Linked THE B2B MARKETING PLATFORM «From social marketing to smart social selling» Semiocast The Social Media Intelligence Company
Introduction: why this research? It is no secret to Chief Marketing Officers of B2B brands that most of their customers today use LinkedIn except maybe in countries where the business-oriented social network is still weak, such as Japan and Germany. And this is why, besides the recruitment-related revenue stream, Microsoft made the move to acquire LinkedIn last year. As a result, social selling has grown into the most common feature of B2B marketing strategy and social selling consulting has turned into the new social media consulting. Yet, benchmarks are rare that might help CMOs shape their strategies and their teams objectives. How does the team perform? Are they reaching and engaging the right decision makers? How to design an influence strategy reaching the best suited actors for a given marketing campaign? These are typically the questions where social media intelligence can help: as a significant portion of LinkedIn members share public content on the social network, data and insights are there to be analyzed and transformed into efficient B2B marketing strategies. This unprecedented research is a set of universal benchmark results we are publishing to assert the role of LinkedIn as the B2B marketing platform. It is meant to help you quickly assess your team s performance on LinkedIn and demonstrate the value of being active on the social network for marketing and sales specialists. Are you reaching and engaging the right decision makers? How can you design the best influence strategy for your marketing campaigns? The fundamental aim of marketers is to reach their audiences with the most adequate proposition, on a wide range of features, to foster proximity, relation, engagement. Measuring performance has to be grounded in sound, objective data. Semiocast is now providing new ways to gain a most precise picture of targets and to better assess impact of marketing campaigns on very select, most relevant, segments of population. Using world-class, in-house designed technologies, Semiocast offers the analytical skills that will turn insights into intelligence, artfully shed light on facts and trends, and eventually help you drive decisions and measured, most adequate actions. Jean-Baptiste Dézard, Marketing and Sales Director, Deloitte France 2
Methodology and outline This research is drawing from our experience helping B2B brands define and implement concrete strategies to reach and engage their customers. Beyond statistics on the social network, our research aims to define a framework to measure the efficiency of LinkedIn members behaviors and to outline best practices. Indicators were built on a random sample of 20,000 public profiles visited in June 2017, drawn from each country where LinkedIn is present and defined in every language offered by the social network. The first part of this research combines official data published by LinkedIn with our own indicators to draw a precise image of LinkedIn profiles. For example we reveal 3% of accounts have 500+ connections. The second part of this research focuses on social media activity of LinkedIn members, including the growing social selling efforts of B2B sales people. One of our key findings is that thought leaders generating most engagement post only once or twice per month, as LinkedIn feed algorithm currently favors quality over quantity. Finally, for selected key metrics, we define the level of the top 1% of LinkedIn members, providing you with a first, simple baseline to improve your presence on the social network. 3
A growing worldwide network of professionals 4
#1.1 With a steady international growth, LinkedIn attracts decision makers 5
