LinkedIn Marketing Strategy - Marketing Critical Thinking skills

Introduction

History - 2003

Startup Company Linked In 10 members

History - 2004Experimentation

◦Address Book Upload◦Groups1,200,000 Members

History 2005Revenue

◦Jobs◦Subscriptions◦4,200,000 Members

History 2006Foundations

◦Public Profiles◦Recommendations◦People you May Know5,000,000 Members

History 2008Global CompanyMultilanguageMembers 33,000,000

History 20101000 Employees10 Offices around the world85,000,000 Members

History 2011Publicly Traded Company135,000,000 Members

History 2012Re-architected Site, Product

Innovation and Transformation187,000,000 Members

2013244,776,470 MembersLinked In Turns 10

Industry AnalysisSocial Networking

• Friends• Relatives• Classmates• Colleagues

• Email• Instant

Messaging

• Share Interest

• Share Activities

• Post Events• Share Photos

Social Networking Web Sites

Common Social Networking WebsitesFacebook , Twitter, LinkedIn,

Blogging and YouTube are the Top 5 Platforms

Social Media Web site for Marketers49% Marketers use FacebookLinkedIn (16%), Blogging (14%)

and Twitter (12%)

B2B vs B2CNo Difference in B2BFacebook dominates B2C

Who Uses LinkedIn?

• 120 million+ professionals

• Over 150 industries• Executives from every Fortune 500 firm• 6.5 million+ students

• 9 million+ recent college grads

• 37,000 college and university alumni groups

• People are joining LinkedIn at a rate faster than 2 new members per second!

Latin America3%

Other0%

North America61%

Europe24%

Asia8%

Africa1%

Middle East1%

Oceania2%

How LinkedIn Works

Your Friends’ Friends

Your Friends

Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends

“It’s no longer enough to simply have a solid resume. Students now need a professional online presence.”

- Holly Paul, US Recruiting LeaderPricewaterhouseCoopers

Current Strategies

Scoping the Competition

Advanced People Finder

LinkedIn Polls

• Annual budget planning

• Deceased client• Opinion results for

column and blog fodder

• Product & Service Feedback

• Conduct market research

• Tweet Poll results to generate additional group followers

SWOT Analysis

Strengths◦ First mover◦ User traffic◦ Revenue model◦ Corporate

clients & add-ons

Customer/Target Market Analysis

SWOT AnalysisWeakness

◦Mobile strategies◦User engagement◦Dependency on online recruitment

SWOT AnalysisOpportunities

◦Publishing and content platform

◦Advertising

SWOT AnalysisThreats

◦New social media platforms◦Potential new entrants into the

market

Target Market Analysis

ProfessionalsBusinessesMarketers

andAdvertisers

Competitive AnalysisCategory Description Competitors

Members-Professional Networks

Online professional networks and social media sites.

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Xing, and Viadeo

Talent Solutions Ways to match job seekers with recruiters and hiring organizations.

Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, Oracle (through Taleo), SAP (through SuccessFactors), and IBM (through Kenexa), and traditional recruiting organizations.

Advertising and Marketing Giving advertisers access to specific user information and selling ads that reach targeted audiences.

Online and traditional media outlets. From search engines and social network sites to television, radio stations, and newspapers.

Members-Professional NetworkLinkedIn competes for time spent

on their site vs. other social networks.

The more engaged a user is with the site the easier it is to generate money from them through advertisements and marketers.

Competes with Xing and Viadeo for new members.

Talent SolutionsMatching job seekers with those

recruiting talent in their industry. Competes online with companies

like Monster and Career Builder.Offline LinkedIn competes with

traditional recruitment agencies.

Advertising and MarketingUsing the personal information of their user

base to sell advertisements to marketers.Traditional media outlets as well as internet

companies fight for the same dollars.◦Television◦Radio◦Magazine◦Facebook◦Google

Who can best assist companies reach their target market?

Marketing Strategy –Global Concern

• Local Merchants in different countries hesitate for international trade

• Reluctant of international trade due to reliability

• Haven’t seen the benefits of global trade

• Don’t have a platform where they can trade!

Marketing Strategy-Recommended Decision

Europe

USAAsia

Africa

Buyer – Seller Platform

Cultures

Norms

Values

Marketing Strategies – Global Growth Opportunity

Global Growth

Highest Growth in EMEA due to increase in middle class of Africa

Marketing Strategy – LinkedIn Market Position

Current Market Position

Opportunity of growth in developing markets.

Competitor resistance and expansion

Companies like Trade.com and Alibaba.com have similar services

Limited to certain geographic regions

LinkedIn has advantage of large accurate data

Increases trust among users

We Recommend this platform significantly

Marketing Strategies –Biggest Challenge!

Idea of online professional networking online is not diffused properly in South Asia & Europe

Still use traditional ways of networking

26 million in Europe

Only 24-30 million users from China & India

Increasing trend of internet usage can help!

Alternate Strategy Cloud computing business History of SalesForce

◦ 1999-2013◦ Acquisitions

“Turn cold calls into warm conversations”Partnership with LinkedIn

◦Pure pool of data◦238 Million potential customers◦Turn ten wrong calls into one right

one

Through the Glassdoor with LinkedIn

◦An inside look at jobs & companies◦Every review is verified◦Small business reviews through LinkedIn

profiles◦ Information sharing of certain members of

upper management through Glassdoor◦Read reviews via login sharing◦ Inflow of filtered information will keep

competitors at bay◦ Information on LinkedIn page through

Glassdoor◦Global expansion hand in hand with LinkedIn

Higher Learning Institutions

Job fairs on/off campus via LinkedIn

Discounts on LinkedIn professional services to active students/faculty

Pre-determined search of qualified candidates

Student support◦Inquiry about job listings◦Live support with recruiters◦Mentor Program

Competitor’s Reaction LinkedIn Viadeo Xing

Members 200 mil+ 50 mil+ 13 mil+

Visitors/Month 97 mil 4.6 mil 57,000

USA 31.2% 2.2% 1%

Germany 2% 1.5% 77.8%

France 3.3% 66.2% 0.6%

Competitor’s Reaction

• LinkedIn - 100 Products/Services, 200 countries• Viadeo - 65+ Products/Services, 110+ countries• Xing – 30+ Products/Services, 40+ countries• Services like Search filtering, Real time updates,

Private Messaging, recommendations, Endorsements are available only on LinkedIn

Competitor’s Reaction• Diversify by acquisitions:

• Xing acquired Kununu• Kununu provides user reviews about a

company

• Viadeo acquired Pealk• Pealk is a “search service engine” to enhance

product line• LinkedIn had planned to acquiring Xing

Competitor’s Reaction• Facebook / Twitter /Google Hangouts

• Job advertisement• Company reviews• Possibly acquire job search engine

• Microsoft.• Acquired Yammer (private social networking

company)

• LinkedIn is well positioned, timely updating their services – these updates are key to keeping ahead of the competition

Competitor’s Reaction• Talent Solutions

• Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice.• Job search and applying only.• Tie up with JobVent, PayScale, Salary.com or Telonu.

• Advertising and Marketing• Search engines

• Provide job searches.• Social network

• Attract users contextual jobs advertising.• Television, radio stations, and newspapers

• Add benefits and reviews in job advertisements.

Competitor’s Reaction

LinkedIn’s CEO talks about competition

SummaryMarket Leader in PSNNo direct global competitionStrong financials and growthInternational expansion and new

services are keeping them ahead of in this rapidly changing market

Users constantly requesting more features and type of services

Enter into buyer/seller trade platformIncrease user time spent on site

Questions?