EP 59: LinkedIn's VP of Marketing on Creators, Pipeline and What Actually Works

Davang Shah is VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, responsible for everything related to how advertisers and marketers use LinkedIn's ads products to grow their business.  In this episode, we get into the real data behind B2B buying in 2026 — 272-day buying cycles, 20-plus person buying groups, and 95% of your market not in-market at any given time. Davang shares what the best B2B marketers are doing differently, why B2B creator programs are now critical across the full funnel, and what LinkedIn's newest creator offerings mean for brands serious about pipeline.    We also cover Thought Leader Ads performance data (2.2x CTR, Smokeball's 186% ROAS), how LinkedIn is now the second most cited domain across all LLMs, and why creator-generated content is becoming the foundation of B2B brand discoverability in AI search. If you're a CMO, Head of Demand Gen or B2B founder thinking about creator-led growth, buying committee reach, or how to make LinkedIn work better this one is worth your time. 04:49 The B2B buying reality  07:09 Why optimizing for leads is the wrong game  08:10 Making your brand buyable  10:31 Organic signals to paid amplification  12:48 The B2B creator economy:  14:21 Creators across the full funnel, not just awareness  15:09 Internal creators: CEOs, founders, executives as trusted voices  24:34 Measuring performance in the LLM era   27:30 Top Voices 360 LinkedIn's newest creator program   29:18 Why Thought Leader Ads are non-negotiable in any creator strategy  30:34 Event ads: LinkedIn for offline events, before, during and after   36:56 The CMO community: staying close to the customer Follow ⁠Davang⁠ on LinkedIn   / davang-shah