Five Reasons LinkedIn is no Longer Just an HR Hub

Five years ago, ask anyone what kind of person spends their time on LinkedIn, and they’ll say “recruiters”.

Fast forward five years and this is far from the case, but old misconceptions have a habit of not dying off. I’ve sat in plenty of meetings where the very people who should be using it – sales reps, product managers, marketing directors, MDs and CEOs – believe it is just a channel for recruiters to try and steal their best people.

We even, on occasion, still come across companies who tell us that HR has commandeered the company’s LinkedIn page and nobody else is allowed to use it.

Here are five reasons why marketers need to wrestle LinkedIn off the HR department and make it an essential part of their marketing toolbox:

1. User Numbers

Incredibly, 60 per cent of the UK workforce now use LinkedIn with people logging in more than ever before. In fact, London, is now the most connected city in the world, averaging 307 connections per profile, outstripping even San Francisco.

2. It’s Where Decision-Makers Are Online

Contrary to the ‘HR hub’ myth, LinkedIn is now an active network of decision-makers across all manner of industries, who log on to see what their peers are up to, check updates and find new suppliers or customers. It is also an excellent channel for reaching niche audiences – in fact we recently ran a highly successful campaign targeting senior managers in poultry processing.

3. New Functionality

LinkedIn has really ramped up its offering over the last eighteen months, since the Microsoft acquisition, including a new interface, enhanced video capability and improved messaging.  There has also been a significant investment in live news and trending business stories, orienting the channel towards being a news ‘hub’ as much as a networking channel.

4. New Ad Formats

LinkedIn has introduced a host of new ad formats including video, lead gen and carousel advertising. We put our first video ads on the platform for two of our clients, Electrolux Professional and FANUC, in April of this year, with costs-per-view to rival Facebook and Twitter – great news for what is normally a more expensive platform to advertise on.

5. New Pixel For Better Analytics

Pixels are a great way of tracking conversions. LinkedIn’s new pixel offers a transparent picture of who is visiting your website, not necessarily just from LinkedIn, with details of job role, seniority, location and company name. What’s more, it offers the opportunity to see what actions individuals take as a result of your content. For example, with one client we were able to see that a LinkedIn white paper traffic driving campaign resulted in 51 conversions on a landing page on the client’s website.

The bottom line is that a LinkedIn strategy can open up opportunities with key decision-makers in every facet of an organisation, from sales and technical, through to marketing and product management.

With the right messaging, the right content, and crucially, the right targeting, you can ensure you’re doing as much as you can to be part of those conversations. It’s much more than an HR hub.

If you’d like to discuss any of the above in more detail, feel free to connect with me.

The Author: Alex Mansell is Social Media Account Director at WPR Agency specialising in using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for B2B brands.