LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s New Features: 2 BIG Missed Opportunities

October 13, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

I’ve been very excited to see the new features LinkedIn is rolling out for companies. For a long time, they were missing the social media boat in so many ways in an effort to stay true to it’s business networking and job search roots. In the past year, they’ve made strides at creating a more social hub for members, and now their latest features aim to increase value to marketers and brands. But my question is: why have they been so slow on the uptake?

While I’m not complaining about their latest changes for the better, I think there are still major missed opportunities:

Make company pages more dynamic: We have apps for profiles, why not apps for company pages? As LinkedIn continues to build and roll out new features for company pages, they should think about ways to make them more dynamic and spotlight content such as videos, presentations and upcoming events.
Pay as much attention to event pages as they are to companies and individual profiles: Not much has been done to change the way event pages work on LinkedIn. Perhaps this has to do with a lack of traffic to those pages – members just don’t use them as much as other areas of the website. However, therein lies an opportunity to make them more interactive and valuable to event organizers, marketers and event attendees alike. Ways this could be done include embedded videos, Twitter streams, links to event social outposts, and even discussions from a related event group on LinkedIn. Also, why not allow event page admins to send messages to those who have RSVP’d – with the ability to segment by who’s attending and who’s interested, industry, even title.

Perhaps with LinkedIn’s new Certified Developer Program we’ll begin to see changes like these come down the pike. What do you think and what do you want to see on LinkedIn?

What We’re Reading, August 12th

August 12, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

How the London riots showed us two sides of social networking from Ars Technica: The London riots are the latest in a series of uprisings in recent years where social media sites like Twitter have been the main hubs of activity – from organization and mobilization to as-it-happens news. Those of us who use these tools as part of our jobs are so used to our own one-sided viewpoints of social media and how Twitter and Facebook can be used; but the riots reveal the much darker side. To the point that the British PM David Cameron is considering blocking Twitter and Facebook in the UK.

Before I continue with this week’s reading list, I want to ask you to post your thoughts in the comments below on social media’s role in the London riots – do you think blocking Twitter and Facebook is the answer?

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled reading list:

Klout Shares 6 Secrets Of Twitter Hashtag Chats from AllTwitter: Thinking of hosting your own Twitter chat? Klout offers some useful tips to help you get started.
64% of Small Businesses Think Social Media is Unnecessary [STUDY] from Mashable: This is an interesting report, but I’m baffled how it distinguishes word of mouth marketing (which 50% say they can’t do without) from social media (which apparently small businesses don’t have so much of a need for). Things that make you go…”Really?”
StumbleUpon Launches Program to Help Nonprofits from AdAge: Is it me, or have we not heard much about StumbleUpon lately? They seem to have gotten lost in the social networking jungle. But having used their Paid Discovery platform in the past, I definitely like what they’re doing for nonprofits with a new Stumbling for Good program.

We’ve also been reading about privacy issues in social networks (when aren’t there privacy issues?) – here are a couple of articles to help you:

Facebook stole every contact and phone number in your phone – here’s how to undo the damage from BGR
A Box You Want to Uncheck on LinkedIn from Connection Agent

Have a great weekend!

What We’re Reading, June 24th

June 24, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

Happy Friday! As you’re gearing up for your weekend, we’ve compiled a few stand-out blog posts we found interesting this week for your reading pleasure. Social media marketing ROI has been a hot topic for a while, but you can never diminish its importance. In a world where more and more businesses want to jump on the ol’ social media bandwagon, goals, measurement and ROI should be the driving forces behind any social media marketing campaign or program.

Making the Case for Real ROI in Social Marketing from ClickZ – “engagement” is not the same as ROI, and Dave Evans of Social Dynamyx offers ways of linking social marketing to customer service processes to measure “real” ROI.
HOW TO: Calculate the ROI of Your Social Media Campaign from Mashable – this presents a somewhat oversimplified process for calculating social media ROI, but at least provides a good, workable foundation.
Social Media Reality Check: 10 Things to Keep Top-of-Mind – Mitch’s latest for Social Media Today is a checklist of fundamentals to consider before launching into social media.
The Current State of Social Networks [Infographic] from Social Media Today – interesting infographic that covers some relatively unknown social networks, especially given recent data released by LinkedIn about how social networking-savvy men and women are.
Women Still Don’t ‘Get’ LinkedIn, Says LinkedIn from The Atlantic Wire – and here’s a link to that recent data!
How to Hire for Social Media Management from Social Fishing – Maddie Grant of Social Fish has officially called BS on not hiring interns to look after social media. Even though we’ve seen several cases of what can happen when an untrained intern is let loose to handle an organization’s social media presence, Maddie makes a substantial case.