ICYMI: Unpacking Linktree's OOH x Creator Playbook

An interview with Lara Cohen, Linktree's SVP Marketing, Creators & Business Development

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Linktree has long been a link-in-bio staple for creators looking to organize and monetize their online presence, but in 2024, the company made an unexpected move — jumping into OOH (out-of-home) to merge their creator marketing efforts with a billboard in Times Square.

Now with 70 million users — up from 45 million when its first billboard campaign dropped in January 2024 — Linktree is proving that blending digital and traditional marketing isn’t just for legacy brands. Meeting audiences both online and IRL is officially part of the playbook.

I caught up with Lara Cohen, SVP of Marketing, Creators & Business Development at Linktree, to talk about what goes into picking talent for these campaigns, how to turn IRL moments into viral social content, and what brands can learn from Linktree’s approach.

ICYMI: You just had Chelsea Handler on a billboard in Times Square, you had Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt after they lost their home in the LA Fires, Stanley Tucci, Steph Curry, gamers, singers, creators… What goes into choosing talent for these campaigns?

Lara Cohen: We really love to work with folks in these moments of cultural relevancy when they really want to drive their audience to things they care about most — which inherently is one of the core principles of why Linktree exists.

So, whether it's Billie Eilish or Sabrina Carpenter dropping a new album, whether it was Steph Curry post-Olympics. He had all this massive social traffic around ‘Night night.’ How could he take that and drive it to his foundation?

Or Heidi and Spencer when they lost everything. They really used Tik Tok to engage an audience and drive to her single and this moment of flash relevancy. Having the billboard at these peak moments is great for them.

It's a great give-back to our community. I'm a big believer that when our creators or small businesses use the product really well, it tells a great story for us. And that's really the ethos behind the billboard.

spencerpratt

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ICYMI: You worked at Twitter as Global VP of Partners and Marketing for almost 9 years. Did that help you understand the importance of jumping on cultural moments and being part of the zeitgeist?

LC: Twitter was obviously real time, conversational, zeitgeisty. I mean, that was at the hub of all of our marketing there. That was Leslie Berland’s big push. And I learned so much from working under her there that I definitely brought some of that with me to Linktree.

Listen, any product that is an app, that is on the interwebs, you have to have an element of real time and cultural relevancy. And when you're more creator focused, and you have a product that's super-serving these creators and small businesses, you really look to them to guide your story telling. They can tell the brand story better than we can ourselves, right?

ICYMI: I’m obsessed with the juxtaposition of an analog-style OOH play alongside a creator product that’s inherently digital. How do you think about that coming together?

LC: It’s like fashion. It's splurge versus save. It’s old school blended with new school. Again, if you are an app, in the way that Linktree is, obviously so much of your marketing has to be digital first. You have to have best in class socials. You have to be meeting folks where they are. But I love this idea of also blending this with a very traditional, old school sense of marketing.

There's something very iconic to me about a billboard in Times Square. And it has so much resonance with the creators themselves. When you're talking about, ‘Do you want to be featured on our billboard in Times Square?’ It feels like the Oscars of marketing. You're bestowing this opportunity on someone. If you are an up-and-coming micro creator, you never dreamed of having a billboard available in Times Square.

That was what was so fun about our 50 Million Linkers campaign that we really blew out on the billboard. Yes, of course, we have these big names who are used to getting that prominence. It was so fun to feature all these smaller creators. And then have them come to Times Square to see themselves on the billboard and film that UGC seeing themselves on the billboard for the first time. That went really viral. Both on our Tiktok and on their Tiktok.

ICYMI: It's such a tangible sign of success for people, something you can show your mom other than a screenshot of a digital ad or sponsored post.

LC: Exactly. I’ve even been surprised. Creators of all sizes get a thrill from being featured on a billboard in Times Square. It's iconic.

@juixxeThe American dream.

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ICYMI: What advice would you give to brands that want to experiment with OOH but have limited budgets? Are there other ways to do it?

LC: I don't want to give away all of our trade secrets, but I think that there was a perception before I got here that a billboard was going to be prohibitively expensive. If you get a standalone billboard with 100% share voice, they can be really expensive. But digital boards allow you the flexibility of being able to really move quickly.

With Heidi and Spencer that all came together within 36 hours. We turned that around so fast and that's just the kind of flexibility that you can have with a digital board. I even think, frankly, a 100% share of voice isn't necessarily something that you have to spend for. It can cycle through other things and you still get the still photographs and that effect of Times Square.

Anyway, all this is to say that I don't think that they're as prohibitively expensive as you might think.

ICYMI: What is the playbook for maximizing a billboard’s impact on social media? Do you have a one pager that gives suggestions?