LinkedIn Useful or Not?
Not Useful;
I'll tell you why. LinkedIn has way too much boring content. There's lot's of self congratulatory pats on the back and even more sycophantic behaviour agreeing that you're awesome. A lot of the content is dull and uninspiring. Like all Social media platforms you can't have a proper debate without it descending into bullying and personal insults if it happens at all. Any outliers with a sound basis for reason get burnt at the online stake, just like Witches all those years ago.
I try to use LinkedIn for finding leads and researching companies, except most companies don't put content on LinkedIn. And again as before, It's all about the positive. Look at us aren't we awesome. We are the leaders in blah, blah, blah. Nothing gritty.
Not Useful;
When you are doing research and trying to find the right person to call at a company, People who haven't updated their jobs profiles or they oversell who they are. Why? Because it seems like the number one function of LinkedIn is to trawl for a better job. So best we update our profile in the hope that someone will notice me (unless of course I aren't looking, so your profile remains out of date).
So what does this mean?
I actually think most people don't use it daily or even weekly or fortnightly for those very reasons. Why is that a big deal?
I'll tell you why. Because it's supposed to be a networking site for businesses and professionals. But if people are either only using it to check for jobs or congratulate others what's the point? I've been trying to make a habit of posting more engaging content with the platform to help support my business through building awareness of what we do. (Which by the way is insight- We help businesses develop actionable insight). But it's so hit and miss. I see all the stats and I certainly can't ascertain a pattern. Maybe if it was "paid content" that would change, but then is paid content as authentic? Dunno, that's a whole different topic for another day.
People that are busy in their jobs and need help with Insight (or need help and don't know it yet), I'm pretty sure the first place they turn to isn't LinkedIn. It's more likely Google, I would even hazard a guess and say Facebook. Why Facebook? Well, at least on Facebook all of your "friends" are probably someone you have meet or at least had a social interaction with and you are more likely to trust their opinion over some random on Linked In that you've never meet and their profile has been totally pimped out to be awesome.
On the same basis I've never seen a news article on mainstream media where the presenter also covers off with the "Trending now on Linked In", it's Twitter, where everyone goes to be angry.
So yeap, LinkedIn Not Useful.
But I'm going to keep posting there for my business, I will keep paying for Premium, Because without it I hit the search limit and it also seems I get better lead lists generated. It seems the search works better when it's from a Premium subscription which sux, because I'm pretty sure Google search doesn't charge you for a better search result. I'll keep using it until I figure out this whole online marketing game and find what works best for my business. Because I know that it's not LinkedIn. They claim to be "Connecting the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful" I'm just not sure.
Useful;
Oh and by the way, Here's my call to action. If you think you know your business inside out, you probably don't. You might know pockets of it really well. But I guarantee that you are leaving money on the table. Having a genuine data and insight lead strategy will allow you to realise a whole bunch of previously unidentified opportunity. So my challenge to you is to ask yourself the question "Am I leaving money on the table" if the answer is yes, then drop me a line.