LinkedIn is the world’s pre-eminent ‘professional social network’.
Founded in 2002 it become dominant within its niche and was purchased by Microsoft in 2016. Amidst the constant churn and change of social media, LinkedIn has grown steadily and consistently. It’s one of the longest running social media networks – older than Facebook even, and is one of the only social networks that has been able to charge its members through premium services as well as make money from advertising.
While LinkedIn has become a venerable institution, it still manages to remain relevant and top-of-mind across all age groups with search interest increasing more than 60 percent in the last 10 years.1
The stats are staggering
LinkedIn has over 810 million members in 200 countries. 40% of the users who frequently engage with the platform access it daily, clocking up over 1 billion interactions every month.2
Around 57 million companies are registered with LinkedIn. 87% of recruiters use it – almost exclusively, with 77 job applications submitted every second. 49 million people use it to search for jobs each week with 6 of them being hired each minute.1
810 million members
Even in challenging times, the network has gone from strength to strength. LinkedIn is currently taking advantage of a global workplace rethink. Companies are changing their working models, cultures, and company values. Meanwhile employees are rethinking how they work – and why, looking for greater flexibility, better pay, and deeper fulfillment.
77 job applications submitted every second
What’s in it for my brand?
LinkedIn gives you access to the most affluent, influential, and educated audience on social media. 44% of users take home more than $100,000AUD per year. And this isn’t just an older audience, Millennials make up 60% of LinkedIn’s membership.1
Being able to engage with all the world’s professionals all in one place is an incredible opportunity. You can reach a high-quality audience in a professional context with a mindset and intent that’s naturally more receptive to solving business problems. If you’re looking to generate leads, LinkedIn is a machine. Recent studies show it’s 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter.3 That number increases for B2B marketers, who report that 80% of their social media leads come from LinkedIn. It’s no wonder 97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn as part of their marketing.
One of LinkedIn’s many strengths is that it’s not focused on entertainment or time-wasting. Unlike other social networks, it’s all business so your content is far less likely to get lost amongst singing cats, twerking teens and surfing dog videos. Your posts are also more likely to get attention because there are relatively few posters but a lot of viewers. Only about 1% of LinkedIn’s 260 million monthly users share, but those 3 million or so, net 9 billion impressions.1
Adding LinkedIn to your content strategy
LinkedIn is a platform that’s often underutilised. However, looking at these numbers, you can see how it could be a powerful addition to your social media strategy.
The first thing to note, is that on LinkedIn, you need to engage users in a meaningful way, by sharing useful content that’s informative and valuable. The content that best connects with audiences on LinkedIn is undoubtedly the type that helps people do their jobs better. A survey of 3,000 posts by OKdork found that ‘how-to’ and list posts get more views, and that long-form copy (2,000 words+) performed best.4 Our advice, is to create posts of varying lengths. Long content works, but don’t monologue.
9 billion impressions every month
Be visual, use video
Content with multiple images will improve your posts’ popularity – according to some sources, images can increase comments by up to 98%.4,5. What’s trending right now, is video. 59% of executives say that between written information and video, they’ll choose video. 54% of senior executives share work-related videos with colleagues weekly.1
As with posts on any platform, you need to get attention, but on LinkedIn you only have a few minutes because the service is used sparingly. Users spend just 17 minutes on LinkedIn per month2. Messages, Updates, and Groups hold attention longer because they usually contain more tailored information.
Follow 4-1-1
Getting people to buy from you on LinkedIn means a time investment. Professionals are not looking to be sold to, but they are seeking information that can help them. That means you can’t just ‘sell stuff’, you need to build engagement before you can share products and services. A good rule of thumb is 4-1-1. For every one self-serving post, you should repost one relevant piece of content and share four pieces of content written by others. Luckily, content on LinkedIn has a long lifespan, so you don’t need to post every day, but you do need to be regular to build the relationship.
More ways to use LinkedIn
Organic is an obvious way to build your brand and content presence while increasing your followers, but LinkedIn offers a host of advertising options too:
Paid – this allows you to place sponsored content in Feed and InMail. With LinkedIn video ads you can choose targeting options such as job title, location, and company size. You can also apply advanced features, such as remarketing and matched audience integration.
Influencers – LinkedIn is renowned for high quality content. Forget celebs or models, you have access to thought leaders, best-selling authors, Fortune 500 CEOs – even heads of state!
No doubt you’re already using LinkedIn yourself and for your business. It’s an invaluable tool when it comes to connecting to other companies and professionals, posting jobs, and searching for new clients. But hopefully some of these statistics have opened your eyes to the possibility of using it for content marketing as well. As always, if you have any questions or would like us to help you formulate a LinkedIn content strategy or marketing plan, give us a call.
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There’s more to life than CPA’s and ROAS. We all love measurability. Apply your budget, get results, adjust and repeat. There’s a danger that if you focus solely on CPA’s and ROAS your brand awareness will suffer and long-term, you’ll struggle to maintain growth.
Plan like a boss and tie content to key events like you’re living your best year yet, with our 2024 Social Media Calendar. If getting your social media plan into shape and creating stand-out content are on the top (or bottom) of your 2024 must-do’s, we’ve got you covered!