A brief overview: LinkedIn was launched in December of 2002. As of September 2016 LinkedIn had more than 467 million accounts in over 200 countries. LinkedIn allows members to create profiles and connections to help develop professional relationships. Pros vs Cons: Pros: 1. LinkedIn is a great way to network with other industry professionals or industries you are looking to break in to. 2. Their news feed provides more business/industry focused news and events. 3. Their platform allows for specific profile searches for those people with the skills, degrees, or experience you are seeking. 4. Posts tend to be seen as a more reliable source of information about a company. Cons: 1. LinkedIn profiles take significantly more time to grow - especially for businesses. Additionally, it requires more time to set up initially than other social media platforms. 2. Some users use LinkedIn as a way of spamming other people and businesses. Be cautious of messages you receive from people out of your network. Typical Users: - 75% of users use it for researching companies and people - 61% of users are ages 30-64. - 50% of all users are on mobile devices and over 15 million profiles are viewed daily. Strategies: - Utilize LinkedIn to build up your business to business (B2B) connections. It is also the #1 social media site for generating leads. Over 80% of leads generated through social media are from LinkedIn. - Post updates and articles that are directly aimed at the people you are looking to connect with. - For everything you post, aim to get clickthroughs to your website. LinkedIn is a great tool to help build up your website traffic. Misconceptions: - LinkedIn is just a place for sellers. In all actuality, it is a great tool for promoting basic company information, as well as providing a way to network and build relationships. - I need as many connections as possible. LinkedIn is more about quality than quantity. It's important to remember that unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn offers a more professional approach to networking and interaction. Measuring Results: - Metrics such as new connections per week, posts per week, comments, etc.are all a good start, but after a time, we can start digging deeper with metrics such as leads generated from LinkedIn, partnerships built, website traffic generated and more. What metrics you focus on will vary depending on what your overall goals are.