LinkedIn develops information gathering platform

You may or may not be aware, but towards the end of last year, LinkedIn announced that it has opened up its platform to developers. What this means for marketers is that we now have the option to access LinkedIn data and integrate it within our own sites and applications. This is fantastic news as we can optimise our content further, taking advantage of social media integration at less cost.

LinkedIn’s latest offering in terms of functionality is similar to that of Facebook Connect, but from a B2B marketing perspective it is more attractive because of the target audience demographic and if you already have a LinkedIn strategy in place then the open platform is one that can enhance this further. For LinkedIn, opening up its platform will help increase awareness of the brand amongst a multitude of sites, with the objective of encouraging those who have dormant accounts to re-activate them and start using them effectively.

Think carefully
First of all, before we get drawn toward the bright light of this shiny new world we need to ensure – as with all social media tools and applications – that we are certain this will provide value. Just because we can tap into LinkedIn’s data pool does not mean it is a substitute for an effective CRM strategy or social CRM strategy for that matter, as this should already be in place.

It’s also important to consider that to implement some of the tactics highlighted in this feature you will require a developer who will be able to get their hands dirty with LinkedIn’s code, but the main strategic thinking of how you want to integrate LinkedIn’s data, will come from you. 

How can the LinkedIn open platform work for your business?
First off, one of the core benefits of LinkedIn’s open API (application programming interface, an application that allows users to interact with other software) is the ability to allow customers and clients to login to your company website using their personal LinkedIn account.

The advantage of tapping into this data portability functionality is if a customer comments on a blog article or within your forum, this will then publish content to their own profile increasing word-of-mouth activity amongst their own social graph. The disadvantage of this functionality however, is the instant alert of negative feedback amongst a user’s LinkedIn social network. But as with Twitter or any other brand outpost for that matter, your reputation management and engagement strategy should already be in place to ensure that you can respond immediately to the detractors.

Back in early November 2009, LinkedIn partnered with Twitter to allow members to share status updates between their accounts. Integrating LinkedIn directly to your website takes this form of connected marketing one step further, allowing businesses to share digital content across a customer’s LinkedIn professional network. More importantly, you can look to record who has accessed your website when logging in via LinkedIn and also populate your CRM database with the rich data from a LinkedIn profile.

Creating bespoke creative campaigns
In 2010 I personally hope to see B2B marketers using social media more creatively within their campaigns. Now that LinkedIn has opened up its API there really is no excuse not to take advantage of this huge social network platform. When looking to develop creative campaigns there is every reason to create bespoke applications just as you can in Facebook but for the LinkedIn platform. For example you could develop an application that is personalised to a user based on their LinkedIn data when they login, thus making the application more relevant to them.

By developing a creative and engaging application that is built upon the action of users inviting their colleagues to participate, it will automatically increase your connected marketing and brand awareness. Taking this further it could be used more effectively to target key decision makers and automatically capture their data which can be linked directly to your own CRM database. The creative possibilities are endless, you just have to ensure that the application is business orientated as LinkedIn has the final say in making the application public.

For more information about how you can integrate LinkedIn into your business visit: http://developer.linkedin.com/index.jspa

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