LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networking platforms in the world. Founded in 2002, LinkedIn connects over 722 million users across more than 200 countries and territories. LinkedIn started as a basic profile-based networking site but has expanded into an extensive ecosystem of products and services for both individual users and businesses.
LinkedIn’s Products for Individual Users
LinkedIn offers several products designed for individual users looking to network, find jobs, stay informed, and boost their careers. Some of the key products for individual users include:
LinkedIn Profile
At the core of LinkedIn is the user profile. Profiles allow users to showcase their professional background, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and more. Users can connect their profiles to other users to grow their network. Complete profiles with rich information tend to perform better in LinkedIn’s algorithms.
LinkedIn Feed
The LinkedIn feed displays updates, articles, and content posted by connections and followed pages. The feed provides a customized stream of news and information relevant to each user’s industry and interests.
LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn Jobs helps users search for and get matched with relevant job opportunities. Users can set preferences and get notifications for jobs matching their criteria. Employers can post openings and proactively look for candidates based on skills and experience.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda) offers thousands of online courses and videos covering business, technology, and creative skills. Users can access courses relevant to their career goals and skill development.
LinkedIn News
The LinkedIn News section serves curated news, analysis, and perspectives on industries and topics relevant to the user’s profile and network. Users can stay on top of developments in their field.
LinkedIn Pages
Pages allow users to follow companies, organizations, influencers, publishers, and groups. Followed Pages populate the user’s feed with their posts. Users can keep up with brands, thought leaders, and organizations they are interested in.
LinkedIn Events
The Events section allows users to discover professional events, seminars, conferences, and workshops. Users can see events recommended based on their profile and search for events by location, industry, and topic.
LinkedIn Premium Career
LinkedIn Premium Career provides users access to features like advanced profile views and analytics, messaging without connections, professional learning courses, and interview preparation. The paid subscription aims to help users stand out in job searches.
LinkedIn’s Products for Businesses and Professionals
In addition to individuals, LinkedIn offers an array of products tailored to the needs of businesses, recruiters, marketers, sales professionals, publishers, and more. Some major products for businesses include:
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
LinkedIn Talent Solutions combines LinkedIn Recruiter, Job Slots, and Pipeline Builder to enable businesses to attract, recruit, and retain the people they need. Features include advanced search, tracking applicants, and AI-driven recommendations.
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions helps businesses advertise to LinkedIn’s audience of professionals. Businesses can engage their target audience through Sponsored Content, Sponsored Messaging, and Text Ads. Detailed targeting options are available.
LinkedIn Sales Solutions
LinkedIn Sales Solutions empowers sales professionals to find the right prospects, build relationships, and close more deals. Sales Navigator, PointDrive, and Sales Insights make up the core sales products on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Learning for Business
LinkedIn Learning for Business offers enterprise learning and development solutions. Businesses can provide employees access to LinkedIn Learning courses as well as tools to track progress and performance.
LinkedIn Events
LinkedIn Events for business assists with hosting virtual events, webinars, and other experiences. Features include registration management, live streaming, sponsor booths, and detailed analytics.
LinkedIn Pages
Companies, brands, and organizations can create LinkedIn Pages to establish their professional presence, distribute content, engage followers, and drive business objectives. Analytics help optimize Page performance.
LinkedIn Post Sponsorships
Post sponsorships enable businesses to amplify the reach and visibility of their LinkedIn Page posts through sponsored distribution to targeted audiences on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups provide communities for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content and have discussions. Businesses can create and manage Groups to build connections.
LinkedIn’s Content and Publishing Platform
LinkedIn provides a major platform for professional publishing and hosting content through several products:
LinkedIn Articles
Businesses and professional individuals can publish long-form articles on LinkedIn to showcase thought leadership. Articles appear prominently on profiles and can be distributed to wider audiences.
LinkedIn Publisher Program
The Publisher Program enables publishing on LinkedIn through tools like the LinkedIn Publishing Platform. Large publishers and independent writers can grow their readership.
LinkedIn Newsletters
Writers and publishers can create and curate customized newsletters about topics, companies, or ideas to engage subscribers on LinkedIn. Newsletters are distributed through email.
LinkedIn Video
Businesses can upload and share video content on LinkedIn to complement other information. Videos can bring profiles and campaigns to life.
LinkedIn’s Platform and APIs
LinkedIn offers developers a robust platform and APIs to build applications leveraging LinkedIn’s data and network effects:
Sign in with LinkedIn
The Sign in with LinkedIn feature allows members to easily sign in to third-party websites and apps through their LinkedIn identity. This simplifies onboarding.
LinkedIn API Programs
APIs and embeddable widgets enable developers to access LinkedIn’s core capabilities and content. This powers integrated LinkedIn experiences on external sites and apps.
LinkedIn Platform
LinkedIn’s comprehensive platform allows developers to analyze metrics, distribute content, and automate jobs through LinkedIn APIs and products. Partners can innovate on top of LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Developer Program
The Developer Program offers developers documentation, demos, and support they need to leverage LinkedIn developer products. The program aims to cultivate LinkedIn’s ecosystem.
