LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 850 million members worldwide. While anyone can create a basic LinkedIn profile for free, LinkedIn also offers several premium membership options that provide additional features and benefits. Upgrading to a paid LinkedIn subscription can greatly enhance your experience on the platform, especially for job seekers, business owners, recruiters, and sales professionals. This article will explore the key advantages of LinkedIn Premium subscriptions and help you determine if the investment is worthwhile for your needs.
Types of Premium LinkedIn Subscriptions
LinkedIn currently offers three tiers of paid memberships:
Premium Career
Premium Career is LinkedIn’s basic paid subscription designed for individual professionals. It costs $29.99 per month or $239.88 per year when billed annually.
Premium Business
Premium Business is a step up from Premium Career, with features tailored for sales and recruiting. It costs $59.99 per month or $479.88 per year with annual billing.
Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s most advanced paid tier created specifically for sales professionals. It costs $64.99 per month or $519.88 per year when billed annually.
Let’s look at the key advantages of each option in more detail:
Benefits of Premium Career
Here are some of the main features included with a Premium Career subscription:
Profile Branding
Stand out by adding a customizable background photo to your profile. You can choose an image that represents your brand, industry, interests or personality.
Expanded Profile Views
See more information about who has viewed your profile, such as their name, location and company. This allows you to better understand your audience and network connections.
Advanced Profile Management
Premium Career lets you edit published posts and rearrange the sections on your profile page to showcase your strengths. You can also monitor profile changes with an activity dashboard.
Premium Badges
Display badges on your profile to highlight your expertise, certifications, volunteer work and other achievements. This can strengthen your personal brand and credibility.
InMail Messages
Contact any LinkedIn member through direct messages with InMail, even if you’re not connected. This facilitates networking beyond your first-degree connections.
Salary Insights
Gain access to salary data for specific job titles. This allows you to benchmark compensation and negotiate smarter.
Skills Assessments
Take short, standardized quizzes to validate your skills in areas like project management, sales, marketing and more. Adding verified skills can boost your profile strength.
| Premium Career Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Profile Branding | Customizable background photo |
| Expanded Profile Views | See more details about profile visitors |
| Advanced Profile Management | Edit published posts, rearrange sections, monitor activity |
| Premium Badges | Display achievements and certifications |
| InMail Messages | Direct message any LinkedIn member |
| Salary Insights | Access salary data for job titles |
| Skills Assessments | Take quizzes to add verified skills |
Benefits of Premium Business
In addition to the Premium Career features, Premium Business offers:
Advanced Search Filters
Refine your LinkedIn searches with criteria like company size, job function, seniority level and more. Target your ideal connections and talent pools.
Startup Profinder
Discover and connect with professionals at promising startups across the globe to grow your network and opportunities.
Talent Recruiting Tools
Leverage recommendations, InMail, profile tagging and pipeline management tools to streamline recruiting.
Premium Learning Courses
Access more than 400 expert-led video courses covering business, creative and technology topics to build your skills.
Business Branding
Showcase important content for your company through an expanded Showcase Page as well as premium profiles for your entire team.
Team Collaboration Tools
Manage initiatives, share documents and collaborate seamlessly with project management through TeamLink.
| Premium Business Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Advanced Search Filters | Refine searches with more criteria |
| Startup Profinder | Discover professionals at promising startups |
| Talent Recruiting Tools | Streamline recruiting with tools like InMail and profile tagging |
| Premium Learning Courses | Access more than 400 expert video courses |
| Business Branding | Showcase content on expanded Company and Team pages |
| TeamLink Collaboration | Seamless project management and document sharing |
Benefits of Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator takes networking and lead generation to the next level with:
Advanced LinkedIn Search
Unlock extra filtering options like company growth, technologies used, keywords and more to laser target accounts and contacts.
TeamLink Collaboration
Seamlessly manage initiatives, share documents and collaborate with integrated project management.
Lead Recommendations
LinkedIn will automatically recommend leads tailored to your saved searches and preferences to fast-track prospecting.
Unlimited InMails
Send as many direct messages as needed to contact prospects and new connections.
Premium Auto-Generated Email Sequences
Automate and customize email follow-ups to keep prospects engaged.
Contact Insights
View extended profiles and full social selling insights to optimize outreach and personalize conversations.
Premium Team Accounts
Get enterprise-grade team access, analytics, integrations and compliance tools.
| Sales Navigator Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Advanced LinkedIn Search | Extra filters for targeted searches |
| TeamLink Collaboration | Integrated project management |
| Lead Recommendations | LinkedIn suggests tailored prospects |
| Unlimited InMails | Direct message unlimited prospects |
| Email Sequences | Automate and customize follow-ups |
| Contact Insights | View extended profiles and insights |
| Premium Team Accounts | Enterprise tools for teams |
Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?
Whether one of LinkedIn’s premium subscriptions is a wise investment depends on your specific needs and priorities. Here are some key considerations:
Job Seekers
Premium Career can help job seekers stand out in the competitive market with profile branding, badges, skills assessments and advanced profile management options. The ability to message recruiters directly via InMail can also give you an edge.
Business Owners
Premium Business enables entrepreneurs and small business owners to generate leads, recruit strategically and market their brand through premium content pages and Showcase Pages.
Recruiters
Talent recruiters can source candidates more efficiently, send InMails, and use tools like profile tagging to manage pipelines with Premium Business or Sales Navigator subscriptions.
Sales Professionals
For sales, the lead recommendations, unlimited InMails, integrated CRM, and powerful team collaboration tools included with Sales Navigator are extremely valuable.
Active Networkers
Those who actively use LinkedIn to network and prospect stand to gain the most from premium features like InMail messaging, advanced search and profile management.
Budget
Premium Career and Business offer professional features for under $60/month when billed annually, while Sales Navigator costs $64.99/month or $519.88/year. Assess whether premium capabilities warrant the ongoing expense.
Return on Investment
Consider potential ROI – if premium tools help you land a new job, customers or top talent, the subscription can pay for itself many times over. Track metrics like messages sent, views received and connections made.
Conclusion
Upgrading to a paid LinkedIn subscription can take your experience on the platform to the next level. Premium Career offers helpful job seeking tools, while Premium Business and Sales Navigator provide robust features for recruiting, marketing and sales. Evaluate your specific needs and budget to decide if the investment in premium LinkedIn capabilities could be beneficial. By leveraging the additional functionality, you can maximize your professional brand and opportunities on the world’s largest career network.
