7 Things to Know About LinkedIn in 2026
7 Things to Know About LinkedIn in 2026The must-know updates, shifts, and signals shaping your LinkedIn strategy this year
Today’s LinkedIn deep dive — part of a special 2026 social strategy series — is made possible by Sprout Social! Content marketing is the new cold call. You can see it with LinkedIn’s glow-up from professional networking platform to culture-driven platform. The stuff that surfaces now isn’t the most polished, it’s the most relevant and relatable. And it seems to be working. Gen Z is now the fastest-growing audience on the platform, and LinkedIn ranked just behind Instagram as the primary channel the ICYMI community plans to prioritize in 2026. People still want educational product information and updates from company leadership but the way that gets communicated has shifted. What used to sound like a press release now needs to feel like a compelling conversation. So, how do you lead with human-centric storytelling on LinkedIn? Below, you’ll find:
Let’s dig in! LINKEDIN PLAYBOOK
1️⃣ SOCIAL CUES + CLUESREAR VIEWLinkedIn rolled out new engagement metrics and deeper analytics to help brand pages and creators understand how their content — posts, comments, newsletters, etc. — was actually resonating. That also meant cracking down on engagement pods and discouraging hashtags.
LOOKING AHEADFive of the shifts shaping LinkedIn this year include the rise of employee creators, B2B’s creative awakening, personality-driven content, consumer brands entering the chat, and LinkedIn’s growing role in the AI search ecosystem. 1. EGC (Employee-Generated Content) GrowsThe #1 thing consumers want brands to prioritize in 2026 is human-generated content, to Sprout Social’s 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report — putting employee storytelling front and center. That aligns with platform data from LinkedIn showing that 87% of people prefer credible industry voices over brand-only messaging. But what’s emerging now goes beyond traditional employee advocacy. Companies aren’t just encouraging staff to post — they’re training and elevating them into full-fledged creators. We’re seeing hybrid programs that blur the lines between employee, influencer, and brand spokesperson:
The Takeaway:Employees are credible experts and trusted distribution channels. The brands that win will approach employee content like a strategic media investment, not a volunteer initiative, or worse, a liability. They should be aiming for Staples Baddie, not Chik-fil-A fumble. 2. Creators Will Help B2B Shed Its “Boring” ReputationWhen B2B ads are perceived as creative, business decision-makers are 40% more likely to consider the brand. The challenge? Too many campaigns still default to safe and forgettable content. So SaaS and enterprise brands are borrowing from consumer marketing playbooks — humor, storytelling, celebrities, and creator-led campaigns. Recent examples include:
The Takeaway:Millennials and Gen Z now make up the majority of B2B buyers. Stop treating LinkedIn audiences like a different species than Instagram or TikTok users. The context is professional — the expectations for creativity are not. 3. LinkedIn’s Always-On Feed Needs More PersonalityGen Z is the fastest-growing demographic on the platform, and their presence is reshaping content norms. LinkedIn may never be TikTok, but the winning formula is increasingly useful and human rather than purely polished. Memes, humor, and informal storytelling are among the most shareable formats — but only when they feel authentic to the voice behind them. As social lead Chi Thukral told me recently, jumping on trends without a point of view rarely works. The key here is striking the right balance between being entertaining and informative: “We tested 100% fun content on LinkedIn. It doesn't work because LinkedIn is still a little bit more professional of a space,” Duolingo’s head of Talent Brand Marketing, Jocelyn Lai told me. “We also tested out content that's 100% professional, and people just don't engage with that. We had to really find the right balance” The Takeaway:LinkedIn isn’t becoming less professional — it’s becoming more personal. The brands that stand out will sound like people, not press releases. Or as Sol Betesh put it: brands need to relax and speak like humans. 4. B2C will explore how it can use LinkedInLinkedIn used to be strictly B2B territory. Not anymore. Consumer brands are experimenting with newsletters, creator hires, and executive storytelling:
Creators are arriving, too — everyone from digital creators like Brooke Monk, Dhar Mann, and Nick DiGiovanni to entrepreneurial athletes like Fernando Mendoza, Lindsey Vonn, and Kevin Durant, who recognize where decision-makers and deal flow live. The Takeaway:LinkedIn is evolving into a discovery channel for anything work-adjacent: business travel, office tech, workwear, education, and financial tools. Consumer brands that understand the professional mindset — without sounding corporate — will have an early advantage. 5. LinkedIn Is Becoming Infrastructure for AI SearchBrand content now serves three audiences: humans, search engines, and AI systems. According to LinkedIn, 94% of B2B buying groups now use generative AI tools before speaking to sales. And those tools increasingly pull from LinkedIn’s content graph. A study from SEMrush found LinkedIn is now one of the most cited sources in chatbot answers — trailing only Reddit across platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity. And another study conducted by Spotlight, shows that tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are citing LinkedIn sources up to 5x times more often this year. That means posts aren’t just feeds anymore — they’re training data. The Takeaway:LinkedIn recommends that you use clear language that minimizes ambiguity for both readers and AI; Be straightforward, clear, and accurate, your goal is to be a quotable and credible source, not a sales pitch; and write like your content will be quoted by AI without context — because it will be. 2️⃣ SPROUT SOCIAL DATA DROPNearly 70% of users interact with brands content on LinkedIn at least once per week, with over half of users gravitating toward text-based posts. LinkedIn is also a growing channel for customer service, with 18% of users turning to the network before any other when they need help. Baby Boomers and Gen Z are the most likely to say LinkedIn is their top channel for customer support.
