September 6, 2017
It’s not personal, it’s just business. Actually, it’s a balance of both. The whole point of LinkedIn is to be a social network for business, yet, in the fifteen years since its inception, detractors have been chipping away at everything from its design, to UX and lack of products like trolls on one of those other big social networks.
Profile pics all wrong. Pushy direct selling. Spamming. Bugs, glitches & downtimes, interface/usability issues, users who don’t quite get it. Random connection request from random people, stalking, sexism (in business? Surely not) fails, poorly written headlines & summaries… the list goes on.
However, the negative tide is turning. Might just be because of the $26 billion buyout by Microsoft last year. But the question is: what’s the difference between the company that made a loss of $166 million in 2015 and this cash fuelled behemoth that’s growing at an exponential rate?
Well, at I.F we keep our finger on a steady (sometimes frantic!) social media pulse, and just because it’s more ‘corporate’, doesn’t mean we ignore Linkedin’s place in the social world.
There’s been a steady trickle of updates to make LinkedIn a much more…useful place to be. Recruiters & employers form the backbone, but it’s also becoming more of a playground for marketers, especially those content specialists thoroughly exploiting its publisher platform potential.
Native video, much more personalised feed, insights & demographics, direct messaging and inmail tweaks. Ad & sales tools, a career advice hub where you can find a mentor , integration with Microsoft products…it’s all become less hit & hope, and more, hit the target.
It’s a go to destination for B2B marketers to reach that c-suite tier, whether it’s through targeted (and retargeted) content, or to engage in business discussions like a corporate intellectual salon.
And, oh my, the data. The mountain of personal data that’s accrued is a very healthy prospect for brands to mine. It is looking to improve and share its analytics data with big brands, but when it does…
So, it’s not as dry a business meeting place it might have been, it’s become more, well, social really. As long as it maintains its sensibility, keeps innovating for the platform and has a little bit of fun along the way, it’s a rosy looking future for recruiters, employees & B2B employees across the boardroom.