April 2017 500M Microsoft acquisition Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration IPO 300M Syncs its Sales Navigator with SalesForce Set up Conversion Tracking 37M Launch of social selling tool (eg. Newsle) Direct sponsored content 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Number of LinkedIn members SINCE 2014, LINKEDIN IS INCREASINGLY A SOCIAL SELLING PLATFORM WITH A GROWING NUMBER OF RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 6
*TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY NUMBER OF REGISTERED USERS *TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY SHARE OF INTERNET POPULATION ON LINKEDIN United States 139 M United States 58% India China 40 M 31 M Malta Iceland 43% 43% 17 % OF EU POPULATION IS ON LINKEDIN Brazil 29 M Canada 42% United Kingdom 22 M Australia 40% Canada 13 M Netherlands 40% France 13 M United-Kingdom 36% Italie 10 M Denmark 34% Mexico 9 M Singapore 34% Spain 9 M Ireland 34% *Total number of profiles located in each country *Share of LinkedIn profiles among population with internet access (all devices) BRAZIL, INDIA AND CHINA REPRESENT A HUGE POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF USER GROWTH AND LINKEDIN IS STILL STRUGGLING AGAINST LOCAL COMPETITORS, ESPECIALLY IN JAPAN AND GERMANY 7
Share of LinkedIn profiles by language + 99% OF PROFILES USE A SINGLE LANGUAGE 10% 4% 6% 6% 10% Other languages French Chinese Portuguese Spanish 64% English 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 ENGLISH IS THE MAJOR LANGUAGE ON LINKEDIN, INCLUDING IN NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES, WHILE USAGE OF CHINESE IS BOOMING SINCE 2015 8
#1.2 On LinkedIn, every member is a brand 9
LEVELS OF LINKEDIN PROFILE STRENGTH ALL STAR EXPERT ADVANCED 2 ADVANCED 1 INTERMEDIATE BEGINNER 2 BEGINNER 1 4% 10% 12% 12% 31% 10% 21% Having skills + Adding education + Adding a position + Filling out industry + Adding location + Writing a summary + Adding a profile photo 1% OF PROFILES COMBINE ALL STAR LEVEL WITH A BACKGROUND IMAGE LINKEDIN HAS BEEN GAMIFYING COMPLETION OF PROFILES, GENERATING THOUSANDS OF THIRD- PARTY TUTORIALS ON HOW TO REACH ALL STAR STRENGTH. IT NOW FEATURES 7 DISTINCT LEVELS. 10
16% OF PUBLIC PROFILES DISPLAY A PHOTO 3% OF MEMBERS ALSO UPLOADED A BACKGROUND IMAGE 17,075 11% OF MEMBRES HAVE A PROFILE SUMMARY TO CONVINCE USERS TO ADD A SUMMARY, LINKEDIN USES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE ONE BASED ON PROFILE INFORMATION BEYOND ALL-STAR LEVEL, LINKEDIN S INTERFACE ENCOURAGES MEMBERS TO COMPLETE THEIR PROFILES TO MAKE SURE AS MANY MEMBERS AS POSSIBLE PROVIDE CURATED DATA ON THEMSELVES. 11
12,128 41% OF MEMBERS ADDED THEIR EDUCATION 62% SAY THEY ARE CURRENTLY HOLDING A POSITION 6,872 67% OF MEMBERS SPECIFIED AT LEAST ONE WORK EXPERIENCE WHILE MANY PROFILES ARE INCOMPLETE, 48% PROVIDE PRECISE CURRICULUM VITAE INFORMATIONS 12
WORK EXPERIENCE BASED ON 48% OF PROFILES WITH SUFFICIENT RESUME DETAILS 4 % 31+ years 2 % 26-30 years 17 % 4 % 7 % 21-25 years 16-20 years 11-15 years 1/3 OF MEMBERS DISPLAY MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 15 % 6-10 years 17 % 0-5 years 34 % Students YOUNG TALENTS PERFECTLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT LINKEDIN SOCIAL NETWORK BRINGS TO THEIR PERSONAL BRANDING 13
#1.3 LinkedIn ignites social recognition 14
Skills & endorsements 22% 3% OF MEMBERS RECEIVED AT LEAST 1 RECOMMENDATION 1.5% Skills but no endorsement 7% 0.5% 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% 1 2 3 4 5+ 1% OF PROFILES RECEIVED AND GAVE RECOMMENDATIONS 1% OF PROFILES DISPLAY 40+ SKILLS WITH ENDORSEMENTS BEYOND COMPLETION OF PROFILES, LINKEDIN FAVORS VARIOUS MEANS OF SOCIAL RECOGNITION SUCH AS RECOMMENDATIONS. 75% OF PROFILES WITH SKILLS HAVE BEEN ENDORSED. 15
