So… get this. Not only does LinkedIn have 500 million users (as of the beginning of 2018), but 50% of those are active every month. That’s quite a statistic; but there’s more. Out of those 250 million people, 40% use it daily. So what gives?
Well, as always, the devil’s in the demographics. So here’s a bit more food for thought… 70% are outside the US; the gender split is pretty even, with 56% being men, and 44% being women; and after the US, the highest number of users come from India, Brazil, Great Britain and Canada. But here’s the really useful thing; one fifth of users are either senior level influencers and/or decision-makers. And that makes LinkedIn B2B heaven on steroids.
There’s more…
Apparently 59% of LinkedIn members have never worked in a business with more than two hundred personnel. So it’s not all about big corporations. It’s more where people mingle for jobs, contacts, AND information. Content is king on LinkedIn. More than 50% of social traffic to B2B websites and blogs is driven from the site. So people are not only using it to transmit, they’re using it to receive and understand too.
LinkedIn users are looking for interesting business content
They don’t want to see photos of cats or jokes about grammar. They’re looking for tips, advice, recommendations, and cutting edge ideas. You ‘just’ have to give it to them. Small businesses can have big voices when they speak with knowledge, credibility and authority. Being a specialist in your field gets noticed.
SlideShare is becoming quite an archive of information
And if you like the thought of sharing your top tips and industry gems, SlideShare should not be overlooked. It now has over 70 million monthly users looking for infographics, PowerPoint presentations, and videos to pass on to their audience. Valuable content gets shared. Branded valuable content will build your name. And it’s not to be sniffed at that LinkedIn is the channel of choice for 94% of B2B marketers looking to distribute content.
But not everyone is shouting… there is space for your knowledge
However, interestingly, despite all that we’ve said, only three million of the quarter of a billion users per month actually share content on a weekly basis. And only one million have actually published an article. LinkedIn is not just a channel on transmit. Apparently, when a representative sample of marketing executives were asked where the go to find high quality content, 91% said LinkedIn. From decision makers to marketing gurus, it IS the place for your content to be and be seen.
So what content works best?
In a nutshell, this is what’s been discovered:
- Longform articles work best – Definitely over 1000 words, but 1900 word articles tend to get the most shares.
- However, 40 word posts work best for converting.
- How-to and list posts get significantly more shares than other types of content.
- Lists, however, need to have five to ten points
- An odd number of headings seems to offer the most eye-catching content, but articles with 5, 7, or 9 headings are the most successful.
- Articles with titles that have forty-nine characters excel.
- Eight images is optimum.
- Articles NOT including video get shared more than those with.
- Group posts with a question mark in the subject line seem to engage the most successfully.
And what is most refreshing as a content creator is that you really don’t have to be an established influencer. In fact, over the last five years, of the ten thousand most shared articles only 6% were written by influencers.
Bottom line, what’s the story?
So there you have it. That’s quite a line-up of statistics to take in. But if you’re still not convinced, perhaps this one will help you win you over… 80% of B2B leads come via LinkedIn, as opposed to 13% from Twitter and 7% from Facebook. And we think we’ll leave it there. It’s hard to dismiss any channel that has that kind of punch.
