LinkedIn – what is it and how to use it?
In the beginning, there was Facebook and… then nothing for a long, long time. Those days are gone forever – some look back on them with nostalgia and say that things used to be simpler back then. No scrolling, liking, living on standby (admins know what I mean), etc. Others, on the contrary, say that there is no communication or promotional activity without Facebook and other similar portals, because targets, conversions, and everything else we want to know about a potential customer is served to us on a plate. Among the new platforms that are taking the minds of younger smartphone users by storm, TikTok has been in first place for some time now. (You can read more about it here). And although LinkedIn is as different from TikTok as chalk and cheese, they definitely have one thing in common. They are still on top, trendy, and cool, which cannot be said with such conviction about Facebook… So, by analogy, is LinkedIn a newer and better Facebook?
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is not Facebook. It seems logical, but many people still don’t fully understand it. We all remember the beginning of the year, when a wave of memes with four images/tiles flooded the Internet, each corresponding to a different social media platform. It all started with Dolly Parton – she posted a collage of photos reflecting the optimal profile pictures for Insta, Facebook, Tinder, and LinkedIn. Tinder was slightly provocative, sexy, and bold. Facebook was family-oriented, warm, ordinary, one might say “normal.” Insta was like Insta – slightly artistic, focused on presenting an attractive image. And finally, LinkedIn – business-like, the most subdued. And although it is worth going against the grain to try, discover, and gain (the world belongs to the brave!), in this case, it is better to stick with proven solutions.
Why? It is in our mutual interest… Because the most important thing is not to turn LinkedIn into another Facebook. That is, a portal where everything ends up. A portal that is a bulletin board. A portal that has so much “spam” (chain letters… (arghhhh)) that you increasingly rarely want to consciously filter this spam, and using the app boils down to automatic scrolling. LinkedIn has a huge advantage in this regard – it is still taken seriously. Users (old and new) still want to use it regularly (although they do so in a specific way – more on that in the next section!). They still trust it a lot, and this is unlikely to change for a long time. This, in turn, means that there will be more and more users and more and more companies wanting to reach these users with their products or services. So how should we treat LinkedIn? Seriously? Definitely!
LinkedIn—what is it?
LinkedIn is a huge opportunity to strengthen your image and reach new customers (especially in industries targeting a specific, narrow, elite group of customers). Unfortunately, for many users with private accounts, its function is still limited to being a nice, elegant, electronic resume. And this assumption is wrong, because with this approach to LinkedIn—especially when we consider a personal profile rather than a company account on LinkedIn—we are not even trying to exploit its potential.
A company on LinkedIn needs to take a much broader view. It should treat it as a great hybrid, combining the best of what we know from other portals. It should think of it as a sensational sales support tool. Provided that we know how, who, and what we want to target. And this is where things start to get a little complicated, because as in life, every unique feature has its price. LinkedIn is no different—it can be very effective, but unfortunately, it is also very expensive. And it all comes down to making wise choices… Advertising tools, target audience, budget, etc. Advertising on LinkedIn—in the next installment of this article.