SKILLS MENTIONED ALL PROFILES PROFILES WITH 1,000+ CONNECTIONS MICROSOFT OFFICE 1.40% LEADERSHIP 1.17% CUSTOMER SERVICE 1.12% MANAGEMENT 1.12% PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1.09% MANAGEMENT 1.02% LEADERSHIP 0.96% PUBLIC SPEAKING 0.91% SOCIAL MEDIA 0.81% TEAM BUILDING 0.72% STRATEGIC PLANNING 0.66% BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 1.07% MARKETING STRATEGY 0.93% SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING 0.87% MARKETING 0.87% ENTREPRENEURSHIP 0.82% DIGITAL MARKETING 0.80% TRAINING 0.80% BUSINESS & MARKETING ACTORS FOUND THEIR PLACE AMONG MOST CONNECTED PROFILES SOFT SKILLS RELATED TO MANAGERIAL PRACTICE ARE PARTICULARLY POPULAR ON THE SOCIAL NETWORK. 16
#1.4 LinkedIn s social graph is defined by connections and sources of influence 17
TRADITIONALLY, LINKS BETWEEN LINKEDIN MEMBERS WERE SYMETRIC CONNECTIONS : YOU ARE A CONNECTION OF YOUR CONNECTIONS. IN 2015, FOLLOWING FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN INTRODUCED THE ABILITY TO FOLLOW ANY OTHER MEMBER. YET, THIS «FOLLOWING» EDGE IS STILL UNDER-USED, AND EXCEPT FOR INFLUENCERS, THE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS IS EQUAL OR APPROXIMATIVELY EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS. 0.5% DO NOT WANT TO BE FOLLOWED ACCEPT TO BE FOLLOWED BY NON-CONNECTIONS 99.5% NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS & FOLLOWERS 63% 21% 5% 5% 2% 3% 2% 1% 0 0-99 100-199 200-299 300-399 400-499 500-999 1000+ M O R E T H A N A H A L F O F PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS HAVE 500+ CONNECTIONS $ NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS IS TRADITIONALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT METRIC OF LINKEDIN PROFILES. ALMOST 1% OF PUBLIC PROFILES HAVE 1,000+ CONNECTIONS. 18
18% OF MEMBERS ARE MEMBERS OF ONE GROUP OR MORE 10% OF MEMBERS FOLLOW AT LEAST ONE INFLUENCER TOP 15 INFLUENCERS FOLLOWERS (MILLIONS) 1 Richard Branson 11.6 2 Bill Gates 8.2 3 Jeff Weiner 5.6 49% OF MEMBERS FOLLOW A COMPANY OR MORE 4 5 6 7 Jack Welch Arianna Huffington Deepak Chopra MD Daniel Goleman 5.6 5.5 5.1 4.0 8 James Caan CBE 2.9 9 Tony Robbins 2.6 10 David Cameron 2.5 11 Guy Kawasaki 2.4 23% OF MEMBERS FOLLOW A SCHOOL 12 13 14 Mark Cuban Liz Ryan Gretchen Rubin 2.3 2.3 2.3 15 Narendra Modi 2.2 LINKEDIN SUCCEEDS IN GETTING MEMBERS TO SUBSCRIBE TO SOURCES OF INFLUENCE AS MORE THAN HALF OF MEMBERS FOLLOW ONE SOURCE OR MORE. TOP 1% OF MEMBERS HAVE 75+ INTERESTS. 19
Social media activity on LinkedIn 20
#2.1 On LinkedIn, content is shared by few members 21
Video & job offers Text 5% 9% 7% OF ALL MEMBERS EVER SHARED A CONTENT PUBLICLY Posts 70% Images 35% 6% WITHIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS Articles 51% Reshares 30% LINKS TO EXTERNAL MEDIA AND LINKEDIN PULSE (ARTICLES) REPRESENT HALF OF POSTS ON LINKEDIN. 22
AMONG PUBLISHING MEMBERS (6%) FOR THE PAST 12 MONTHS 5% SHARED MORE THAN ONCE PER WEEK THE MOST ACTIVE POSTERS 8% SHARED 1 TO 2 TIMES PER MONTH THE MODERATE POSTERS 67% SHARED LESS 6 TIMES PER YEAR THE LEAST ACTIVE POSTERS TOP 1% OF 500M+ MEMBERS SHARE, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN ONE CONTENT PER MONTH. 23
NATURE OF LINKEDIN POSTS THE MOST ACTIVE POSTERS THE MODERATE POSTERS COMPANY-RELATED CONTENT (NEWS, JOBS OFFERS, PRODUCTS ) 69% 97% COMPANY PROMOTION 43% INDUSTRY-RELATED CONTENT (NEWS, INSIGHTS ) 25% 37% 10% GOOD PRACTICES UNRELATED TO BUSINESS 6% 20% 48% PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT MOST ACTIVE POSTERS (ONCE PER WEEK) FLOOD THEIR FOLLOWERS WITH MESSAGES PROMOTING THEMSELVES OR THEIR COMPANY. THOUGHT LEADERS BELONG TO MODERATE POSTERS. 24
#2.2 Moderation and leadership generate more engagement 25
