I often hear that LinkedIn is the place where professionals can tap in to the power of social media and escape the “social” stigma attached to this form of engagement. I’m not sure that’s a healthy approach to the wider concept of creating a great place to work and building a future for yourself. What message are we communicating when we block URL’s like YouTube, Twitter and FaceBook so that the “people” in our business cannot access them at work? Are we really treating them like valued trusted people or are we saying to ourselves that they are cattle who have to be herded (managed) by us to do the right thing!
A recent survey in the US found that twice as many people were fining their next job on FaceBook that are on LinkedIn or Twitter, if they are finding jobs there, they are telling stories there and this is a great value add if we engage with people at work rather than the cattle mentality, they tell others what a great place it is. How cool is that, find us in the first place and then stay with us while attracting other great people, both future staff and customers.
Another aspect that is not considered is the emerging generation who will buy our products, services and ideas are all in the social media space, if your customers are predominantly the middle generation who are running businesses, like accountant and lawyers for example, then if you use and understand the power of social media you can provide this as a value add to help your customers tap in as well. Marie Antoinette may have said “Let them Eat Cake”, but with social media you don’t have to live in the realm of the privileged to participate.
Anyway, with all that in mind, I hope you get some really useful tips out of this article on LinkedIn.
Take care,
Trev
“Building Champion Communities”
10 LinkedIn Facts Marketers Need (& How to Use Them) [Research]
Are you challenged when it comes to getting relevant information about LinkedIn to support your marketing efforts? If so, you’re not alone.
To help you, here are ten pieces of research and data about LinkedIn and how to use them to improve your marketing.
- LinkedIn’s network keeps expanding. As of 3Q2011, LinkedIn had 131.2 million members, an 63% increase from last year showing continued high growth. More importantly, of this base, about two-thirds or 87.6 million were unique visitors in 3Q2011 according to the firm’s financial reporting. Unique visitors growth was consistent with yearly member growth. On average, each unique visitor generated about 87 pages during the quarter or about a page a day. Additionally mobile accounts for more than 12% of 3Q2011 total unique visits and over 10% of total LinkedIn page views. The top 1% of LinkedIn users generated 34% of visits. ACTION: Target power users to increase your reach on LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn’s audience is attractive for most marketers. They’re older, educated and have income, according to an OnlineMBA.com infographic. Three quarters of LinkedIn members have a college degree and one quarter have a graduate degree. Two thirds are over thirty-five and seven out of ten earn over $60,000. ACTION: Use LinkedIn advertising to target specific segments to match your marketing personas.
- LinkedIn is the professional social media network. Six out of ten professionals turn to LinkedIn for professional networking, the only attribute where LinkedIn exceeds Facebook and Twitter. Interestingly, one out of eight professionals doesn’t do any social media networking.
ACTION: Don’t be out of sight, out of mind. Fill in your professional profile and keep it up-to-date.
- Most LinkedIn members don’t keep their profiles updated regularly. About four out ten LinkedIn members update their profile frequently while two out of ten don’t have a photo.
ACTION: Stay on your network’s radar by continually building your network, providing regular business updates and sharing useful information via LinkedIn.
- Words matter on LinkedIn. Skip the buzzwords, especially in your profile. The ten most over used words are extensive experience, innovative, motivated, results-oriented, dynamic, proven track record, team player, fast-paced, problem solver and entrepreneurial. ACTION: Check your profile and find another way of expressing yourself. Follow the adage: show them, don’t tell them. Bear in mind people remember stories.
- Individual goals for LinkedIn usage varies based on seniority and place within an organization.
Senior executives focus on industry networking, maintaining contact with former employees, and keeping in touch with associates. For mid-level managers, this hierarchy is flipped; their main focus is keeping touch with their network, networking within the industry, and engaging with colleagues. Newbies to the job force are focused on getting a job and networking with anyone. ACTION: Understanding these behavior patterns helps marketers better target their content and interactions on LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn Groupsare where the action is. About 80% of members belong to at least one group and about 50% of members are active on them.
ACTION: Join relevant groups to your interest to broaden your network and contribute to the conversation.
- LinkedIn supports B2B marketing. LinkedIn generated $131.2 million in 3Q2011, of which 51% was hiring solutions, 29% was marketing solutions and 20% was premium subscriptions. Its revenue breakout shows LinkedIn’s evolution towards becoming a content driven, social media network. Two-thirds of LinkedIn’s revenue comes from the
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