LinkedIn Premium

Do you need it?

Is it worth the money?

Which one is most suitable?

This article has also been recorded as a podcast;

Linkedinformed on Google podcasts / Linkedinformed on Apple podcasts

It’s been over 3 years since I covered premium upgrades so I thought it was time for a bit of a refresh. But first…

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week

More information is emerging on the new Slideshow posts…which are apparently now called Carousel posts!

Kevin D Turner recently posted this helpful description from information he had gathered from someone who is involved in the Alpha test.

Here’s the post he was referring to;

These posts are pretty much indistinguishable from a native video post that has been made on a video editing app!

I’m not keen on the one above because it’s in portrait mode, which is odd because you can only add them via desktop at the moment. Claire has since done more posts such as the one below which I assume is also a Carousel post…or is it a native video?

This is a great example of what is possible with these new posts (assuming it is a Carousel)

This is likely to be a Creator mode roll-out, at least initially although I’m not aware of anyone who has it yet that isn’t on the Alpha test program. Overall I think it’s a pretty exciting addition and one that will allow us to get more and more creative. Watch out for really high distribution levels as well initially - hoping I’m lucky enough to get it early to benefit from that!

Remember Oleg?

You know, the guy who seemed to break the algorithm some years ago (along with Bridget). Well, Oleg is now Oliver!! Apparently, he wanted to completely disassociate with his Russian roots following the attack on Ukraine and has changed his name officially to Oliver Smith!

Selfie type image posts seem to be getting more popular and some people really don’t like it!

I think Andrew makes a valid point about getting value from his feed but the LinkedIn community is changing and a younger demographic are getting more active and as a result, we are getting ‘trends’ just like other social media platforms. I’m not sure selfies are to blame as such, the quality of a post is down to the topic covered and how well presented it is and my observation is that the quality hasn’t deteriorated as such, quite the opposite, but the type of content is more entertaining than educational and informative. This content is clearly more appealing to the majority of active users. Perhaps the issue is that those that prefer informative content are not actively engaging enough?

Here is another take on the subject from Lewis Kemp

Lewis makes the same point about the quality of the content being the most important factor. That said, I really dislike the way he presents his pov in this post. Comments like “Ignore the fluffy sound bites like “be authentic” and “give value”. They are intentionally broad and intangible, often used by folks selling you the illusion of a strategy that doesn’t exist” do not reflect well on him. It’s great to share experiences but Lewis is by no means an authority on this subject (like all of us).

The truth is likely to be much more balanced. Being authentic and giving value together with using self-images in posts are all good strategies that have worked for many people, they are by no means the only option and he is right in highlighting that many people like to ‘jump on the bandwagon’ but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good thing to challenge ourselves to try different things. 

It’s easy to read this post as stating “the only way is the Lewis Kemp way” and I suspect he does this because that is how you build a tribe of loyal followers (by polarising opinion) but it doesn’t mean that he is right…only right for him and his audience.

Good content is about knowing your audience and delivering a topic that resonates with them in a way that is easily understood and motivates people to engage with your post (ideally comment). Good writing works for Lewis and many others, great video works for others and the same goes for document posts and image (including some selfies) posts for others.

TikTok outperforms LinkedIn for organic reach!

Thanks to listener Juan B. Vásquez Arauz for sending me this fascinating post;

Those TikTok numbers are very impressive. The video does refer to amusement park robots and the music is from Harry Potter, both likely to appeal more to a TikTok audience than LinkedIn but despite that, he really does make a very good point.

The knock-on effect on existing posts on TikTok is also really interesting, LinkedIn definitely used to be more like that but I have noticed that is less the case these days.

LinkedIn Premium Accounts

I last covered this subject in episode 237 in Feb 2019 so I thought it was worth revisiting a subject that constantly comes up as a question in my training sessions.

