LinkedIn Reports 25% Growth in Paid Video and 63% in Creator-Led Ads

On 28 October 2026, after Microsoft reported its first-quarter results for fiscal year 2027, LinkedIn published its Q1 Earnings & Business Highlights, with figures shared by CEO Dan Shapero. Most of the post is about hiring and AI job search. For marketers, three numbers matter: paid video grew 25% year over year, creator-led ads grew 63%, and paid subscriptions to Premium Company Pages rose 121%.

Read together, they show where LinkedIn is putting its advertising effort and where its advertisers are spending: on video, and on posts from people rather than from logos. Below is what the figures say, what they leave out, and what a B2B company in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar or Egypt should do about it.

The figures, as LinkedIn states them

All growth figures are year over year and come from LinkedIn’s own post. None of them has been independently audited.

LinkedIn’s revenue is not in the table. Microsoft’s earnings release for the same quarter reports under two new segments, Agents and Infra and Devices and Consumer, and does not mention LinkedIn or give a separate LinkedIn revenue figure. Treat any LinkedIn revenue figure you see quoted for this quarter with caution until you can trace it to Microsoft’s own filings.

What the numbers do not tell you

These are useful signals, but they are company-reported growth rates. Before you change a budget because of them, keep four limits in mind.

• No regional breakdown. The post names no countries or regions. Nothing in it shows that video or creator-led ads are growing at the same rate in Riyadh, Dubai, Doha or Cairo. Do not repeat these numbers as Gulf or Egyptian statistics.
• Growth rates, not shares. A 63% rise in creator-led ads says nothing about how much of LinkedIn’s ad spend they make up. A small line can grow quickly from a low base.
• No performance data. The post reports what advertisers bought, not what they got back. Growth in paid video does not show that video produces cheaper leads for your category.
• “Creator-led” is not defined in the post. LinkedIn does not explain exactly which formats it counts. In our reading, the closest format most companies can use today is Thought Leader Ads, which promote a named person’s existing post (more on this below). That is our interpretation, not LinkedIn’s definition.

So the honest reading is about direction. LinkedIn and its larger advertisers are moving towards video and towards content from people. Whether that move pays off for your company is something you have to test in your own account.

Why people-led content keeps coming up

Three figures in the post point the same way: creator-led ads growing 63%, established creators posting daily growing about six times faster than other creators, and time spent with Feed content rising. Our reading is that attention on LinkedIn is shifting towards individuals rather than company announcements, and that advertisers are following it. The post itself does not compare people and Pages directly.

For most B2B companies, we think the practical tool is the Thought Leader Ad. According to LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads specifications, the ad is the thought leader’s existing post, promoted by the company. A few rules follow from that, and they shape how you plan:

• The company cannot add a headline, introductory text or a call-to-action button. The post has to work as it is.
• Edits must come from the post’s original author, so the executive or employee has to be involved, not just named.
• Posts with an image or a video can be promoted. Posts with multiple images, polls or documents cannot.
• Links that the author put in the organic post stay clickable when it is sponsored.

The format rewards companies whose senior people already post useful material regularly. A promoted post from an executive with an empty profile and no posting history is a weak ad. The work starts with the profile and a steady organic rhythm, and the paid boost comes later.

What this means for B2B companies in the Gulf and Egypt

Many B2B buyers in the region, such as procurement managers, consultants, engineers and family-business owners, judge a supplier partly by the people behind it. A contracting firm, a distributor or a consultancy is often evaluated through its general manager or technical director as much as through its logo. LinkedIn’s direction suits that habit. In practice it means:

1. Put your executives’ profiles in order first

Before you spend anything on creator-led formats, the people you would promote need complete, credible profiles: a clear headline, an About section that explains what they do and for whom, a professional photo and banner, and a recent posting history. Decide early whether each person posts in English, Arabic or both. Gulf decision-makers often read both, and a bilingual pattern needs to be planned, not improvised. Our guide on when LinkedIn Ads are worth the higher cost in the GCC covers the paid side in more depth.

2. Build video that works without sound and in 30 seconds

With paid video up 25%, you will be competing with more advertisers for the same attention. Short, subtitled clips work best: an engineer explaining a product test, a project manager walking through a finished site, a founder answering one question buyers always ask. Plan Arabic and English subtitles from the start. Footage you already have from exhibitions, seminars and site visits can often be cut into this kind of material; our exhibition video coverage plan shows how to shoot for it.

3. Treat the Company Page as the proof point

When an executive’s post gets attention, many readers click through to the company. If the Page is out of date, that attention is wasted. The Page should match the executives’ message and show recent work. Our Company Page setup checklist covers what to fix.

4. Do not drop what is already working

If single-image Sponsored Content or Lead Gen Forms are producing qualified conversations for you, keep running them. Fund video and Thought Leader Ad tests from a separate test budget, so you can compare like with like.

A 60-day test you can run

For example, an industrial distributor in Saudi Arabia with an active Company Page and two senior people willing to post could run a test like this:

1. Weeks 1–2: Groundwork. Update both profiles and the Company Page. Agree on topics each person can speak about credibly: product applications, standards, project lessons, market observations. Set up an approval routine so nothing goes out without the author’s sign-off.
2. Weeks 3–6: Organic rhythm. Each person posts once or twice a week, mixing text, single images and at least two short videos. Track which posts get comments from target buyers, not just likes.
3. Weeks 5–8: Paid test. Promote the two or three strongest organic posts as Thought Leader Ads to a tightly defined audience (job functions, seniority, industries, target countries). In parallel, run one standard company video ad to a matched audience.
4. Week 9: Compare on business outcomes. Look at profile visits from target accounts, new connection requests from relevant roles, inbound messages, and sales conversations that mention the content. Cost per click on its own is a poor guide here.

A test like this will not settle the question for every market. It will tell you whether people-led content works for your buyers, using your own account data rather than a global growth figure.

Is a Premium Company Page worth paying for?

A 121% rise in subscriptions shows growing adoption, but adoption is not a reason to buy. LinkedIn’s Premium Company Page is a paid subscription, bought separately for each Page, aimed at small and mid-sized businesses that already have a free Company Page (LinkedIn’s page describes the buyer as a Page Super Admin). Features listed on that page include visitor insights showing who has visited the Page, a custom call-to-action button, a featured customer testimonial, highlights for achievements and awards, automated follow invitations to people who have engaged with your content, comparison insights against up to nine other Pages, and a route to request verification. Check the current price in your currency on LinkedIn before you commit.

A practical approach is to fix the free Page first, run it consistently for a quarter, and then decide whether the paid features would change what your sales team does each week. If they would not, the subscription is a cost, not an investment.

RX Designer builds and manages LinkedIn profiles and Company Pages for executives and B2B companies through its LinkedIn and personal branding service, with short-form video handled by the video production team. You can see examples in our LinkedIn profiles work.

Whoever runs the work, the order is the same: profiles and Page first, a regular posting rhythm second, paid amplification third. Start by checking the two people you would promote against step 1. If either has no recent posting history, the test begins there, not in Campaign Manager.