How Individuals Use LinkedIn’s Products
LinkedIn is used in many ways by individual members looking to network and advance their careers. Here are some common uses of LinkedIn’s products by professionals:
| LinkedIn Product | How Individuals Use It |
|---|---|
| Profile | Showcase skills, experience, education, accomplishments, recommendations, etc. Keep it updated like a resume. |
| Feed | Stay up-to-date with industry news, connections’ career updates, company pages, and influencers. |
| Jobs | Search for relevant job openings and get notified when matching listings are posted. |
| Learning | Take courses and develop skills needed for career growth and new opportunities. |
| News | Get news and analysis about industries and topics relevant to career and business context. |
| Pages | Follow companies and thought leaders to build knowledge and gain insights. |
| Events | Attend industry events, seminars, and networking meetings. |
| Premium | Gain expanded access to insights that highlight profile strengths and career opportunities. |
How Businesses Use LinkedIn’s Products
For businesses, LinkedIn provides opportunities to reach, recruit, sell to, and engage with professional audiences. Here are some key business uses of LinkedIn products:
| LinkedIn Product | How Businesses Use It |
|---|---|
| Talent Solutions | Source, connect with, and recruit highly-qualified candidates for open positions. |
| Marketing Solutions | Run targeted advertising campaigns to reach B2B decision makers, influencers, and buyers. |
| Sales Solutions | Identify prospects, establish relationships, engage accounts, and generate leads. |
| Learning | Provide employees development opportunities through online courses, videos, and training. |
| Events | Host virtual events, webinars, and interactive sessions to engage audiences and prospects. |
| Pages | Establish an authoritative company presence and build engaged follower base. |
| Sponsored Content | Promote content to relevant professionals through sponsored distribution in feeds. |
| Groups | Join or create niche professional communities to share insights, build thought leadership, and foster engagement. |
Top LinkedIn Products Used by Individuals
Here are some of the top and most popular LinkedIn products leveraged by individual professionals:
LinkedIn Profile
Profiles are the foundation for establishing a professional presence and identity on LinkedIn. Complete profiles open up more opportunities.
LinkedIn Jobs
Job seekers can search millions of listings, get alerts on relevant jobs, and boost their visibility to recruiters with premium tools.
LinkedIn News
News tailored to interests and industry ensures professionals stay up-to-date on what is impacting their career, business, and field.
LinkedIn Learning
Thousands of expert-led courses provide on-demand learning to gain new skills for career advancement and pivots.
LinkedIn Network
Growing a network unlocks access to insights, opportunities, and exposure to new ventures.
Top LinkedIn Products Used by Businesses
Here are some of the most utilized LinkedIn products that businesses rely on:
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Recruiters leverage LinkedIn to source quality candidates efficiently thanks to powerful targeting and searching tools.
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Sophisticated targeting capabilities allow B2B marketers and advertisers to reach their ideal buyers and decision makers.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Actionable insights help sales teams identify prospects, make connections, engage accounts, and uncover leads.
LinkedIn Pages
Businesses establish their brand and company presence through Pages optimized with content, media, and engagement.
LinkedIn Learning
Development and training opportunities for employees available through business Learning subscriptions.
LinkedIn’s Most Popular Content Formats
LinkedIn supports diverse content formats. But these options tend to see the highest engagement:
Short-form Written Posts
Brief one or two paragraph posts are widely shared, commented on, and liked, especially life/career advice and industry tips.
Articles
In-depth long-form articles allow professionals to establish thought leadership and provide value.
Infographics
Creative visual infographics presenting data, stats, trends, and insights tend to be highly engaging and shareable.
Video
Video engages audiences and provides a change of pace from text-heavy posts but requires more production effort.
Presentations
Slide presentations are a natural fit for releasing reports, studies, offering company overviews, and more.
Most Effective Ways Professionals Use LinkedIn
Here are best practices for professionals to use LinkedIn effectively:
- Craft a compelling, keyword-rich profile headline and summary.
- Highlight key skills, experiences, education, certifications, volunteer work, and accomplishments.
- Grow your network by connecting with colleagues, clients, industry leaders, and similar professionals.
- Engage your network by liking and commenting on updates, sharing insights, and providing value.
- Follow influencers, publishers, companies, and schools to populate your feed with relevant content.
- Join Groups in your industry or community to discuss topics and expand your reach.
- Publish your own long-form articles and short posts to establish expertise.
- Use multimedia like video and presentations to showcase your capabilities.
- Stay on top of job postings and opportunities by setting job alerts.
- Take online courses to keep skills sharp and enhance your credentials.
Most Effective Ways Businesses Use LinkedIn
Here are best practices for brands, companies, and organizations to optimize LinkedIn:
- Create an eye-catching, informative Company Page with contact info, employee photos and stories, and the latest content.
- Build a follower base for the Page by networking with partners, customers, and professionals in your industry.
- Publish company and industry news, thought leadership articles, tips, case studies, and multimedia content.
- Engage followers by responding to discussions on your posts and regular posting to stay top of mind.
- Sponsor content to expand reach to relevant audiences beyond existing followers.
- Leverage LinkedIn’s detailed targeting to run strategic ad campaigns that reach your buyer personas.
- Empower your sales teams with tools to identify qualified prospects and build relationships.
- Post job listings to surface candidates based on robust professional profile data.
- Create or sponsor Groups around communities relevant to your brand and business.
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
LinkedIn has become the preeminent professional networking platform and offers a wide array of products serving diverse functions. For individual users, core value comes from the ability to create professional profiles, connect with other professionals, share content and ideas, stay informed through news and posts, and explore job opportunities. For businesses, LinkedIn provides access to tools for recruiting talent, marketing products and services, generating leads, and delivering thought leadership content to industry audiences. Keys to success on LinkedIn for both individuals and organizations include having complete and optimized profiles, frequently publishing engaging content, growing large networks of meaningful connections, and leveraging LinkedIn’s extensive capabilities to their fullest. With a user base of over 722 million professionals, LinkedIn provides unmatched reach and possibilities for career and business advancement.