Firstly it's important to understand the basics of how LinkedIn is designed. LinkedIn has three different user interfaces, they all use the same data (input by users) but each one accesses it in different ways. The three UI's are as follows;

• LinkedIn.com
• Sales Navigator
• Recruiter

Sales Navigator and Recruiter are both premium accounts, LinkedIn.com can be accessed for free but you can also purchase premium accounts - Career or Business. So in effect, we have four upgrade options, all give you the following benefits;

• 90 days of Who viewed your profile rather than the last 5 you see on a free account
• Open Profile allows anyone to send you a free InMail
• Open Profile also means that you are visible in every search result, even if you are outside the network of the person conducting the search

Here are the feature lists for each type of premium account;

I still struggle to see the value of this account. 5 InMails is pitiful and the exclusive insights look better than they are in practice - I’ve yet to meet a Recruiter who is influenced by the ‘Top Applicant’ feature and the job/applicant insights are based on things like skills in the profile of other applicants and I’m not sure what value that adds. LinkedIn Learning is useful but you can subscribe to that separately for £19.99 a month if that is your main focus.

This account is a bit more useful but eyewateringly expensive at £516 per year! 15 InMails is about all you need unless you are wildly throwing out spammy unpersonalised messages to many and unlimited people browsing prevents the dreaded commercial use limit from getting in the way of researching users and performing a reasonable number of searches each month. If those two features have no value to you then you may as well go for the cheaper Career account.

If you already have a Business account, check your InMail credits - are you using more than 5 a month? If not, and you rarely perform people searches then you could save money by downgrading to a Career account.

Now, this is where things get a bit more interesting. Sales Navigator is a brilliant product but it’s also a significant investment at £840 per year! 50 InMails is more than most people should need but handy to have but the real value in SN is the advanced searching tool, the alerts and the Account mapping features. 

This is a completely different user experience and takes some getting used to. It’s a significant cost for most people so don’t upgrade unless you are prepared to put in the time to understand all its features and learn how to use it properly - LinkedIn provide plenty of tutorials but it will take you a few months to fully get to grips with Sales Navigator…I can also help you with that (just saying 😉).

If you are looking to win new customers on LinkedIn and you fully utilise this product then the £840 will be a good investment. Unfortunately, this isn’t typically what happens - most people buy it and merely scratch the surface of its capabilities!

I don’t know many people who use Recruiter Lite, the vast majority of Recruiters will use the full-blown version of this which is a corporate product that is even more than the £1620/year that Lite costs.

Recruiter is a phenomenal tool and has always been LinkedIns flagship product. The search facilities are pretty amazing in Recruiter and you can have a lot of fun doing all kinds of sophisticated filtering but as with Sales Navigator, it’s a completely different interface and takes time and effort to get to grips with and master. It’s also really really expensive so you better be sure you are able to give the time to it before investing.

For Recruitment businesses, Sales Navigator might be worth considering over Recruiter Lite, it’s a lot cheaper and still has a really good search facility.

Conclusion

1. Upgrading to any premium account does not make LinkedIn easier to use
2. Always learn to use LinkedIn.com as a free user. Once competent you may find upgrading makes sense
3. Recruiter is for candidate shortlist construction and management, it is not suitable for business development so if you are working for a Recruitment company, Sales Navigator is worth considering.
4. InMail sounds better than it is because it's still a 'cold' message to someone you don't know so, whilst it may be more effective than email, don't expect amazing results!
5. If you are going to upgrade to Sales Navigator or Recruiter Lite, invest in training to fully understand what you are dealing with
6. The best way to generate visibility is through posting and engaging on LinkedIn. By far the best UI for this is LinkedIn.com and the premium versions do not help with posting or engaging.
7. A premium account does not make you successful on LinkedIn, plenty of people get amazing results without upgrading.

Post of The Week

This is a controversial pick because many people are unhappy about the way Shawn has used a sensitive subject like domestic abuse to promote his business, I don’t see it that way - he’s using a very topical subject/news story in a clever and original way.

It was also nominated more than any other post - ever!

It has unfortunately been copied many many times but I’m pretty sure this is the original, I think I have looked hard enough but please let me know if I’m wrong.

That’s it for this week. I will be skipping a week due to a holiday but will be back in a couple of weeks.

Take care.

This article has also been recorded as a podcast;

Linkedinformed on Google podcasts / Linkedinformed on Apple podcasts