“As many social networks stagnate or shift their algorithms, LinkedIn is suddenly cool,” declared Bloomberg’s Businessweek Twitter account this week (or X, as it’s now known). Hot on the heels of Bloomberg’s story entitled ‘Sorry, But LinkedIn is Cool Now.’
The business app, which turns 20 this year, has been going from strength to strength in recent times. Bought by Microsoft in 2016, its latest Q4 FY23 Earnings revealed revenue grew 5% year-over-year (7% in constant currency) as sales exceeded $15 billion for the first time.
Membership growth has been accelerating for eight quarters in a row, and the business networking platform now has more than 950m members.
LinkedIn says it is continuing to use AI to help its members and customers connect with opportunities and tap into the experiences of experts on the platform. And its AI-powered collaborative articles are now the fastest-growing traffic driver to the platform.
Now available in 26 languages, LinkedIn has been gently winning where other social platforms have stalled.
“For social media users looking to engage in some old-fashioned self-promotional posting, LinkedIn is the only place left,” Selena Rezvani, an influencer with 100,000 LinkedIn subscribers, bemoaned to Business Week.
“On Instagram or TikTok there’s more frustration, because what worked more than a year ago, or even six months ago, that got success and got tons of eyeballs doesn’t today,” she added.
Why LinkedIn could work for your business
LinkedIn is by far and away the best social media tool for B2B marketing. Although its 950m members pale into insignificance compared to Instagram’s 1.4bn or Facebook’s 3bn, with a specific business focus it has a highly targeted, engaged audience that’s worth paying attention to.
Almost 60% of LinkedIn’s users are between the ages of 25 and 34 years old. And 40% of LinkedIn visitors organically engage with a page every week.
Posts with imagery perform particularly well, with 2x comment rates, and custom collages (3-5 images in a post) do even better.
Businesses offering newsletters through LinkedIn has also rocketed, with users signing-up in droves. LinkedIn saw 150 million newsletter subscriptions in Q1 of 2023, showing that “people are taking advantage of this feature to stay in the know about their favourite brands”, reports social media scheduling platform Hootsuite.
Newsletters are a brilliant way for users to keep abreast of trends and network with industry contacts. Tailored algorithms also bring you highly relevant content and posts on a daily basis, with many using the site as their daily news feed.
But it’s not just a platform for networking and sharing content, it’s also great for hirers, job seekers and recruiters.
Recent stats show that 52m people use LinkedIn to search for jobs each week and LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions, which helps businesses grow with ads, exceeded $5bn in July 2022.
Its Talent Solutions business, which focuses on hiring and recruitment, also surpassed $7 billion in revenue for the first time over the past 12 months.
It has been forecast that by 2024, LinkedIn will capture nearly 50% of all display ad spending.
According to LinkedIn, 50% of brands are seen as “higher quality” after advertising on LinkedIn, whilst 92% of brands are seen as “more professional.”
But, absolutely crucially when you’re in B2B marketing, you’re also getting to the heart of the decision maker, with 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn cited as the ‘drivers of business decisions.’
More than 58m companies are listed on LinkedIn and key for marketers, you’re able to target an audience by their job, not just their demographics.
There’s not much not to like and if you’re a business or brand looking to grow, it’s a no-brainer!
Keep up-to-date with the latest business news and analysis on how social media and wider technology trends can impact your business over on Matt Haycox Daily.
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