Introduction
In today’s fast-paced, constantly evolving social media world, LinkedIn too has upped its game and introduced several features to make the platform more user-friendly and interactive. The network had already adapted to features like video introductions, reactions to posts, creator mode and more, over the last few months. With the entry into a new year, 2022, numerous other features and updates were beta-tested and launched to make the platform enticing to LinkedIn users.
Here’s a list of the latest LinkedIn updates that were recently released:
Group Identity Form B2B
After being tested for the last few months over small groups of individuals, Group Identity Form B2B is a new LinkedIn update that will allow users to target their ads to a specific group of audience and avoid the use of third-party services for the retargeting. With first-hand data within the platform, users can now narrow down their audience in terms of seniority, niche, and other specifications to achieve better results from their ads. This feature will make use of artificial intelligence to keep track of the conversions for higher accuracy.
LinkedIn Podcast Network
Taking cues from other audio streaming platforms, LinkedIn launched its own Podcast Network with a community of many intellectuals hosting their own shows including Jonathan Fields, Morra Aarons-Mele, Dee C. Marshall and Mita Mallick, and Andrew Seaman. You can find conversations on diverse topics related to careers, job advice, industry-specific news, business updates, and more. Backed by Verizon and IBM, this feature seems to be a promising one-stop knowledge hub for career-related matters.
Clubhouse Alternative
Following the Clubhouse hype, LinkedIn announced that their platform would also host live audio events and have been testing and working on this update with no third-party applications for assistance, to ensure smooth and interactive professional experiences amongst individuals on LinkedIn. From general discussions to hosting online events, this feature will come in handy for reasons beyond professional networking. LinkedIn is also looking at providing a monetization option to this feature, where attendees may have to buy tickets to attend an event. The platform is also looking at extending this feature to video interactive sessions, after the launch of the Clubhouse alternative. While this feature has not yet been launched, it definitely is one of the LinkedIn changes that is going to alter the way the site or app will be used.
Sales Navigator
The LinkedIn Sales Navigator is the ultimate tool that works as CRM for LinkedIn professionals, allowing individuals to find leads within the target market, get real-time insights, and build cordial relationships with clientele and other businesses. It also works as a collaborative platform for teams to track and maintain projects. With four subscription plans—Career, Business, Sales Navigator Core, and Recruiter Lite—you can choose what best suits your purpose for using the platform and make the most of LinkedIn. This LinkedIn update allows a certain number of InMails for each plan for communication within the app. You can save the data pertaining to your leads within this feature, perform advanced searches, get customized suggestions of target accounts, and get real-time updates on the professional activities of probable candidates. With nearly 800 million users on the platform, the Sales Navigator is sure to make the experience effortless with this subscription-based CRM model.
Service Pages
Most businesses already use the LinkedIn pages to display their services through a post that is similar to other social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. LinkedIn has now launched an enhanced version of the business page—LinkedIn Service Pages. A service page is a customized landing page for your business to showcase your services in a more organized fashion with features that enable a potential client to submit a project request on your page, irrespective of the connection degree. With an operational model of request and proposal, you can easily create a Service Page for your business through a few basic steps. Your existing LinkedIn page can be linked to the Service Page for ease of access. As a service provider, you can access your projects, clients, and project requests all in one place through the admin view.
Bonus: Another small yet significant update that LinkedIn launched is the feature of notification bells for profiles. This feature is already in place on other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, where you get alerts on the activities of specific individuals. This LinkedIn feature allows you to keep tabs on potential prospects and organizations that you are on the lookout for, especially related to job openings.
LinkedIn as a platform is rapidly evolving to enhance user experience and deliver value to its patrons. These updates are sure to help you get the best career opportunities and business expertise, making the most of your LinkedIn profile.