LinkedIn has launched a Creator Marketplace designed to connect brands directly with professional content creators.
LinkedIn’s Creator Marketplace is a new feature rolling out this month that allows brands to search for and connect directly with professional creators on the platform for partnership opportunities.
The marketplace is currently invite-only. LinkedIn is selecting eligible creators based on factors including expertise, content quality, platform presence, and alignment with advertiser demand. Once invited, creators can opt in through a new Monetisation tab in their account, which LinkedIn describes as a central hub for managing participation and viewing available opportunities.
Partnership types available through the marketplace include Thought Leader Ads, speaking engagements, and branded content partnerships. Once a brand identifies a creator through the marketplace, the two parties connect directly to negotiate terms, fees, and payment arrangements. LinkedIn does not sit in the middle of those commercial conversations.
The launch reflects a broader industry trend. Brands have been moving away from reach-based influencer metrics toward credibility and audience quality, and LinkedIn’s professional context makes it a natural fit for that shift. The platform’s user base skews toward decision-makers, professionals, and business owners, which is a more commercially valuable audience for many brands than the broader consumer social media landscape.
Donatas Smailys, CEO of Billo, the largest creator platform in the US, who could discuss what this launch signals for B2B brands and the wider creator economy. “LinkedIn’s entry into the creator marketplace space is the clearest signal yet that creator marketing has moved from a DTC growth hack to core business infrastructure. It’s no longer a trend – it’s a baseline requirement for any brand that wants to be trusted. The question of whether this channel is ‘right for B2B’ is now definitively closed.
“Audiences don’t stop trusting real people just because the product is enterprise software. Especially now, when bots flood feeds and the avatar economy expands. A real person recommending a product carries more weight every single day, whether that product costs $20 or $200,000. The brands treating creator content as a performance channel rather than a one-off campaign are already ahead. For everyone still debating it – this is your wake-up call,” says Smailys.
The other monetisation tools launching alongside it
The Creator Marketplace is not arriving in isolation. LinkedIn is simultaneously expanding several other ways for creators and experts to earn directly from the platform.
BrandLink allows eligible creators to earn a share of advertising revenue from pre-roll ads that run before their video content. Top Voices 360 is an integrated brand partnership program that combines editorial content, co-branded assets, in-feed video, and live event appearances into a single package for brands looking for deeper creator involvement.
The most immediately practical new feature for many SME owners is Advice Sessions. LinkedIn is beginning to roll out the ability for entrepreneurs and subject matter experts to offer paid one-on-one consultations directly from their LinkedIn profile. Anyone who regularly fields requests for advice, whether that is a marketing consultant, a financial adviser, an accountant, a HR professional, or a business coach, now has a direct way to charge for that expertise without leaving the platform.
LinkedIn Learning also continues to offer creators the ability to build and publish courses, with options for royalties, licensing fees, or affiliate commissions depending on the arrangement.
What this means for SME owners
Not every SME owner will qualify for the Creator Marketplace in its current invite-only phase. LinkedIn has not published specific follower thresholds or engagement benchmarks for eligibility, and access will expand gradually over time.
But the broader signal from LinkedIn’s product direction is clear. The platform is increasingly treating professional content creators as a commercial asset worth investing in, and the tools being built reflect that. For SME owners who have been building an audience on LinkedIn without a clear way to monetise it beyond inbound leads, the new suite of options gives that effort a more direct return path.
The Advice Sessions feature is worth watching closely in particular. Paid consulting delivered through a professional profile on the world’s largest professional network removes a significant amount of friction from what has traditionally been a word-of-mouth or referral-based service. For SME owners who sell time and expertise, that is a meaningful new channel.
Access to all features is subject to LinkedIn’s eligibility criteria and rollout timeline. SME owners interested in being considered for the Creator Marketplace should ensure their LinkedIn presence, including content consistency, engagement, and profile completeness, reflects the quality the platform is looking for in creator partners.
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