To learn more about what to prioritize in 2026, download Sprout Social’s 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report. 3️⃣ ASK AN EXPERT: BRANDED CONTENTLinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools for entrepreneurs and thought leaders out there but brands don’t take advantage of it, Fallen Media CEO and Co-Founder Sol Betesh told me. “I see the corny ads, ‘Sign up for our CRM,’ but I don’t see brands leaning into being funny and kitschy.” That’s a miss in his opinion. Brands need to be entertaining on every platform, whether that’s making the content themselves, or finding people to help them do it You can’t just repost TikToks on LinkedIn. The vibe doesn’t translate. But you can hire a creator to be a spokesperson and make content for the account the same way brands did on TikTok. His big advice for brands? Go hire the funniest people on LinkedIn. Bring in someone who actually understands the platform and let them make content for you, because it’s still early and way cheaper than hiring creators on other platforms. - Sol Betesh is Co-Founder & CEO at Fallen Media. His company has a track record of producing its own viral hit shows and branded content for Fortune 500 companies across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 4️⃣ ASK AN EXPERT: PAID SOCIALOrganic and paid are interconnected, so I asked goodhelp agency founder Jenny McCoy for her prediction on the platform ad strategy she thinks will be a priority this year: “Creator marketing may still be in its early stages on this platform, but Thought Leadership content is already a proven top performer in ad campaigns — driving 3-4x stronger results than standard brand creative,” Jenny told me. “This year, we expect more brands to expand beyond executive voices and tap a wider range of Thought Leadership voices including both external creators and a wider set of voices within their own organization. Those that do will likely see a meaningful lift in full-funnel ad performance.” Jenny McCoy is the Founder and Lead Strategist at goodhelp and author Wednesday Morning newsletter. 5️⃣ BRAND SPOTLIGHT: SWEET LOREN’S
Sweet Loren’s is a “better-for-you” refrigerated cookie dough — and one of the first B2C brands to grasp the potential of showing up on LinkedIn. I spoke to Sweet Loren’s award-winning social media and influencer marketing manager Enara Roy just before she headed out to run her own CPG consultancy. Very early on, Enara realized people weren’t on LinkedIn simply for business updates, they also wanted to be entertained and inspired — and enjoy the occasional cookie break.
ICYMI: How would you describe your creative approach on LinkedIn? Our strategy is all about creating content that sweetens up your scroll in a fun but unexpected way. Seeing a cookie brand consistently show up on LinkedIn isn’t probably something you’d expect, but that’s exactly the point! People connect with other people, they want to feel seen and heard and learn from the humans behind the brands - the ups, the downs and all the in-betweens. No one wants to feel sold to all the time. Whether it’s sharing a sweet team moment, a behind-the-scenes of a campaign we just launched, or even sometimes just a relatable post... it’s all about bringing an unexpected moment of joy that people actually want to engage with. ICYMI: Who’s your audience on LinkedIn, and how does that shape what you create? LinkedIn traditionally has a reputation for being more corporate or B2B focused, but I feel like that’s been changing a lot especially within the past year or so. As more people work remote and spend more time online, the line between people’s professional and personal lives are blending - and a lot of us are striving for a sense of digital community and belonging. We spend 40+ hours a week working (or job searching!), and come online to escape, learn something new or just connect with others. Especially on a platform like LinkedIn, people want more than just business updates, they want to be entertained and inspired. For a cookie brand, you might assume our core audience lives on Instagram or TikTok - but the reality is that busy professionals love cookies too. They’re parents, creators, leaders, job seekers, and everything in between. And naturally, they’re spending a lot of time on LinkedIn. It’s all about meeting people where they’re at and fitting into their lives in a way that feels meaningful and authentic. LinkedIn is sometimes the first feed a person checks when they wake up in the morning or the last before they go to bed, I know for me it is. So if you can bring even a little bit of joy into someone’s life during those moments, that sticks with people. ICYMI: What is actually working for you on the platform right now? Thankfully, since we’re a cookie dough company it’s pretty easy to bring some fun to the platform! Last October, we launched our first ever LinkedIn creator campaign. It was truly a test and learn. We started out small with just three creators