16 of your questions on using the new LinkedIn features answered

It was good to get LOTS of questions on our latest BrightTALK webcast (view catchup recording) summarising the 7 latest LinkedIn updates with Danny Bermant of Brainstorm Digital.  There were over 40 questions covering the details during the session. We answered most of them, but promised to answer them in full and provide links to the slides for downloads, so here they are! I hope these are helpful. Let us know if you have any follow-up questions in the comments. For a more in-depth look at the new features and much more depth on managing LinkedIn, download our Expert members guide to LinkedIn, also by Danny. Now over to Danny for his answers.

1. Profile Organizer scrapped as premium feature, so now available to all!

Q1. Will the contact see any notes you make about them? No, you’re safe to say what you like, so long as…

Research from LinkedIn showing how SMBs use social media marketing

This year LinkedIn conducted their own research to understand how SMBs are using social media and the benefits assessed across the goals of Credibility, Connection, Context, Community.  The top-level findings are that 94% of the respondents use social media for marketing and 3 in 5 found it to solve a business problem. 'The main problem for SMBs is lead generation and 63% believe social media is helping them solve this..' Find out more from the infographic below and LinkedIn's small business microsite which has best practice tips and examples specifically for smaller businesses and ideas on personal branding. We have more detailed advice and examples in our Smarter Guide to LinkedIn marketing and we have a free webinar with the author Danny Bermant covering the Latest 2014 LinkedIn marketing techniques.

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Which LinkedIn features are best for lead generation?

In B2B marketing, we know that lead generation is key and it's about generating good quality, targeted leads, which can be qualified as much as possible rather than focussing on the volume of leads. To assess which social networks is best at B2B lead generation across B2B sectors. Oktopost has analysed over 100,000 posts across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and LinkedIn ranked the highest for lead generation for B2B companies. The findings covered in the Infographic below included highlights that: 96% of posts, in discussion groups, generated leads which resulted in up to 86% conversion rates. 1 out of 3 converted posts, included a ? in the subject line of the post.

To learn more about LinkedIn, access our Smartinsights LinkedIn Guide which we have recently updated.…

Improved targeting of Company LinkedIn Company pages and posts

Importance: [rating=3] > Recommended link: LinkedIn announcement of new International features This week, LinkedIn have introduced two new features to allow companies to target their content better to LinkedIn members in different countries by improved geotargeting by country location and language preference. Given that 2/3 of LinkedIn members live outside of the US, and the network is available in 21 different languages, LinkedIn are following Facebook and Twitter (also announced this week), to allow members to connect social updates and ads with local audiences. For LinkedIn, this will be particularly useful for larger B2B brands who tailor content for different international markets. For full details of the options to tailor company updates, company names,  descriptions by country see this Help Page: For companies using LinkedIn for marketing purposes such as lead generation…

An update on 10 major changes in LinkedIn that B2B marketers and professional users need to be aware of

LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing social networks, it recently announced that in March 2014 it had over a quarter of a billion members of which 66% are outside the United States:

85M+ EMEA65M+ Europe50M+ Asia and the Pacific9M+ Southeast Asia4M+ DACH​10M+ MENA

So, LinkedIn demands attention for professional use to advance your career and if you're involved in B2B marketing. If you’re looking to catch up on the changes in LinkedIn, here is a quick summary of the features that LinkedIn has added (as well as dropped) during the last 12 months

1. Status updates re-located: It is no longer possible to post status updates on your profile. Updates can only be posted on the home screen…

Will you be creating Showcase pages or...?

Importance (for B2B marketers): [rating=5]

Recommended link: Showcase Pages replacing 'Product and Services Tab' from Company Pages

In November, we alerted you to the new Showcase pages on LinkedIn where businesses can create a page for each brand, so Microsoft can create a separate Showcase page for each of Office and Windows, for example. 

Following on from this, LinkedIn have now announced that Showcase pages will become the only option for businesses to directly feature specific products and services via a page.

If you're a page admin you will likely have received an Email from LinkedIn alerting you to this, but if not...you need to be aware that although company pages are remaining, they are removing the 'Products and Services Tab' from…

New features to support content marketing and hiring new candidates

Value: [rating=3] Recommended Link: Showcase Pages and LinkedIn Talent Updates LinkedIn have announced two new features this week: Showcase Pages and Talent Updates. So, how are these new services relevant to marketers?

Showcase Pages are new, focused brand pages

This new feature is most worthy of consideration by marketers. They provide businesses with a more targeted page to promote a specific product or brand, with a maximum of 10 showcase pages, so content can now be targeted and more relevant to specific audiences. At the moment these are free. Microsoft have piloted this with a showcase page for their Office product you can see more examples of Showcase Pages from Adobe and others by following the   Do you need to set these up? We think most companies will decide…

Do you conform to the typical LinkedIn user?

Every wondered how people are actually using LinkedIn? How much time do they spend? Who pays for the premium services? How many groups are people joining? Which features are the most popular? Who uses their company page?

We are not saying that the persona is the same for everyone, since we all have different goals and LinkedIn has such an array of features for brand awareness, lead generation, job hunting and the list can go on. But we are all curious... perhaps this data will help you win an argument or persuade a colleague!

Wayne Breitbarth has produced an infographic, to look at the profile of a LinkedIn user gathering data from Power+Formula and his 2013 LinkedIn Survey.

Some highlights include:

85% of LinkedIn respondents have a free account.35% have joined up…

An alert about LinkedIn Sponsored Job Listings

Importance: ★★★ Recommended link: LinkedIn Sponsored Job Listings An alert to let you know about LinkedIn sponsored job listings if you're not aware of them. We get quite a few questions about how to expand awareness of new roles outside of traditional recruitment, so thought we'd share this option. These listings are now showing in the main feed on the member’s homepage where historically, they were only accessible in the ‘Jobs You May Be Interested in’ on the homepage and to email subscribers.

'The benefit to these listings is that they have the capability of reaching those who may not be actively looking for work, but happen across the job recommendation on the site or via email, and decide to learn more or apply' These will…

LinkedIn launches University Pages to help career-minded students find the right college

LinkedIn, the network that aims to link professionals with potential employers just launched its University Pages. These new pages are meant to help prospective students find the college or university that fits those best. Connecting with those institutions, their alumni, current students or even prospective students are some of the features students will be able to use starting September 12. Additionally, LinkedIn has brought down student limit age from 18 to 14 in the US and Canada to help grow its base of professionals networking on its platform. Two hundreds colleges and universities got the beta University Page. Among them, a few Canadian universities, including York University, McGill University and the University of British Columbia. Thousands of additional schools are expected get access to University Pages in the coming weeks. …