Video is where LinkedIn is putting its advertising effort. Microsoft said on its January 2026 earnings call that paid video ads on LinkedIn had grown 30 percent, and LinkedIn's Daniel Shapero put growth at almost 30 percent again in April. At its NewFront in March 2026, LinkedIn announced changes to BrandLink and to how its TV ads are bought. For Gulf agencies the key is knowing which formats are available here, because several are not.
The formats
- Video ads in the feed: sponsored videos from a Company Page.
- Thought Leader Ads: a person's own post, promoted by the brand.
- BrandLink: the brand's video plays before videos from publishers and creators LinkedIn partners with.
- Connected TV: ads on streaming TV, targeted with LinkedIn's professional data.
BrandLink
BrandLink places a brand's video, 3 to 30 seconds long, before videos from LinkedIn's publisher and creator partners. In March 2026 LinkedIn made BrandLink self-serve in Campaign Manager for selected customers, added publishers including Axel Springer, The CEO Magazine, NYSE, TIME and Times Network to more than 40 existing ones, and began paying creators through Stripe. It also offered bundles with live events such as the Forbes Under 30 Summit, and a creator sponsorship called Top Voices 360. No Gulf publishers are among the named partners, and LinkedIn's product page still describes BrandLink as a beta sold through its sales team, so ask your LinkedIn representative whether it is open to your account.
LinkedIn says members who see a BrandLink ad first are up to 18 percent more likely to become a lead.
Connected TV: not in the Gulf yet
LinkedIn's connected TV ads are not new. They launched in Campaign Manager in April 2024, with inventory from Paramount, Roku and Samsung Ads. What 2026 added is more ways to buy them: programmatically through The Trade Desk, announced in March, and through Amazon's demand-side platform, announced in May, both targeted by job title, industry and seniority.
LinkedIn's help pages, updated in September 2026, limit connected TV to the US and Canada, to English-language audiences and to the brand awareness objective. For a Gulf audience it is not an option yet. It matters to agencies whose clients sell into North America, and LinkedIn's research is worth knowing: a Kantar study it published found its TV ads 2.6 times more effective at raising awareness among business audiences than competitors', with the best results at about 12 views per person and with several creatives rather than one.
Thought Leader Ads
Thought Leader Ads promote a person's post rather than a brand post, and usually read more naturally in the feed. LinkedIn's overview help page, updated in August 2026, says a brand can promote posts from employees, creators, people who attended its LinkedIn events, and members at any degree of connection, with their permission. Another LinkedIn help page still says employees or first and second-degree connections only, so check in Campaign Manager.
- Eligible posts: public text, single images, video, articles, newsletters and collaborative posts.
- Not eligible: documents, polls, posts with several images, and reposts.
- Objectives: brand awareness, engagement and video views. There is no call-to-action button.
- The person must make the post public, show their full last name, and disclose the relationship, for example with #SponsoredPost. In the UAE, a creator publishing paid content also needs the advertiser permit.
In June 2026 LinkedIn launched a Creator Marketplace inside Campaign Manager, linked to Thought Leader Ads. It is invite-only, and trade reports say it is limited to North America and English for now.
Video specs
- Length: 3 seconds to 30 minutes in the feed, with 15 to 30 seconds recommended.
- File: MP4, from 75 KB to 500 MB, under 30 frames per second, with captions as an SRT file.
- Shape: 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 or 9:16. For vertical video, 720 by 1280 is recommended and up to 1080 by 1920 is accepted.
Live events changed too
Since 22 June 2026, every LinkedIn Live broadcast must be attached to a scheduled event. Going live on the spur of the moment is gone, though an event can be scheduled minutes ahead. In April LinkedIn also let event ads promote events held outside LinkedIn and collect sign-ups with its lead forms.
What to do with it
- For Gulf audiences, build video around feed video ads and Thought Leader Ads, which are available here.
- Make the client's founders and experts the face of the brand's video, and promote their posts as Thought Leader Ads.
- Ask LinkedIn about BrandLink before promising it to a client.
- Keep TV for campaigns aimed at the US or Canada.
- Make vertical and square versions, and upload captions for people watching without sound.
The ad mockup generator on this site shows a LinkedIn ad on a phone and a computer, with the text cut where LinkedIn cuts it.
