LinkedIn: Where Connecting Through Content Means Business

Today’s business elite are constantly getting hit by professional content. As traditional media is taken over by its online counterparts, more and more business professionals are stepping into the digital world. As a result, an increasing number of social media platforms, are becoming the new reigning champions of professional content.

This comes as no surprise; equipped with professional content marketers, post scheduling devices and an ocean of user-generated content, it is no wonder that these platforms are considered fundamental to the business elite’s content strategies.  With LinkedIn’s professional marketers publishing an average of 80 posts per month, or three to four a day (and that’s just one example) there is a never-ending stream of knowledge available[1].

This consistent outpour of content is not only exposing the business elite to a huge amount of new information though, it’s also forcing them to become constantly connected in order to successfully define their professional identity. By connecting their professional identities with the content they engage with, the business elite place high importance on its reliability. This inevitably raises the issue of authenticity and begs the question – in this sea of content, what can be trusted?

As the most highly used social media platform among the business elite, reaching 59% of Europe’s key decision makers (a statistic that places it ahead of other channels including the BBC at 45% and CNN at 34%), LinkedIn is inextricably connected to the production of professional content. In fact, 69% of the business elite who use LinkedIn use it to access professional content; including current events, industry trends, opinion pieces by industry experts and financial news. To put that in context, it’s twice the amount of Facebook[2].

Unlike on a channel like Twitter, where you will find a larger range of articles appealing to the interests of a wider audience, LinkedIn’s content is tailored to the professional and screams, ‘Share me and I will make you look like a leading thinker in your field’. It is this characteristic that is so vital in terms of creating trust, and the reason why 71% of the business elite describe LinkedIn as a suitable environment for sharing credible content[3].

The likely catalyst for this is the association of LinkedIn’s identity with its ability, as a platform, to help its users create new professional networks and increase professional influence. LinkedIn users are concerned with both reading content and doing something with it – no matter how insightful and inspiring it may be. They are interested in the creation of a personal network and gaining influence through sharing in order to better develop their professional identity.

With content at the heart of this equation the business elite will settle for nothing less than trustworthy and authentic information.

Abigail Epstein, Graduate Trainee
@Abieeps


[1] https://blog.bufferapp.com/7-vital-statistics-to-help-with-your-linkedin-marketing-strategy via LinkedIn’s ‘The Sophisticated Marketers Guide 2015’
[2] The Mindset Divide: Spotlight on Content, LinkedIn 2015
[3] The Mindset Divide: Spotlight on Content, LinkedIn 2015