Social Media Breakdown: LinkedIn

Back in April, we launched a new blog series focused on breaking down some of the most prevalent social media platforms. As we said in our first blog, each social media platform has its advantages and disadvantages, but when used well, businesses can use these networks to their benefit. Social media can help businesses improve their customer service, generate leads, or even establish themselves as authorities in their fields. We began this series with some of the largest platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and today we continue on with the professional networking platform that is LinkedIn. 

THE BACKGROUND:

LinkedIn was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and a team of people made up from two of his former projects, Socialnet.com and PayPal. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003; growth was slow that year, and most of the year’s 245 members of the platform were associated with the founding team. Throughout 2004, the site grew as features for small businesses such as address book uploads were included. By 2005, the site had exploded to over a million members, but the turning point would come the following year as LinkedIn incorporated public profiles, which gave people a chance to connect with other professionals.

Since then, LinkedIn has grown to a global platform, and since Microsoft acquired a large portion of LinkedIn in 2016, the app and desktop experiences have become even more streamlined.   

THE STATS: 

Today LinkedIn boasts around 810 million members and is the major social media network dedicated to the professional world. LinkedIn provides a place for people to find jobs, find employees, and make connections with colleagues, clients, and coworkers.  

Here are a few other prevalent facts that businesses might find useful when forming marketing strategies that come to us via HootSuite: 

• 57% of LinkedIn users identify as men, with 43% identifying as women

• Over 77% of LinkedIn users are from outside the US

• LinkedIn has members in 200 countries and regions worldwide

• Almost 60% of LinkedIn’s users are between 25 and 34 years old

• 49 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs each week

• There are 77 job applications submitted every second on LinkedIn

• 48.5% of users in the US use LinkedIn at least once a month

• 30% of a company’s engagement on LinkedIn comes from employees

• Employees are 14x more likely to share content from their employers than other types of content on LinkedIn

• LinkedIn posts with images get 2x higher engagement

• An ad on LinkedIn can reach 14.6% of the world’s population

• Marketers see up to 2x higher conversion rates on LinkedIn

• 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn “drive business decisions”

• There are 58 million companies on LinkedIn

THE FEATURES: 

Since LinkedIn is a professional networking platform, its features are similar to other platforms, but the way you can utilize it is a little different. When you go to set up your company page, you will be able to choose from four options: small business (fewer than 200 employees), medium to large business (more than 200 employees), educational institution, or a showcase page. The showcase page option is really a way for separate divisions within a company to have their own page but still link back to the corporate page. After that, it’s all pretty straightforward. You enter your company’s information all while trying to optimize for indexing by Google and such.  

The setup for LinkedIn is easy; the more trying part of LinkedIn is actually utilizing a marketing strategy with it. Are you going to advertise? Are you going to use your page to recruit employees or try to gain leads? Are you going to use it as a chance to share materials and establish yourself as a leading thinker in your industry? Any of these are viable options for LinkedIn; you just have to choose which goals you want to pursue. So, instead of breaking down features for the actual site/app, we’re going to break down what are viable options for businesses to pursue via LinkedIn. 

• Advertising

  As you might have noticed from the statistics in the previous section, advertising on LinkedIn tends to have a good conversion rate. You can advertise on LinkedIn several different ways. You can have text ads. You can boost an existing page post. You can send sponsored messaging or even create sponsored job listings.  

• Jobs Postings/Recruiting

  This is probably the context with which most people are familiar with LinkedIn. It’s a popular place to look for a new job and learn more about a company. LinkedIn even offers a premium account option for recruiters. 

• Networking

  Like every other social media site or app, networking is the point. As a business, you can connect with other companies or follow leaders in your industry or region. LinkedIn Groups is also a great way to connect with others and engage in private discussions. You have to use your personal page to use LinkedIn Groups, but you can share content from company pages within them, which makes them a useful tool. 

• Field Establishment 

  Long-form content doesn’t perform well on a lot of social media networks, but LinkedIn is the exception to that rule. You can share articles and insights and position yourself as a knowledgeable leader in your field. This is especially valuable if you’re a business who offers services to other businesses. 

PROS: 

• Networking & Cost

  The greatest asset of LinkedIn is the ability to network within your industry or your geographical region; the sky's the limit on that side of it. You can be tapped into industry news, and LinkedIn is a great place to connect and potentially partner with other brands. Plus, it should be noted that LinkedIn’s basic company page is free. With this free account, you can still connect, obtain weekly alerts, and follow other companies that you consider experts or competitors.  

• Improves Online Visibility

  Having a solid LinkedIn page with regular content is a great way to boost your visibility online. It will aid in search engine optimization, and it’s a convenient way for other professionals to find you. 

• Professional Environment

  With it being a professional environment, LinkedIn does have a different feel as far as social media networks are concerned. You can share long-form content and actually have engagement. You also get to avoid a lot of the outrageous or negative comments that plague most sites, and it’s easier to screen out bots.   

CONS: 

• Spam 

  The greatest complaint from users on LinkedIn is the spam that can fill up your inbox and your feed. Be prepared to receive connection requests and messages from unfamiliar people trying to sell you on their goods or services. 

• Additional Costs

  While the free company page will get you pretty far and familiarized with the world of LinkedIn, LinkedIn Premium and the recruiter tools will cost you a monthly rate. Now, depending on what you’re trying to achieve with LinkedIn, it can be worth it. You will have to keep the additional costs in mind, though.  

• Requires Consistent Work

  The one consistent aspect to these blogs is that social media platforms are a time investment. It’s the universal con of them. LinkedIn is no different. It works a little differently than some of the more popular social media platforms, so you’ll have to take the time to familiarize yourself with their rules. There is also a higher standard for quality of posts, so you have to consider that. Plus, at the end of the day, you have to look at your analytics. You have to figure out what’s working for you based on the goals you’re trying to achieve. You’ll have to post consistent content and engage regularly if you want a foothold. 

At the end of the day, whether LinkedIn is a good idea for your business boils down to your goals. LinkedIn is a great platform for hiring and networking, and it is genuinely a great place to establish yourself in your industry. It’ll help with your visibility online, but like all platforms, it does consume a great amount of time and effort.  

If you’re interested in expanding your social media presence on LinkedIn or other social media platforms, we are more than happy to help you navigate that world. You can find out more information here or contact us here.