Subscribe to RSSIs LinkedIn Becoming A More Personal Professional Network?
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LinkedIn has secured their seat as one of the most widely used social networks on the web and since they went public last year, they’ve seen even more explosive growth and remains a site to keep an eye on (even with all the recent buzz about Pinterest). What was once thought of as an online résumé repository has quickly become much more. Is everyone’s favorite professional network becoming more personal? LinkedIn is also a dream come true for marketers who work with online advertising; advertisers have a fantastic audience available to them since in January 2012, 56% percent of the visitors to LinkedIn.com made over $60k and 28% made over $100k!
Based on the incoming traffic referrals in the chart below, it looks like the start of a shift in the way people are using LinkedIn. The social network has seen a large rise in referrals from retail sites since October 2011, perhaps due to people looking for seasonal holiday work at retail stores. Add into the mix sites like Woot.com and NewEgg.com, and it may be a safe bet that people are starting to use LinkedIn as a primary social network—including both personal and professional needs—and sharing deals and products with their LinkedIn connections.
Because Compete’s search referral data shows that many people are arriving at LinkedIn after searching for names of specific people, LinkedIn is becoming a great tool to personalize marketing campaigns for your customers and prospective clients, and staying current with how potential customers use social media outlets like LinkedIn is a critical component of how they will buy what you’re selling.
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Jared DeLuca is currently the Online Marketing Coordinator for Compete.com. Jared is a recent graduate of Northeastern University, having achieved his B.A. in Communication Studies. If you like what you read, you can follow him on Twitter or on LinkedIn. |
4 Comments
I definitely think that Linkedin is making a strong push to build a network that is more private and personalized. That is why I think they created a membership component to their business model.
LinkedIn seems to be struggling to find its identity. Social networks are what their users make out of them, and I have come to see two distinct types of members on LinkedIn:
-Goup A: they use it as yet another social network, posting updates regarding their vacation, pets, and gripes on their daily commute. Many will have their Twitter feed linked to their updates.
-Group B: posts are sporadic, perhaps once a month, and generally along the lines of “My company is hiring for X position”.
These are the two extremes to be found on LinkedIn. Group A kills it as a professional networking tools, while Group B kills it as a social network. Intersections between the two groups are rare.
So I think it will be a while before LinkedIn’s users give the network a true identity. Having been a member since its inception, I’m very glad to see that the site has become much more popular since their IPO.
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