LinkedIn has firmly established itself as the world’s leading professional social network, used by around 100 million people around the world to promote their work and life experiences and network with likeminded individuals. But the way people use LinkedIn differs dramatically to the behaviours we see on Facebook, Twitter and many other networking forums. Most notably:
- LinkedIn users visit less frequently, with only 35% visiting daily, and another third visiting a few times a month at most.
- The most commonly cited uses for LinkedIn are networking within an industry and with co-workers, but senior executives also commonly use it as a channel to promote their business
- 60% of users claim to have clicked an ad in LinkedIn, a very high proportion compared to other social networking sites
- 9 out of 10 users say they find the LinkedIn site useful, again very high compared to other social networks
- A significant 39% of users pay at least $19.95/month to use LinkedIn’s premium features; a monetisation model that Twitter and other social networks would love to have
The conclusion: with its user base continuing to grow and numerous innovative new ways emerging for marketers to promote their businesses and themselves, LinkedIn remains a top social network to watch. Test marketing programmes cautiously to ensure your approach is consistent with the LinkedIn users’ unique behaviours and think creatively about how you can exploit the precision targeting opportunities the platform offers.
The team at Lab42 have produced a superb infographic summarising the results of their research. Click the image below to see it full size:
Further reading:
Mashable: http://mashable.com/2011/07/09/linkedin-infographic/
It’s Open: http://itsopen.co.uk/the-linkedin-infographic