LinkedIn Lays Off Entire Global Events Marketing Team Adweek
Tag: LinkedIn
LinkedIn Expands Streamlined ‘Boost’ Ad Option to LinkedIn Events
LinkedIn’s expanding its streamlined ‘Boost’ ad option, with users now able to pay to amplify their LinkedIn event listings via the Boost process in the app.
LinkedIn initially launched its ‘Boost’ option last year, providing a simple, quick way to amplify organic posts in the app.
Much like Facebook’s Boost process, the feature aims to simplify ad spend, helping marketers capitalize on early traction to expand their messaging.
As per LinkedIn:
“With the click of a button and a few payment details, you can easily give your most engaging or time-sensitive content a little boost to quickly expand your audience reach. Thousands of Pages used boosting in the past year to get their content in front of the professionals who matter the most to their businesses.”
Now, you can use the same for your LinkedIn Events.
“To get started, click on the Boost button on the Events page, select your target audience, set the campaign schedule and budget, and enter payment information. This will create an event ad that appears in the LinkedIn feed of professionals that you have selected as your target audience. The ad will feature key dates, location, and information on how to join the event.”
LinkedIn will provide advertisers with insights into how many members clicked on or saw your boosted event ad, and/or registered for your event.
It’s a fairly straightforward ad option, designed to bring in more ad dollars for LinkedIn through simplified amplification in-stream.
Though how effective it is will be relative to each event, and how much you’re willing to pay to ‘boost’ your messaging.
Events have proven to be a winner on LinkedIn, with more than 24,000 events created in the app every week. The ongoing pandemic mitigation measures, and the increasing functionality of online video have ushered in a new age of the virtual meet-up, which has presented significant opportunity for LinkedIn to play a central in the next stage of industry conferences and functions, via its evolving tools.
Of course, many are still keen to get back to in-person functions, which are slowly making a comeback as well. But the work from home shift also means that many people have become accustomed to remote access, which sets the stage for LinkedIn to capitalize on that interest with its event tools.
Boosting provides another element in this respect, with the capacity to reach more professionals with your functions, and maximize interest.
Could be worth considering in your approach.
LinkedIn Expands Audio Events To All Users
LinkedIn is expanding audio-only live events, first introduced in January in a beta test, to all users who have Creator Mode turned on.
Audio-only live events are LinkedIn’s answer to the success of apps like Clubhouse, and features like Twitter Spaces.
They were always open for all LinkedIn users to listen to, and now all users who turn on Creator Mode can host their own audio events.
In an announcement, LinkedIn states:
“Audio Events are a great way for creators to authentically connect with their community. When you host and attend an Audio Event on LinkedIn, your profile comes with you, allowing you to follow and message with other speakers and attendees who are also listening and engaging in the same Audio Event as you.”
Creator Mode is available to all LinkedIn users who meet the following criteria:
- An audience base of more than 150 followers and/or connections
- Recent share of any type of content on the platform
- A good standing record and a history of abiding by community policies.
In addition to audio events, Creator Mode grants access to live video streaming, newsletter publishing, profile videos, and post analytics.
Since its launch in March 2021, LinkedIn says 5.5 million users have turned on Creator Mode, which has led to a nearly 30% increase in content engagement by users.
Additional Information About LinkedIn Audio Events
Here are some additional details and features coming with the expansion of audio events on LinkedIn:
- Audio Event attendees can now turn on captions for an event.
- Improved discoverability of Audio Events by featuring relevant audio events in the My Network tab.
- Users can now browse and RSVP for upcoming, relevant audio events from people both in their network and beyond.
- When you attend or host an Audio Event on LinkedIn, you can follow and message the event host or attendees to further engage in conversation.
Featured Image: Giama22/Shutterstock
LinkedIn Adds Live Captions for Audio Events, Custom URL Listings on Creator Profiles
These could definitely come in handy.
Today, LinkedIn has announced some new updates to improve accessibility, and enhance user Service listings, including real-time captions for live audio events, improved search for posts that you’ve already seen, and a custom URL display option on Creator profiles.