and had them each share a little reminder to pause, rest and take a #cookiebreak throughout the busy workday. I had no idea what to expect or if it was even going to land well, but after one of the posts hit 250,000+ impressions in just the first 24 hours… I knew we might have been onto something. People were messaging me asking me if I was the one behind the campaign and commenting that “seeing an ad for cookies on LinkedIn” made their day. Someone even posted that she went and bought Sweet Loren’s cookies the next day because she was inspired by our campaign. After seeing how well that campaign resonated, we launched a second campaign this summer to promote our limited-edition collab with Hello Kitty (which was also the first LinkedIn campaign Sanrio had ever been a part of!). Since it was a birthday cake flavor, we asked creators to share how they celebrate their work wins… and let’s just say seeing Hello Kitty on LinkedIn definitely brought some much needed joy 🥲 ICYMI: What does LinkedIn do better than the other platforms for your brand’s specific goals? LinkedIn provides a really meaningful way to connect with your audience, in a way that builds trust in an unexpected but refreshing way. Unlike platforms like Instagram and TikTok which feel a bit more saturated and ad-centric, seeing your favorite brands be a little less buttoned up on a platform that’s traditionally more buttoned up is always fun. We recently did a surprise-and-delight campaign where we asked people to share something they were proud of at work and in turn, we randomly selected people in the comments and sent them cookies. Almost 200 people commented, and a few of the winners even made posts about how unexpected and sweet it was to receive a handwritten note and coupons, or how the cookies gave them a much needed sweet treat pick-me-up in the middle of job searching. One quote that truly stuck with me: “Most people feel invisible to their fav brands. Sweet Loren’s customers don’t. That’s how you do community engagement” 👏🏼 ICYMI: As you head into 2026, are you doubling down on what’s working or planning to experiment with something different? A bit of both! We’ll definitely continue sharing fun content and doing organic product gifting, but I want to invest even more into creator partnerships. As a LinkedIn creator myself, I’m constantly reminded of how only 1% of users on the platform are creators, compared to 20-30% on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. It’s a small but growing base, and LinkedIn creators truly have a great amount of visibility and a unique way of meaningfully connecting with their audiences (totally not being biased!). Something we want to try in 2026 is doing more flavor specific campaigns, or even tying them back to holidays like #NationalPumpkinSpiceDay… because who said they can’t be celebrated on LinkedIn as well? 👀💖 ICYMI: If you could give other brands one non-negotiable rule for making content people actually care about on LinkedIn, what would it be? Show the humans behind the brand! It’s hard to connect with a faceless brand, and you’re a lot more memorable when people can put a face or story behind the product. Lean into storytelling and don’t just wait until you have a win to share, bring your audience along for the ride! ICYMI: What’s the biggest mistake you see brands making on LinkedIn and how should they avoid it? Treating LinkedIn like just another broadcast channel. Sharing the occasional award or PR feature is great, but give people a reason to stick around. Create content that’s engaging, relatable and focused on storytelling. If you’re launching a campaign, save some of the behind-the-scenes moments or key learnings to share on LinkedIn. Encourage members of your team and even leadership to actively engage and post! The more people see the humans behind your brand, the more they’ll connect to it :) 6️⃣ SOURCE OF TRUTHIf you’re looking for the most credible sources for news and updates, LinkedIn is obviously where you’ll find most of the team:
Creators to Watch:These are some of the digital content creators embedded with LinkedIn, they star in platform campaigns, attend invite-only events, and have a deep understanding of how LinkedIn works: 7️⃣ SAME BUT DIFFERENTThe average person now uses 6.75 platforms a month — with plenty of audience overlap across them. The charts below show where LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Pinterest intersect, and where they differ in formats, surfaces, and engagement so you can decide where your time actually matters. As for LinkedIn, it is the go-to platform for professional networking, career development, and B2B marketing. Now at 1B+ users — with Gen Z as its fastest-growing demo — the platform’s undergone a serious glow-up, becoming a hub for thought leadership and industry conversations.
*Audience Overlaps inspired by a chart from GWI and Meltwater in the 2026 Global Digital Report
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