Any marketing business targeting this particular market audience, should seriously consider utilizing this social media platform for product placement, service promotions and sales generation.
LinkedIn is a Huge Global Market
The latest statistics available (February, 2010), show that LinkedIn has more than 60 million registered users spread over 200 countries worldwide. Approximately, half of these registered users are located within the United States and 11 million are located within Europe.
Geo-Targeted and Group Specific
LinkedIn has a very advanced search facility and the majority of registered users, both professionals and businesses, will fill out a detailed profile when joining. There is a wealth of statistical data available on the companies registered with LinkedIn, and unlike other social networking sites, individuals using LinkedIn will specify their interests, locations, and employment details.
Any LinkedIn member can also create a group. These groups can cover any topic and range from less-specific generic groups that cover a wide spectrum, to specialized groups that concentrate on a specific niche or industry. These groups are fully searchable.
This sort of information can be invaluable to laser targeting a particular interest group, country, type of business or particular market.
LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers
The groups created in LinkedIn each have their own discussion boards, news boards and jobs sections. At the last count, there were over 300,000 different groups.
LinkedIn Answers is similar to Yahoo Answers, but the questions are more business-orientated and the answers are usually from knowledgeable professionals. This Answers section is particularly popular, with over 2 million posts submitted so far.
The opportunity for marketing within these two areas is obvious. By participating in group discussions and responding to questions, any marketer can establish themselves as a trusted source. A skillful marketing professional could make subtle suggestions and sway public opinion towards his or her promotions or merchandize.
Advertising on LinkedIn
LinkedIn allows paid advertising. This presents the opportunity to promote to successful businesses, career professionals and business decision makers all in one social media platform. The ability to use geo-targeting, group searches and profile-based techniques, to place advertisement campaigns in front of specific decision makers, is an essential tool in the LinkedIn inventory.
Advertisements placed on LinkedIn, have a far greater chance of reaching the correct audience – leading to a higher CTR and superior conversions.
Quality Business Contacts
LinkedIn can give any marketer access to generating solid business leads and acquiring quality business contacts. They say great minds think alike and there are lots of business minds located on this site, with professionals using LinkedIn to network and gain new introductions and contacts.
LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool for sales lead generation and can help any business to find suppliers, clients, and widen their network of business connections.
