The Hidden Power of LinkedIn

LinkedIn has evolved from being the place to stash your resume, to look up people you used to work with, or to have a serious conversation about widgets (if you are a widget maker). From a marketing perspective, let’s take luxury car maker Audi. The Audi brand previously ranked ?fth among luxury US automakers, based on LinkedIn’s Content Marketing Score. After engaging uncovered audiences on Linkedin, the brand rocketed to ?rst place. If you like stats, here are a couple.

140% above clickthrough rate benchmark 

125% above engagement benchmark

—Linkedin Audi Case Study 2019

Zoom, zoom, va va voom. When compared to Facebook and Twitter, Hubspot found that LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate, Linkedin was 277% more effective to be precise.

If you want to know more, download Linkedin’s Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide. You will be equal parts excited and inspired.

However, this is not simply a story about business success, it’s about the benefits you can get from thinking out loud. The 2019 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study found that: “Not only does thought leadership content influence the majority of buyers, but it also can help brands win, retain and even grow customer business.” The takeaway here is that senior decision-makers and B2B buyers are likely to pay more to work with companies who have clearly articulated their vision through high quality thought leadership. Why is this? Perhaps because: 

“Thought leaders are brave; explore areas others don’t, raise questions others won’t, and provide insights others can’t.” –Craig Badings and Liz Alexander, What Is Thought Leadership?, February 2013

Bianca Barratt, Senior Contributor at Forbes affirms that LinkedIn is one of the best-untapped resources for content and connections online. As an example,

Curt Sassak is the President of Winetasters Choice, he has 27 years of experience as a chef managing F&B at five star hotels, resorts and restaurants. His food has been the featured more than once at the James Beard house in New York. 

“Right now I am sharing my knowledge from 35 years in the F&B industry to help people who may have questions.”

Yes, Linkedin helps people to exchange expertise, thoughts and also stimulate organic community building. Which brings us to sport.

Do you want to play or watch the game?

Some people have an instinct for what’s coming next. Steve Jobs put it like this: "There's a Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been."

Donald Cohen is one of these people; before we get to his success on LinkedIn, here’s how he developed his business edge. Cohen started out selling tools through a single store in Detroit. Moving to Colorado in 1978, he used money from a car loan to establish Tool King. The company grew steadily, to 10 stores in Colorado and neighboring states. But Cohen had an instinct that the success of the business hinged on Internet sales. To go back to sport, he threw the ball in:

"My son Jonathan, who was 14, and I were playing on the computer one day, and I told him to put two items on eBay," Cohen said. "One sold right away, so we put five items on, and five became 10. I thought, this has potential."

After that came the accolades - Two Time Internet Retailer Of The Year, Two Time Top 50 Website Of The Year By Internet Retailer, Top Amazon & Walmart Marketplace Partner, Three Time INC 500 CEO. 

Back to LinkedIn. You see, people like Cohen are changing the way we use the platform. These men and women are not necessarily the most active bloggers or microbloggers, but they are leaving a massive footprint. They are not Bill Gates or Ariana Huffington, no we are talking about the LIONS (Linkedin Open Networkers), those with 50k, 30k and 10k connections. The problem is that some of them are in a race to collect virtual business cards, while others, like Cohen, are able to see strategic benefits to building a strong, extensive network.

“I’ve heard some grumblings from early LinkedIn fans that the company and site are losing the singular focus it started with, but I see it differently.” —Brian Clark, Founder and CEO of Copyblogger Media

Cohen says that there is no point in seeing LinkedIn as a popularity contest but that he has proved it is possible to optimize trusted relationships whether you want to reinvent a brand, maintain relevance or build a successful business that lasts. For this to work, you need to understand ‘who is looking and why they are looking.’ Going back to traditional networking wisdom, he asserts that one of the biggest networking mistakes people make is spamming their contacts, or jumping the gun when asking for something. Cohen believes in the law of Reciprocity, also a cardinal key to successful networking: Give before you get.

This is a particularly useful reminder to those building connections with no strategic goal. It is a waste of everyone’s time. In the analogy of ice hockey, if you are doing that, you are missing the puck entirely. In fact, you may as well be stuck at home waiting for a ticket to the game.

Want to accelerate your writing?

My name is Claire Vorster, founder of the Success Stories Academy. This is my personal invite for you to join the 3-2-1 Stories Challenge in May. LinkedIn members join at USD97, and within a month you’ll learn to create dynamic, sellable stories by developing techniques used by successful authors. It’s a 2 hour a week commitment for 4 weeks.

Interested? Email me with 321 Interested in the subject line. I’ll let you know when we’re good to go. 

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I’m a professional writer and I've helped many adults, teachers and students to learn the craft of successful writing. I’ve made 100s of thousands of dollars over a career spanning 20 years, I’ve written for publishers, businesses, magazines, and online markets in SE Asia, the US and Europe. I am a member of the Oxford University Press Research Forum and am currently featured in a book by Financial Times columnist Professor Heather McGregor. Most importantly I am a student-centered teacher who loves to help you succeed. I look forward to helping you find your success story.