At the time, Hoole was happily working away as head of public relations for PayPal. Kevin was not only able to see my profile a kind of online CV and the kind of experience I had, but also something more powerful recommendations by people I’ve worked with, and people that have worked for me, Hoole explains. The fact I was an entirely passive candidate made no difference he could see there were other professionals that vouched for me before we even met.
And that’s the power of LinkedIn in a nutshell: the ability to connect to thousands of other like-minded, expert professionals in order to network, gain expert knowledge, advertise and recruit. And its members just keep growing. Current membership stands at 27 million worldwide, with a new user joining every two seconds. In the UK alone, there are 1.5 million users, while in Europe there are 6.5 million. Growth is organic membership is fuelled by users inviting others they know to join the site (most of it is free). So far, its main marketing technique has been word-of-mouth.
We deliver real value. We’re not like social networks where the focus is entertainment. I call LinkedIn a ‘knowledge network’ because it is geared towards gaining and sharing knowledge, she says. For example, the Answers application gives members the chance to post a business-related question, which is then answered by other members. A quick look at the site reveals that the question, How will you budget for headcount for 2009 and beyond? posted by a financial analyst, has already received 12 answers in the eight minutes it’s been on the Answers board.
The difference between asking Google a question and posting one on LinkedIn is that the people that reply are experts in their fields. And you can qualify their response by looking at their profile and making sure they know what they’re talking about, or if they’re completely deluded, says Hoole. The site gets 600 questions posted a day and a massive 3000 answers. It’s popular because basically, it gives you access to 27 million experts.
She adds that this is also an advantage during the credit crunch. People are more worried about the decisions they make, they need to be more informed and keep competitive as budgets have been cut. It’s that old premise knowledge is power and it’s how you use it that makes a difference in today’s world. There’s a saying that you should have a doctor, a lawyer and an accountant as friends. Why? So you can get free advice over dinner. LinkedIn is a bit like that, except you don’t even have to pay for dinner.
LinkedIn aims to reach 50 per cent of the world’s 300 million professionals worldwide in the next five years. Hoole says it’s important to maintain the quality of members though over 75 per cent are university-educated and over 60 per cent are decision-makers. We need to keep offering them added-value and innovating. She emphasises the importance of making sure it’s not innovation for the sake of it. As head of retail & consumer PR at Visa Europe for six years, I learnt that you’ve got to get things right first time. Everyone’s under so much pressure in today’s fast-paced world, but it’s important to step back and look at the bigger picture. Innovation is often mistaken for breaking the mould, but getting things right can sometimes mean reshaping that mould or polishing it, not creating a new one.
Some ways in which Hoole is attempting to keep members engaged is to customise LinkedIn for different markets in Europe as well as looking for partnership deals to enhance its offering: the brand recently signed a deal with the New York Times, for example, which offers a personalised experience for the site’s members on the business and technology pages of NYtimes.com.
The opportunities are immense for B2B brands wishing to advertise on the site. Most networking sites offer advertising, but we are different in that we can customise a brand’s ad for the right target audience because we know exactly who our members are, says Hoole. So for example, we’ve done a campaign for Starbucks, which only wanted to target HR professionals. This kind of targeting is simple because we know everyone’s job title and what industry they are in, as well as their interests. This also means our members only get relevant ads and aren’t bombarded with unnecessary clutter.
She says that there is the same benefit to be had from recruitment opportunities. If I put a job ad in a newspaper, I might get hundreds of CVs, but only a few are relevant. By posting an ad on LinkedIn, I can reach a targeted audience and receive a qualified base of candidates I can check by looking at their profile and recommendations. And it’s cheaper.
Hoole is convinced professional social networking is the way forward in business. Our members and advertisers get real value. We don’t throw sheep at each other like on Facebook and we offer users full control over their profiles and professional reputation it’s a real purpose-driven site. There will always be a place for entertainment on the Internet, but in time, personal and professional networking sites will polarise. It’s important people find out what it can do for their business it’s about deciding to help yourself, your company and your clients to make the most of it. If you don’t, there’s the chance you’ll get left behind. I think that in the future, the question won’t be, ‘Are you on LinkedIn?’, but, ‘How LinkedIn are you?’
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