LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 900 million users worldwide. LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s paid subscription service that provides users with additional features beyond the free version. In this article, we’ll examine the key benefits of LinkedIn Premium and whether it’s worth the investment for professionals and businesses.
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s subscription service that unlocks additional features and capabilities not available with a free LinkedIn account. There are three tiers of LinkedIn Premium:
- Premium Career – Focused on helping individuals in their job search and career development
- Premium Business – For sales and recruiting professionals to find and connect with clients and candidates
- Premium Sales – Provides sales professionals with tools to build relationships with prospects and close deals
Some of the key features included with LinkedIn Premium subscriptions are:
- See who’s viewed your profile
- Send InMail messages directly to anyone, even if you’re not connected
- Unlimited profile searches
- See full profiles of your 3rd-degree connections
- Access to online courses and professional coaching
- Advanced search filters and alerts
Premium subscribers also get ad-free access to LinkedIn. Pricing starts at $29.99 per month for Premium Career, $64.99 per month for Premium Business, and $79.99 per month for Premium Sales. Discounted annual subscriptions are also available.
Benefits of LinkedIn Premium
Here are some of the key benefits that LinkedIn Premium offers:
Expanded network reach
One of the biggest advantages of LinkedIn Premium is the ability to expand your network by reaching out to professionals outside of your 1st-degree connections. With InMail messages, you can directly contact anyone on LinkedIn, enabling you to connect with key decision makers and those outside your existing circles.
Insights on profile viewers
The ability to see who’s viewed your profile is hugely valuable in understanding what companies or people may be interested in you. These insights can inform your job search or client outreach efforts and allow you to focus on the right targets.
Advanced search capabilities
Premium opens up LinkedIn’s advanced search functionality, letting you search by company, job title, geography, school, and other filters. You can save these searches and set alerts to be notified when new prospects matching your criteria join LinkedIn.
Specialized insights and reports
Depending on the Premium tier, subscribers get access to specialized reports and insights. For example, Premium Sales provides lead recommendations based on ideal customer profiles. Premium Business offers conversation analytics to optimize messaging and engagement.
Expanded profile views
Having the ability to view full profiles beyond just 1st-degree connections is extremely helpful for sales prospecting, recruiting, and researching companies or individuals you may be interested in connecting with.
Ad-free experience
Premium removes all ads from LinkedIn, creating a cleaner, less distracting experience. No more annoying ads disrupting your workflow.
Online courses and coaching
LinkedIn Learning comes included with Premium Career and Sales, providing unlimited access to 16,000+ expert-led courses. Coaching sessions with LinkedIn experts can also help maximize your brand and opportunities.
Who can benefit most from LinkedIn Premium?
Here are some of the professions and industries that can derive the most value from LinkedIn Premium:
Job seekers and recruiters
The recruiting capabilities make Premium invaluable for both active and passive job seekers as well as recruiters looking to source great candidates.
Sales professionals
The sales tools help salespeople identify ideal prospects, engage key accounts, and accelerate deals through the sales funnel.
Entrepreneurs and marketers
Premium empowers entrepreneurs and marketers to build authority, engage their audiences, and generate inbound leads.
Consultants and coaches
Consultants and coaches can leverage Premium to establish thought leadership, connect with prospects, and build their personal brand.
Anyone seeking a new job
Premium Career’s job seeking features make it well worth the investment for anyone looking to land a new opportunity or progress their career.
Disadvantages and downsides of LinkedIn Premium
While LinkedIn Premium does offer some compelling benefits, there are also a few potential downsides to consider:
- Cost may be prohibitive for some individual users, especially recent graduates or those in between jobs
- Many features still feel “salesy” with upsells to higher tiers
- Notifications and emails from Premium can sometimes feel excessive
- Advanced search is not as intuitive or customizable as Boolean search
- Reporting and analytics features may be overkill for some users
Is LinkedIn Premium worth the money?
At the end of the day, whether LinkedIn Premium merits the investment comes down to your specific needs and how you plan to use it. Here are some factors to consider:
How active are you on LinkedIn?
If you’re an active daily user networking, messaging, and searching on LinkedIn, the Premium features will get used often and deliver maximum impact. More casual users may find less value.
What are your objectives?
Premium can be game-changing for objectives like job seeking, sales prospecting, and recruiting but overkill for general branding and passive networking.
Can you accomplish goals without Premium?
A free account may suffice if you can achieve your goals through 1st-degree networking and basic search. Premium becomes essential for wider connection capabilities.
Is cost a barrier?
Premium runs $25-80+/month. The ROI needs to exceed the cost for the investment to make sense from a business perspective.
How does it compare to other tools?
Other sales tools or recruiter-specific platforms may provide better value depending on your needs. Shop around before committing.
Tips for getting the most from LinkedIn Premium
To maximize LinkedIn Premium’s value, here are some best practices to follow:
- Clearly define your objectives so you can utilize the most relevant features
- Take the time to customize your settings, alerts, and integrations
- Leverage Premium during job transitions or when ramping up outreach efforts
- Combine Premium with other tools like email providers and sales CRMs
- Schedule time on your calendar to regularly use Premium features
- Sign up for a free trial first to experience the benefits
- Purchase the 12-month discounted subscription to get the lowest price
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn Premium is most valuable for professionals and companies that can genuinely capitalize on expanded reach, insights, and capabilities. The features can accelerate networking, prospecting, recruiting, and career growth when actively utilized. But more casual users may find the free version sufficient for their needs.
Evaluate your specific objectives and current LinkedIn activity levels. If you’re willing to incorporate Premium features into your regular workflow, the investment can certainly pay dividends across sales, recruiting, job seeking, and relationship building goals.