- LinkedIn expands the Wire Program – now called BrandLink – to include leading creators and industry voices, Steven Bartlett, Bernard Marr, Allie K. Miller, Rebecca Minkoff, Candace Nelson, Guy Raz, Gary Vaynerchuk and Shelley Zalis
- Brands can choose to sponsor a collection of exclusive video content by running video ads ahead of the content
- With BrandLink, advertisers are seeing on average 130% higher video completion rate and a 23% higher view rate compared to standard video ads
B2B marketers across APAC are facing intensifying pressure to provide campaign impact, with 87% in India feeling that ROI has become more important over the past two years. Rising to this challenge, new LinkedIn research finds that 94% of them – and 91% globally – believe that video will help them accelerate advertising ROI more than any other format*.
But, ROI is not simply about video – it’s about delivering ads against contextually relevant content. Coupling this with video, which 68% of B2B marketers in India believe is most effective in reaching and influencing members of the buyer group, helps increase brand recall*.
LinkedIn is doubling down on its investment in video, and today, the platform has announced the expansion of the Wire Program – now called BrandLink – to allow advertisers to align with editorial content from trusted publishers and, now, some of the world’s top creator voices in the US and UK, including:
- Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur, investor, speaker, author and host of the second biggest interview podcast in the world, ‘The Diary Of A CEO’
- Bernard Marr, best-selling author and futurist
- Rebecca Minkoff, Rebecca Minkoff Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Rebecca Minkoff and Co-Founder, Female Founder
- Allie K. Miller, #1 most followed voice in AI business (2M), Fortune 500 AI and Startup Advisor
- Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles and Pizzana
- Guy Raz, creator/host of ‘How I Built This’ and CEO of Built-It Productions
- Gary Vaynerchuk, creator, chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia
- Shelley Zalis, founder and CEO of The Female Quotient
With this expansion, brands can choose from a collection of Shows by LinkedIn that include exclusive video content from creators and publishers on topics that matter to LinkedIn’s more than 1 billion members. At launch, the initial set of Shows will focus on the CEO playbook, AI & innovation, starting and scaling a business, female entrepreneurship, and small business stories. With each show, a brand will have the opportunity to run their in-stream ads ahead of the creator content on LinkedIn.
Speaking about the launch, Matt Tindale, Senior Director & Head of Enterprise APAC, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, said:
“With the expansion of BrandLink, we’re making it easier for brands to reach audiences that matter most to them next to content that our members care about and trust.
Video creation on LinkedIn is growing at twice the rate of other original post formats, and 91% of B2B marketers say that video accelerates advertising ROI, so we’re doubling down on video to build a unique ad offering that includes some of the most influential voices in the industry. The expanded BrandLink offering will include exclusive Shows by LinkedIn, alongside select creators, to help both brands and creators grow their businesses.”
Since launch, publishers that are part of the BrandLink pilot have found success with the ad format, and in-stream video ads against publisher content have seen, on-average, a 130% higher video completion rate and a 23% higher view rate when compared to standard video ads**. As part of the expansion, LinkedIn is also onboarding more publishers around the world – including ADWEEK, Condé Nast, Der Spiegel, Dynamo, Entrepreneur Media, Fast Company, Front Office Sports, Inc. Magazine, Morning Brew, Penske Media Corporation,The Washington Post, USA TODAY and WaitWhat – and offering multilingual content to enable brands to strategically reach and engage the audience that matters to them.
BrandLink is available on mobile and desktop and supports a growing list of global publishers who produce region-specific content. Global advertisers can target a location as well as the preferred language setting on member profiles, aligned with our current targeting capabilities.
*B2B ROI Impact’ Research Methodology
LinkedIn commissioned YouGov to survey 1,014 B2B marketers working for large companies across the UK, US, France and India. All fieldwork was conducted online between 29th November – 20th December 2024.
**Platform data (July 2024 – January 2025)
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