LinkedIn: No Longer The Laughing Stock Of Social Media

LinkedIn used to be a place where businesses went to die. Everyone knew that it was the business social media network, but nobody really knew how to leverage it – least of all its founders, who seemed complacent with their middle-of-the-road platform. However, something changed – you only have to log in today to see a platform that’s had a lot of work done on it.

In fact, you can trace all of this change back to the Microsoft acquisition, which cost a cool $26bn. What could MS want with this bloated platform, and what were its secret plans? LinkedIn had been hemorrhaging profits - $166m in 2015 alone – and didn’t seem like it was going to get any better.

On the other hand, it had some office software that could be leveraged for good use, such as Dynamics 365. Well, it took a long time to get any real answers – the corporate wheels grind slower than most – but the changes are starting to emerge.

LinkedIn is starting to enjoy integration with MS products, and the platform is rebranding itself from a resume graveyard into a top destination for marketers seeking to find high ticket, high quality leads.

You can see the changes almost immediately: its publishing platform – once a graveyard of content spam – is chugging along better, while the apps and desktop continue to get sexier designs and revamps. Even the lead generation and targeting tools are improving, as well as video being introduced on the platform.

Now, these aren’t amazing changes, but considering just how bad LinkedIn used to be, it’s clear that MS is determined to turn the fortunes of this web property around. And that has worked, with people returning and the platform growing.

Now, it’s even gaining itself a comfortable reputation as the Facebook of B2B, making it a great place for the business-oriented to find each other. While it’s not as great for B2C, the sheer amount of data that anyone can collect her – resumes, endorsements, blogs, likes, shares, and follows, makes it a valuable tool.

This is something that goes beyond other social media networks, which in turn makes the platform a more valuable resource that sites like Pinterest. Consider that we are living in an age of big data, and it’s clear why MS really acquired LinkedIn, and also the way in which it is going – and how it can benefit you.

Better yet, there are no fake profiles. Say bye to fake news, and adios to screeching wars: as a professional platform, people don’t want to give anything other than a good impression, making this a genteel, positive place where people want to provide useful information.

So, you should be on LinkedIn. You may be like many people and have an account that you created years ago that never use – which means its time to spruce it up. Unlike Facebook, the more friends you have, the better: it means more connections, which means more opportunity.

Additionally, don’t just build for the sake of numbers: do so for the sake of making a genuine connection. If people connect with you because they want to talk, then talk with them. It’s also important to remember to represent your brand – whether yourself or your company – by behaving appropriately.

And yes, you can market through content, but you have to do it the smart way. The platform used to be OK with curated content (that’s essentially taking other people’s content and claiming that you’re sharing it – a tactic that can work if done right, but generally not regarded well), but that’s no longer the case.

Now the team is looking for fresh, original content – and that means that LinkedIn is now a valid new channel for your content marketing strategy. Of course, it very much depends what niche you are in, but it’s worth remembering that LinkedIn isn’t just a place to sell, but also to connect.

What you will want to do is create a framework for your content marketing by determining what exactly you want to say to your audience, and what you want them to do. For example, do you want people to simply connect with you on LinkedIn, or are you looking to sell? Perhaps you simply want to funnel traffic off-site. Whatever it is that you cite as your end goal, you need to create posts that focus on delivering that: having wishy-washy pieces that don’t offer much value nor show people what to do will no longer get you anywhere.

You will also need to be as entertaining as you are informative: people are drowning in information at the moment, and one thing that’s singularly lacking in most of this content is simply a good presentation. Tell a story, even, but make sure you’ve got a hook that pulls people in through your words to get to the end and act the way you want them to.

Finally, remember that this is a professional social media network. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, this isn’t somewhere to share personal thoughts. Keep politics on Facebook, baby pics on Instagram, and ribald humor on Twitter – on LinkedIn, it’s strictly business.

While you wouldn’t be wrong to say that LinkedIn was a joke just a year or two ago, it’s now undeniable that MS have turned this property around – so take advantage!