or
  • Ongoing discussions about industry trends

The key benefit of a long-term series is the repeated exposure it provides.

Rather than a one-off promotion, your brand becomes part of an influencer's regular content, which allows for deeper engagement with their followers.

7. Leverage Polls and Surveys

Polls and surveys on LinkedIn allow influencers to engage their audience while collecting valuable data for your brand.

Influencers can ask questions related to the following:

  • Industry trends
  • Customer preferences
  • Challenges that your product or service solves

This creates an interactive experience that builds credibility and strengthens the bond between your brand and the influencer’s followers.

Studies show that posts featuring polls can generate twice the engagement compared to standard posts.

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8. Collaborate on LinkedIn Articles

Another effective way to boost your LinkedIn campaign is to collaborate on LinkedIn articles with influencers.

Co-writing in-depth articles allows you to tap into the influencer's expertise while seamlessly integrating your brand's messaging.

To ensure a successful LinkedIn article collaboration with influencers, start by selecting an influencer with credibility and an engaged audience that aligns with your brand.

Also, choose relevant topics that address industry challenges or provide valuable insights, and ensure the article balances the influencer’s voice with your brand’s messaging for authenticity.

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9. Develop and Share Case Studies

Development and sharing of case studies is a powerful strategy in LinkedIn influencer marketing.

Through this, you can feature real-world success stories, preferably leveraging the personal experience of influencers and your brand’s results.

The point is to add credibility and position your brand as a trusted solution provider in the industry.

To craft an impactful case study, focus on the following:

  • Identify a specific challenge the customer faced
  • Detail the approach and solution provided by your brand
  • Highlight measurable results
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10. Let Influencers Take Over Your Brand

Influencers takeovers are a dynamic way to create engaging content and offer a fresh perspective to your audience.

In a brand takeover, influencers temporarily control your LinkedIn account for:

  • Creating posts
  • Sharing stories
  • Hosting live event

This strategy can include anything from behind-the-scenes glimpses, product demonstrations, live Q&A sessions, or discussions about industry trends.

It generates buzz and engagement, as the influencer’s followers will be keen to interact with the content coming from a familiar face on your platform.

11. Launch Interactive Challenges or Contests

Interactive challenges or contests with LinkedIn influencers are campaigns where influencers invite their followers to participate in brand-related activities in exchange for rewards or recognition.

These may include:

  • Submitting ideas
  • Completing tasks
  • Sharing their own content (UGC)

This approach can help your brand increase engagement, expand reach, and promote a sense of community.

To effectively use this strategy, it is important to align your contest theme with both brand values and the influencer’s niche.

Moreover, there should be clear rules, attractive prizes, and a simple entry process to maximize participation.

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12. Promote Leadership Content

You can also promote leadership content through LinkedIn influencers to enhance your brand’s authority and credibility in your industry.

This strategy involves collaborating with key executives, thought leaders, or experienced professionals from your industry with a focus on topics like:

  • Industry advancements
  • Innovative solutions
  • Leadership challenges

This ensures the content feels authentic and engages a wider audience.

Regularly sharing this type of content keeps your brand relevant in key conversations and builds stronger connections with professionals.

13. Feature Influencer Testimonials

Adding influencer testimonials to your LinkedIn ad campaigns is a highly effective approach to building credibility and trust with a professional audience.

When influencers share their personal experiences with your product or service, it adds a layer of authenticity that traditional ads often lack.

Moreover, testimonials help humanize your brand and can attract potential customers by showing real-world use cases and results.

For successful outcomes out of this strategy, you must choose influencers who are already trusted in your industry, as their endorsement will carry more weight.

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14. Set Up Affiliate Marketing Programs

Affiliate marketing programs with LinkedIn influencers involve partnering with professionals who can promote your brand to their network in exchange for a commission on sales or leads they generate.

This strategy works well on LinkedIn, where creators have strong credibility and can directly impact purchasing decisions within professional communities.

For this, influencers can integrate your product or service’s links into their regular content, including:

  • Posts
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Recommendations

This approach provides authentic exposure to their engaged audience.

To implement this effectively, you will need to provide influencers with unique affiliate links or codes to track performance and measure ROI.

In addition, you can boost performance by offering tiered commissions and bonuses to top influencers to encourage greater effort and results.

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15. Organize Podcasts with Influencers

Podcasts have surged in popularity as a preferred medium for content consumption by almost 59% of people who enjoy listening on the go.

They offer the opportunity for deeper, more meaningful engagement compared to quick social media interactions.

When organizing podcasts with influencers, selecting topics that resonate with professional audiences on LinkedIn can bring effective outcomes.

Discussions could precisely revolve around industry trends, expert insights, and useful tips that align with your brand’s offerings.

To make podcasts interesting, you must add elements like:

  • Storytelling
  • Q&A sessions
  • Panel discussions
  • Audience submitted questions
  • Live interactions

David Morneau, CEO at inBeat, offers a good example, conducting paradigm-changing podcasts with various CMOs and influencers.

InVision's Design Better podcast is another good example of how brands can effectively leverage LinkedIn to amplify content and engage a professional audience.

The podcast features conversations with inspiring figures from various creative fields and offers a blend of expertise that caters to both seasoned designers and those simply curious about design.

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Enhance Your LinkedIn Marketing Efforts with inBeat.co

To sum up, implementing effective LinkedIn influencer marketing strategies can greatly enhance your brand’s reach and engagement within professional circles.

From content whitelisting and branded hashtags to live events and interactive campaigns, there are many ways to make an impact.

The key is selecting the right strategies that align with your goals, target audience, and overall marketing objectives.

Key Takeaways:

  • Amplify influencer posts to make paid promotions feel organic and trustworthy through content whitelisting.
  • Ambassadorship programs help build long-term relationships with influencers for consistent brand visibility.
  • Partner with influencers to drive sales or leads in exchange for commission
  • Collaborate with influencers to host Live events on LinkedIn to increase engagement and trust.
  • Engage deeper with your audience through influencer-hosted podcasts discussing industry-relevant topics.
  • Use personal experiences from influencers to build trust and authenticity in your ad campaigns.

If you're looking to optimize your LinkedIn ad campaigns for better results, inBeat.co can provide the perfect solution.

Our platform helps you discover the right LinkedIn influencers.

Moreover, we also offer a free LinkedIn Ad Mockup Generator to test and refine different ad formats.

Book a FREE Demo Now to maximize your campaign’s results!

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