LinkedIn video content has surged 53% in the past year, with impressions increasing by 73% and watch time growing by a staggering 160%, according to a Metricool report. As the platform prioritizes video in its algorithm, social strategist and creatorpreneur Jayde I. Powell made it her mission at this year’s VidCon panel dedicated to LinkedIn to help brands and creators recognize what she identifies as a potential “goldmine.”

“If there was any opportunity to explore a new platform, a new style of content, right now, it would be LinkedIn,” Jayde states. “There is a hunger for something new on the platform, and it’s certainly not as saturated as Instagram and TikTok. Now’s the time to get the gold.”

Jayde, founder of social creative agency The Em Dash Co. and creator of #CreatorTeaTalk, has been developing effective strategies on the business platform. Her agency has worked with major brands including Netflix, Timberland, and Procter & Gamble, while her creator content focuses on transparent conversations about the creator economy.

“I am a social strategist and content creator, and I’ve been working in marketing and advertising for over 12 years now. So if anything, I feel like I’m a marketer first, creator influencer second,” Jayde shares.

The Cultural Shift on LinkedIn

One notable change Jayde discussed during her VidCon panel is LinkedIn’s cultural transformation. The platform is moving beyond formal corporate communication toward more genuine expression.

“There is a lot less formality with creators on LinkedIn, which I love,” Jayde says. “LinkedIn has been a little bit late to the game in terms of short-form video. We have TikTok, which is already all about video. We have Instagram pushing for reels, and now LinkedIn is playing in the short-form video space.”

“I noticed my reach increased in a way that I was not seeing on my personal Instagram or my personal TikTok,” Jayde explains of her LinkedIn video content. A sponsored video she created with OpusClip, an AI-powered video editing tool, generated half a million impressions, demonstrating the platform’s current emphasis on promoting video content.

This shift reflects broader changes in workplace culture, particularly in the post-pandemic period. “Post-pandemic, the culture around work shifted a lot. Things were different. People were working from home. We were on Zoom calls. We saw our colleagues’ kids in the background. We weren’t wearing suits.”

As a woman with dyed hair and colorful nails, Jayde embodies this new approach to professional presence. “This is how I show up to work. Just because I’m on LinkedIn, that doesn’t mean that it’s all of a sudden going to change. Speaking and looking the way I do doesn’t make me any less of a professional. If anything, that just showcases my creativity.”

Monetization That Works

A central focus of Jayde’s VidCon panel was her approach to monetization on LinkedIn—a topic many creators struggle with. Rather than waiting for brands to discover her, Jayde takes a proactive approach to partnerships.

“As you’re doing that outreach, the priority should be creating quality content that your audience would be interested in and find valuable,” she explains. “When I started, I had a wish list of about 20 brands, and I would look on LinkedIn to find who was the most appropriate contact every week. I was able to get a deal with about five to six of those brands because I went about doing proactive outreach.”

This strategy has proven effective for Jayde, who earned $27,000 from brand partnerships in Q1 2025 alone through direct outreach to companies. For creators concerned about follower count, Jayde offers reassurance: “You don’t necessarily need to have a lot of followers to get a brand deal on LinkedIn, but I think as long as your community is deeply engaged with your content, then that is very valuable.”

This approach is especially relevant as LinkedIn expands its advertising options, recently introducing First Impression Ads and Reserved Ads that prioritize video formats. According to the platform’s internal research, 75% of marketers agree that short-form video helps them reach decision makers, while 66% believe they will lose out to competitors if they don’t invest in video this year.

Beyond B2B

While LinkedIn is primarily known for B2B marketing, Jayde sees untapped potential for B2C brands.

“I disagree completely,” Jayde says about the notion that LinkedIn is only for B2B. “I think we’re not seeing a lot of B2C yet, but I think that’s where it’s going right now. B2B makes the most sense. It’s laying the foundation for the creator economy on LinkedIn. But I think the next step is for B2C brands to get involved as well.”

Jayde points out that professionals on LinkedIn have personal lives and consumer preferences that extend beyond their work identities. “I’m a working professional, I’m an entrepreneur. I’m always going on business trips. That doesn’t mean that I couldn’t work with a beauty brand because I’m wearing makeup I love and talk about.”

Similarly, she sees opportunities for travel brands and lifestyle products to connect with LinkedIn’s professional audience. “There’s so much opportunity for lifestyle brands to play. I just think they need to get LinkedIn on their radar, and we’re just not there yet. But I think we will be in the next couple of years. That’s my prediction.”

Reimagining Brand-Creator Partnerships

For brands looking to work with creators on LinkedIn, Jayde advocates moving beyond traditional approaches. “Brands need to be more comfortable thinking outside the box in terms of what a creative influencer campaign looks like,” she suggests.

Too often, brands limit LinkedIn creator partnerships to promoting reports or newsletters, missing opportunities for more engaging content. “Again, LinkedIn is very B2B focused; the brands tend to pigeonhole creators into these expected content forms. It’s always like, ‘Download this report’ or ‘Sign up for our newsletter.’”

Jayde praises brands like Hootsuite and Notion for allowing creators creative freedom while still achieving business objectives. “I don’t think that just because we’re on LinkedIn, that means we have to be void of creativity. LinkedIn partnerships can also be thrilling and exciting. Professionals still want to be entertained.”

Metricool’s research supports Jayde’s approach. Analyzing nearly 580,000 posts, the report found that varied content formats drive engagement, with video content seeing the most growth. Among content formats, carousels generate the highest engagement (45.85%) and most interactions (791.12 on average).

Equity in the Creator Economy

A passionate topic for Jayde is creating a more balanced creator economy. As a Black woman in the creator space, she emphasized the importance of ensuring diverse voices are represented in industry conversations.

“For a lot of Black, brown and queer creators, we often don’t get the opportunities to hear about how other creators are monetizing or working with brands,” Jayde observes. “Being at VidCon will help transform what I knew was possible in terms of working with creators.”

She points out that Black creators often lead cultural trends without receiving proper recognition or compensation. “There’s data that supports it, but especially with Black creators, we’re oftentimes leading the charge in terms of what’s culturally relevant in social media and what’s interesting and engaging and what brands take from. But we oftentimes don’t get the credit.”

Through her work with #CreatorTeaTalk, Jayde is helping to address this gap. The community and event series is designed “to bring together creators, influencers, and social media professionals to have transparent conversations about the creator economy, whether it be mental health, pay transparency, or social media trends.”

Jayde suggests that LinkedIn’s creator ecosystem will continue developing steadily. The platform’s push toward video content, combined with its expanding user base of Millennial and Gen Z professionals, creates promising opportunities for creators willing to experiment.

The #CreatorTeaTalk community exemplifies how creators can build and engage with communities on the platform. Her first LinkedIn live event attracted 150 attendees, demonstrating clear interest in creator-led conversations. “We launched our first episode, and I think it was about mental health. It had maybe 150 people on LinkedIn, just in the audience, which is so crazy,” she recalls.

All photos are courtesy of David Coy from Far From Coy Photography.