LinkedIn’s Sachin Sharma says human stories will set B2B marketers apart

India’s overall advertising market is projected to grow at 10-15% annually to reach approximately 0.5% of GDP by 2029. Digital advertising already accounts for 50-60% of total ad spends and is expected to touch $17-19 billion by 2029. Within this ad market, India's B2B advertising market is reportedly growing at over 20% year-on-year. However, as budgets expand and AI makes content creation easier than ever, capturing attention has become harder. With 90% of B2B marketers in India citing attention-grabbing as their biggest challenge, the industry is rethinking how trust is built in an era of content abundance.

"B2B buyers in this new generation are digital natives. They've grown up on the internet, which means they're able to tell what's real over what's fabricated," says Sachin Sharma, Head of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, India. "Which is why these decision makers look for authenticity and transparency over superficial storytelling."

The shift is measurable. According to LinkedIn's research, 87% of B2B marketers say audiences no longer take information at face value but validate it through people they trust. In response, 84% agree that with the flood of AI-driven content, it has become even more important to lead with human voices, while 86% are already investing in community-driven content to build trust with buyer groups dominated by Millennials and Gen Z.

Sharma points out that stories led by founders sharing authentic perspectives, employees giving behind-the-scenes views, and creators translating complex ideas into relatable insights are gaining traction over polished corporate campaigns. The platform has seen human-first storytelling formats like Thought Leader Ads and Live Events spark conversation, and claims that the latter is driving 131% higher click-through rates and 19% higher post-event engagement.

Video emerges as an important communication tool

The clearest signal of this change comes from marketers themselves. 88% of India's B2B marketers say their best brand moments come from sparking conversations, not campaigns, while 83% agree personal connection now matters more than reach.

This marks a departure from traditional frequency-based approaches. Sharma describes it as "a shift from frequency to focus," where marketers prioritise reaching the right audience at the right time in the most trusted context. To support this, video has emerged as an important tool for marketers. LinkedIn research shows 66% of B2B buyers in India say video helps inform their decisions, and 83% say short-form videos are one of the most trusted formats.

Video consumption on LinkedIn is growing 36% year-on-year in India, but there's twice as much video content being created. This intensifies the battle for attention. To address this, marketers are leaning into formats designed for impact at critical moments. 

Sharma claims that First Impression Ads, a single-day vertical video format, “drives the highest impact”. He adds that Reserved Ads sustain momentum by placing brand content at the top of audience feeds, while Connected TV Ads, available for Indian marketers targeting audiences in the US and Canada, are 4x more effective in reaching target audiences compared to linear TV.

A sharper focus on ROI

As buyer groups expand and decision cycles are also lengthening. 75% of Indian B2B marketers report sales are taking longer to complete, and the pressure to prove marketing's business impact has intensified. 84% of Indian CMOs say proving campaign ROI has become more important in the past two years, pushing the industry toward what Sharma calls a shift "from surface-level output to nuances of what's driving that output."

"Tight budgets, tough environments, and C-suites' scrutiny on marketing investments have prompted a sharper focus on ROI," Sharma explains. LinkedIn has responded with AI-powered measurement tools: Revenue Attribution Report ties CRM data directly to campaign activity to measure return on ad spend, pipeline, and influenced revenue; Conversions API tracks which real-world actions ads drive across channels; and the newly launched Company Intelligence API delivers engagement scores, impressions, clicks, and leads at the company level.

Beyond measurement, the question of resource allocation between brand-building and performance campaigns is being reframed. "The smartest marketers today aren't choosing between brand and performance, they're connecting them," says Sharma. He notes that on LinkedIn, brand building fuels trust at the top of the funnel, which directly drives performance downstream. Reports suggest that an always-on brand presence to targeted audiences delivers a 10% conversion lift, and brand-building content multiplies lead generation effectiveness by 1.4x.

Looking ahead, Sharma sees AI and human storytelling as complementary forces rather than competitors. 85% of B2B marketers in India believe AI will help smaller brands compete, while 90% say the future belongs to those who combine AI with human activity.

"Over the next few years, we'll see AI do the heavy lifting by automating targeting, optimisation, and insight generation, while marketers focus on what only humans can bring: context, emotion, and credibility," Sharma says. "On LinkedIn, this means AI-powered precision will meet authentic, human-led storytelling."

Heading into 2026, the trajectory shows that video is the language of trust, events as growth engines with 14% year-on-year growth, and maturing measurement capabilities. The opportunity, Sharma suggests, lies in consistency and telling more human stories, and building trust as a long-term asset rather than chasing short-term campaign goals.