Business 2 CommunityThe Top 10 LinkedIn Facts and Figures in 2014 You Need To Know
Social media is now a universe of splintered and diverse niche networks but there are a few that dominate the landscape. Some are embedded in our lives. Think Facebook and then maybe Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
But there is one social network that is essential for knowledge workers and professionals to be participating on, and that’s LinkedIn. In the past it was locked up and locked down and a little bit stiff shirt and tie. But it has started to make its platform more social, open and content centric.
In 2013 it started publishing more content from a selected group of 150 “influencers” including Richard Branson , Bill Gates and even Barack Obama. That list has now grown to about 500
Is this a defining moment for LinkedIn?
On February 20, 2014 Dan Roth, (the executive director of LinkedIn) announced its new content strategy that allows “all members” to create and publish long form content on LinkedIn. This means that as a professional you can now display your knowledge and expertise to your peers and to the world. It is easy to use and allows you to even embed images and links.
How important is this?
For Linkedin it will make it more attractive as a “go to” place for reading thought provoking insights and also possibly the latest news and trends in an industry. It will drive engagement and also potentially increase time its users spend on the platform.
Can it make a difference for you?
As a blogger or online publisher you can now create and display your content on LinkedIn. This provides another place to build thought leadership and create personal brand awareness through the power of content. For potential and current thought leaders it is an opportunity to shine on an ecosystem of over 300 million global professionals.
If you get the headline right and the topic resonates with your audience it can appear on the homepage of LinkedIn.
This is what can happen!
I was surprised when I wrote a piece titled “Why You Should Forget Facebook” on my blog and republished it on LinkedIn and then all hell broke loose!
This is what happened!
The article received over 160,000 views in 24 hours!
Attracted 736 comments, 2,146 LinkedIn likes, 7,129 LinkedIn shares and 1,110 retweets on Twitter
Appeared on the homepage of LinkedIn
Became the #2 ranked post for views on LinkedIn for the day
Ranked as the #3 article globally for the week
This for me demonstrated the new potential for writers and publishers on Linkedin. Have something to say?….. then maybe its worth crafting a LinkedIn post or repurposing one of your past top blog posts.
The strategy I would advocate is to publish it first on your “owned” online digital asset, such as your website or blog. Then share it on LinkedIn where it may “earn” some additional attention and drive traffic and engagement back to your site.
The “Top 10″ LinkedIn facts and figures in 2014
So where is LinkedIn up to in 2014 after starting 11 years ago on May 5th, 2003?
It has now passed 300 million users
There are now over 1 billion LinkedIn endorsements
41% of LinkedIn visits are now via mobile
LinkedIn has 5,000 employees
2.1 million LinkedIn groups
Average time a user spends a month on LinkedIn is 17 minutes
Worth an estimated $7.5 billion
The top 5 countries by user numbers are. USA (93 million), India (24 million), Brazil (16 million), UK (14 million) and Canada with 9 million.
The top 3 fastest growing countries are Turkey, Colombia and Indonesia
The most likely demographic profile is Male, Asian, 45-54 years, Earns $150,000+, No kids and has a Grad school education
If you want to learn more about how to use LinkedIn effectively, Alex Pirouz (a LinkedIn power user and expert) is running a free webinar to show you how to tap into the power of LinkedIn. Click here to register
For more facts on LinkedIn you can view the Infographic from dpfoc.com
What about you?
How are you using LinkedIn? Are you being effective? Could you do better?
Look forward to your feedback and insights in the comments below.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: The Top 10 LinkedIn Facts and Figures in 2014 You Need To Know
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