Some companies are hiring B2B influencers, mostly on LinkedIn, to pitch to other companies; LinkedIn says 11M+ users have enabled “creator mode” as of July 2022
Ivan Levingston / Bloomberg :
Context & Ripple Effects
LinkedIn spent 2021 building the supply side of a creator economy: it formed a global creator management team under EIC Dan Roth and launched Creator mode with video Cover Stories. By July 2022 that bet had scale — 11M+ users had flipped the switch — and Bloomberg reports the demand side arriving: companies hiring B2B influencers, mostly on LinkedIn, to pitch directly to other companies.
That makes LinkedIn unusual among social platforms: its influencer market sells access to business buyers rather than consumers. The related coverage shows where this leads — advertisers paying to amplify individual users' posts through Thought Leader ads by 2024, and a North American creator marketplace by 2026 where marketers search creators by topic and metrics.
First-order effects
- B2B marketers gain a new channel: budget shifts from company pages and trade media toward individual voices whose posts reach decision-makers, giving LinkedIn's enabled creators an early monetization path.
- LinkedIn's 11M+ creator-mode base becomes inventory — the platform can now justify creator-facing products because both supply (users) and demand (corporate buyers) exist.
Second-order effects
- LinkedIn is pushed to productize the match: Thought Leader ads turn organic creator posts into paid placements, and the eventual creator marketplace formalizes discovery, pricing, and metrics for B2B influencer deals.
- Rivals competing for advertiser trust — notably X, which the related coverage notes creators left for LinkedIn's 'safer feel' and less competition — face a credible alternative for professional-audience reach.
Third-order effects
- Influencer marketing splits into two distinct industries: consumer influence on TikTok/Instagram-style platforms and a B2B track where individual credibility at companies is bought and sold — with LinkedIn positioned as the exchange.
- If the pattern holds, corporate communication itself shifts: executives and employees become the media buy, and platforms compete on who intermediates trusted professional voices rather than who hosts brand accounts.
The trend: B2B marketing is migrating from institutional brand channels to individual creator voices, with LinkedIn systematically building the tooling — creator mode, amplified posts, a marketplace — to intermediate that market.