SHARE OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS 40% 36% 32% 28% 24% 20% 16% 12% 8% 4% 52% OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS GET, ON AVERAGE, ONE LIKE/COMMENT PER POST OR MORE 0 0,5 1 2 4 8 16 32 32+ 1% OF LINKEDIN MEMBERS GET AN AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT 4 AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA KPI DEFINED HERE AS THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMENTS AND LIKES PER POST TO PUBLISHING MEMBERS, LINKEDIN SEEMS TO GENERATE MORE ENGAGEMENT THAN OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS AS 1% OF THEM SYSTEMATICALLY GET AT LEAST 10 LIKES PER POST. 26
BELONGING TO TOP-HALF PUBLISHING MEMBERS BY GENERATED ENGAGEMENT THE MOST ACTIVE POSTERS (MORE THAN ONCE PER WEEK) 53% THE MODERATE POSTERS (1 TO 2 TIMES PER MONTH) 79% THE LEAST ACTIVE POSTERS (LESS 6 TIMES PER YEAR) 44% MODERATE POSTERS GET THE HIGHEST AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT ON THEIR POSTS, WHILE MOST ACTIVE POSTERS CREATE SOME FATIGUE AMONG THEIR FOLLOWERS. 27
BELONGING TO TOP-HALF PUBLISHING MEMBERS BY GENERATED ENGAGEMENT TOP MANAGEMENT 68% OTHER PROFESSIONALS 52% STUDENTS 53% UNEMPLOYED & 34% INCOMPLETE RESUMES TOP MANAGEMENT GET THE HIGHEST AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT, AND ESPECIALLY TOP MANAGERS POSTING MODERATELY (1-2 PER MONTH) WHO GET, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 7 LIKES PER POST. 28
SHARE OF PROFILES FOR WHOM THIS TYPE OF CONTENT GENERATES MORE ENGAGEMENT IMAGE ARTICLE WITH IMAGE 53% 22% TEXT 14% VIDEO ARTICLE WITHOUT IMAGE JOB OFFER 6% 4% 1% FOLLOWING A GENERAL PATTERN ON SOCIAL MEDIA, IMAGES GENERATE MOST ENGAGEMENT. JOB OFFERS ONLY GENERATE MORE ENGAGEMENT FOR 1% OF MEMBERS WHO SHARE THEM. 29
#2.3 LinkedIn feed is designed to favor viral content 30
SHARE OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS BY THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT LIKERS 24% 26% 1% OF LINKEDIN MEMBERS GOT LIKES FROM 7 DIFFERENT USERS WITHIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS 12% 12% 14% 7% 5% No engagement 1 2 3-5 6-10 11-20 20+ 40% OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS GENERATED ENGAGEMENT WITH ONLY 1 TO 2 MEMBERS. THE TOP 5% OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS ENGAGED 20 OR MORE DIFFERENT USERS 31
SHARE OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS BY THE NUMBER OF INDUSTRIES THAT REPRESENT THEIR LIKERS 25% 1% OF LINKEDIN MEMBERS 22% 19% GOT LIKES FROM MEMBERS IN 7 INDUSTRIES OR MORE WITHIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS 6% 4% 6% 1% 6% 1% 1% 9% No engagement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+ ON LINKEDIN, 21% OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS HAVE MORE THAN HALF OF "LIKERS" WHO COME FROM ANOTHER INDUSTRY. ONLY 5% FROM THEIR OWN INDUSTRY 32
SHARE OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS BY THE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES THAT REPRESENT THEIR LIKERS 24% 46% 1% OF LINKEDIN MEMBERS GOT LIKES FROM MEMBERS IN 3 COUNTRIES OR MORE WITHIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS 15% 7% 3% 4% 2% No engagement 1 2 3 4 5-9 10+ LINKEDIN IS THE PREFERRED CHANNEL FOR CONNECTIONS BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL PROFESSION PROFILES. 30% OF PUBLISHING MEMBERS GET LIKES FROM MEMBERS IN 2 OR MORE COUNTRIES. 33
Who are LinkedIn top members? 34
TOP 1% OF LINKEDIN MEMBERS IN TERMS OF WHEN THEY REGISTERED REGISTERED IN 2006 OR EARLIER COMPLETION OF THEIR PROFILES COMBINE ALL STAR LEVEL WITH A BACKGROUND IMAGE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS NUMBER OF INTERESTS ENDORSEMENTS RECOMMENDATIONS THEIR ACTIVITY THE ENGAGEMENT THEY GENERATE THE VIRALITY OF THEIR SHARES HAVE 1,000 CONNECTIONS OR MORE SUBSCRIBED TO 75 INTERESTS (PAGES, INFLUENCERS AND GROUPS) OR MORE RECEIVED ENDORSEMENTS FOR 40 SKILLS OR MORE RECEIVED AND GAVE 1 RECOMMENDATION OR MORE SHARE ONCE PER MONTH OR MORE FREQUENTLY GET AT LEAST 4 LIKES OR COMMENTS ON AVERAGE ON THEIR POSTS GET LIKES FROM MEMBERS IN 7 INDUSTRIES OR MORE WITHIN A YEAR 35
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