Fish Where The Fish Are (Part 1): understanding your LinkedIn audience

Written by Sanderson Recruitment | Blog | Posted 28/07/2014


Is your business maximising the full potential of its LinkedIn account or, has a lack of collective belief in the benefits resulted in it being under-utilised? If the latter applies, it’s time to reconstruct your perception and begin to understand LinkedIn as the pivotal business tool that it has become.

Nobody wants to be the first person at a party; in the same way, nobody wants to follow a company with few connections, little activity and minimal content. The average LinkedIn user only follows 6 businesses, so it is vital that you ensure one of them is yours and not a competitor’s. Adobe and Kellogg’s, with around 300k and 130k followers respectively, are two great examples of company profiles. Both pages share regular and engaging content and view LinkedIn as a central component of their marketing strategy.

Why do people follow a company?

People want to follow companies on social media and LinkedIn is no different. In fact, LinkedIn research concluded that 88% either currently follow a business or have the desire to. The motivation for this however, varies across different social media platforms. Whereas Facebook and Twitter users follow companies primarily for brand association, to show support and to receive new product and promotional information; LinkedIn users have a different agenda. Their study concluded that 71% of members are interested in jobs, 68% in news and insights and 61% in company projects and initiatives. Users wish to maintain their professional identity and seek out new opportunities, whilst also networking through their contact database. It is therefore vital to understand your followers and that different social media audience’s desire different interactions.

What do your followers want from your profile?

Tom Peters, an American Business Management expert, once said, “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders”. If a user follows you, shares something from your profile or comments on your activity, their entire network is notified raising awareness of your page. Creating interesting content is therefore paramount. Research has found that followers of recruitment profiles can be grouped as 80% ‘passive’ and 20% ‘active’ users. These active users are seeking employment, so require industry news, job posts, interview help and key market information – summarised as career opportunities and personal development. Passive users instead wish to be informed and entertained, with industry news, projects and general career advice amongst their requirements. If your followers are an 80/20 split, then your content should be too.

Three key principles can be used to guide the management of your LinkedIn page: Blogging, Integration and Advertising. We will be exploring these in further depth in our follow-up blog: ‘Fish Where the Fish Are (Part 2): 3 principles for managing your LinkedIn page’.
“Building Your Follower Ecosystem and What This Means for You” – Webcast - Tuesday, July 22, 2014 11.00am - 11.30am - LinkedIn
“7 Steps to LinkedIn Publishing Success” – Blog - Siofra Pratt, July 15, 2014 – Social Talent
“12 Things to do after youpublish a blog on LinkedIn” – Blog & Infographic - Siofra Pratt & Jonathan Campbell, July 18, 2014 – Social Talent

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