YEAR FOUNDED: 2002
PROPRIETARY AUDIENCES: SEEKERS as well as AMPLIFIERS and FOLLOWERS.
EFFORT REQUIRED: Low to moderate depending on investment in content creation and sharing.
WHO OWNS THE DATA: Users own their content, but grant LinkedIn an unlimited license to use it. FOLLOWERS are yours, and LinkedIn allows you to export your Connections.11
USERS WORLDWIDE: 238 million as of July 2013.12
SKILLS REQUIRED: Copywriting, page management.
GATEKEEPERS: LinkedIn and its users.
STRENGTHS: LinkedIn is the de facto global B2B social network where professionals connect directly with other professionals.
Professional nature offers better signal-to-noise ratio than general social networks.
Ability to build and participate in proprietary Communities and Groups that enable group sharing, conversation, and direct communication.
Growing content creation and distribution options helping company pages on LinkedIn become Owned Media properties.
Use of LinkedIn increasingly as a living résumé provides insights that power very precise ad targeting capabilities.
Search capabilities allow for identification of sales targets, industry influencers, and a variety of other competitive intelligence relevant to Proprietary Audience Development efforts.
CHALLENGES: Rapid feature expansion has created some user confusion.
Recruiting and job-hunting features may suppress usage from those who see LinkedIn only in that context.
Invite-only programs (such as LinkedIn Influencers) provide some users with content publication, distribution, and promotional advantages.
1. Jennifer Van Grove, “LinkedIn’s Next Target: Yammer, Salesforce Chatter?,” CNET, February 25, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57571235-93/linkedins-next-target-yammer-salesforce-chatter/.
2. Itamar Orgad, “New Ways to Get Insights from LinkedIn Influencers,” LinkedIn Blog, January 29, 2013, http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/01/29/new-ways-to-get-insights-from-linkedin-influencers/.
3. Chris Seper, “Why I Cheer When My Employees Leave,” LinkedIn, January 25, 2013, www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130125105449-107961-why-i-cheer-when-my-employees-leave?trk=mp-reader-card.
4. Nick Besbeas, “What HP’s 1 Million LinkedIn Followers Means for Marketers,” LinkedIn Blog, February 28, 2013, http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/02/28/what-hps-1-million-linkedin-followers-means-for-marketers-infographic/.
5. See the Philips Innovations in Health LinkedIn discussion, www.linkedin.com/groups/Innovations-In-Health-2308956?gid=2308956&trk=hb_side_g.
6. See the Connect: Professional Women’s Network, www.linkedin.com/groups/Connect-Professional-Womens-Network-Powered-4409416?trk=corpblog_0113.
7. Leena Rao, “LinkedIn Acquires Professional Content Sharing Platform SlideShare for $119M,” TechCrunch, May 3, 2012, http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/03/linkedin-acquires-professional-content-sharing-platform-slideshare-for-119m/.
8. “Why You Should Use SlideShare?,” SlideShare, accessed August 6, 2013, http://www.slideshare.net/about.
9. “Most Popular (All Time),” SlideShare, http://www.slideshare.net/popular/all-time.
10. Mark Walsh, “LinkedIn Launches SlideShare Ads,” Online Media Daily (blog), MediaPost, March 12, 2013, www.mediapost.com/publications/article/195571/#axzz2XFK5fv000.
11. “Exporting Your Connections,” LinkedIn Help Center, http://help.linkedin.com/app/utils/auth/callback/%2Fapp%2Fanswers%2Fdetail%2Fa_id%2F3.
12. Sean Ludwig, “LinkedIn Reports Strong Q2 Results, Membership Grows to 238M Users,” VentureBeat, August 1, 2013, http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/01/linkedin-reports-strong-q2-results-membership-grows-to-238m-users/.
Chapter 15
YouTube: Internet Built the Video Star
TV means reach. YouTube means engagement.1
—Robert Kyncl
As the world’s largest video-sharing website and the second largest search engine, one might think that YouTube (@YouTube) would have the full attention of marketers today. And certainly, from a Paid Media standpoint, you might be right. Analysts estimate that YouTube accounts for roughly 10 percent of Google’s overall ad revenue—some $350 million in Q1 of 2013 alone.2 YouTube courts advertisers annually each spring in New York City in the rite of passage known as the as the television “upfronts.” Clearly, today’s marketers grasp the Paid Media value of YouTube.
They also appear to grasp YouTube’s Owned and Earned Media aspects as well. Longtime television advertisers like Dove (@Dove), Old Spice (@OldSpice), and Nike (@Nike) each boast well-established YouTube channels offering a mix of long-form content and television commercials. Brand channels help companies attract SEEKERS via YouTube, Google, and other search engines. They also engage AMPLIFIERS through likes, shares, comments, and embedding functionality that extends YouTube’s reach to AMPLIFIER blogs and social media.