The main update is real-time captions for LinkedIn audio events.
As explained by LinkedIn:
“Up until now, when members joined an audio event on LinkedIn, they could only listen to it. By adding real-time captions, we are making audio events more accessible and inclusive for members with hearing impairments.”
As you can see in the above example, you’ll now have the option to read along with what’s being said, which will improve accessibility, while also providing more ways for all users to tune in to live audio discussions wherever they have time.
LinkedIn’s audio events, launched back in January, were initially rolled out to latch onto the Clubhouse boom, but have since become a valuable addition to the LinkedIn connection process. Really, audio meet-ups like this probably fit better on LinkedIn than in other apps, as the professional focus of the platform may make them more relevant and topical, while more people are likely looking to catch up with those in their industry amid the WFH shift.
Discovery of LinkedIn’s audio events remains somewhat problematic, but maybe, if this can be enhanced, and more users can be alerted to potentially relevant rooms as they happen, it could end up being a highly valuable element of the LinkedIn experience.
Leaning into the discovery aspect, LinkedIn’s also launching a four-week interactive series of real-time conversations to help LinkedIn members ‘build the kinds of skills that can help them advance their careers’.
“Every Wednesday from May 18th to June 8th, learners will be able to ask questions, share experiences, and join conversations with incredible instructors on topics like Making better decisions with Dan Ariely or Reinventing yourself with Debbie Milman.”
That could be a good way to raise awareness of LinkedIn’s live events, while also showcasing LinkedIn Learning instructors, helping to raise awareness of the platform’s broader educational offerings.
Again, it still feels like LinkedIn maybe needs a separate tab in the app to showcase its live events in real-time, but more programs like this will help to make more users aware of such offerings.
For now, you can look up ‘LinkedIn Learning Live’ in the app to discover upcoming events. You can also use the ‘Events’ filter when searching by topic to find upcoming live discussions on a given topic.
On another front, LinkedIn’s also looking to make it easier to find posts that you’ve already seen in the app.
“We hear from members that they want to re-discover posts they’ve seen, and we made it much easier. If you’re looking for something that you’ve seen before on Feed, you can now search with the creator’s name and keywords in their post.”
Which doesn’t seem like a major enhancement, but it may help you find that one post from that one guy that you can remember seeing, but can’t for the life of you relocate.
Then again, if you knew the creators’ name already, you’d be able to look up their profile and check their ‘Activity’ feed.
Maybe it helps, but it doesn’t seem like a major update.
LinkedIn’s also added some improvements for its Services listings, with service providers now able to share enhanced reviews with their community.
To be clear, LinkedIn has enabled Services providers to display customer reviews since August last year, but this improved display will make it easier for profile visitors to see these comments in-stream.
“We know that word of mouth is how many providers find new clients and grow their business. It is also critical for clients to help validate which service provider is best for them. By sharing reviews in their feed, service providers can multiply the impact of a single review and leverage the benefits of word-of-mouth recommendations across their community.”
That could be hugely beneficial for those looking to use LinkedIn to attract business leads, with direct customer feedback now available alongside your service listings.
And it could be worth considering – LinkedIn says that since March 2020, it’s seen 3.5x growth in people searching and requesting services in the app – ‘especially in categories such as business and executive coaching, marketing, design, and software development’.
Could be a valuable option.
Finally, LinkedIn has also officially announced that it will soon enable all users to add a link to the top of their profile, re-directing profile visitors to their company website.
Initially spotted in testing late last month, LinkedIn says that the feature will only be available to those using its Creator Mode option at first, before being rolled out to all users in the near future (though no timeline as yet).
These are some handy additions for LinkedIn – nothing game-changing, as such, but small tweaks and improvements that could have a significant impact on your process.
And with LinkedIn continuing to see ‘record levels of engagement’, and interest in the platform set to rise further amid the post-pandemic recovery, it could be worth taking the time to try out these new options, in order to understand how to make best use of each in your process.
