LinkedIn Updates: Thought Leader Ads, Profile Insights, and More

Our Take: LinkedIn's collaborative articles feature is a valuable tool for knowledge sharing and growing one's professional network.

The platform is enhancing the collaborative articles experience by introducing these new features. These include an “unhelpful” button for flagging low-quality contributions (which LinkedIn seems to have removed), improving the matching of contributors to relevant articles, and expanding the feature to support multiple languages. The ability to follow contributors directly from the articles is also driving growth.

Strategically, being among the first to contribute to a new article can lead to higher visibility and engagement, as early contributions are more likely to receive upvotes and appear in users' news feeds. However, the content of the contributions must be valuable and relevant to the topic at hand.

LinkedIn strategist Judi Fox warns against including overly promotional calls to action within the contributions. LinkedIn seems to be monitoring this closely and discourages users from directing readers away from collaborative articles or pitching products or services.

Overall, the collaborative articles feature presents a promising opportunity for professionals to showcase their expertise, engage in meaningful discussions, and grow their network on LinkedIn. As the platform continues to refine and expand the feature, it will be interesting to see how it evolves as a tool for knowledge sharing and professional development.

Our Take: One notable aspect of this feature is the ability to create shareable filters. This means that once a user has set up a custom filter, they can share it with other users, who can then apply the same filter to their own news feed. Judi has created a “LinkedIn and creator filter” news feed that she has shared with her followers, allowing them to easily access the same curated content.

This new feature seems to resemble a similar functionality that was once available on X/Twitter, where users could create custom news feeds based on their favorite creators. By introducing this feature, LinkedIn is making it easier for users to engage with the content that matters most to them and to discover new creators who share their interests.

Our Take: The expansion of LinkedIn's Thought Leader Ads is an exciting development for brands looking to amplify positive mentions and endorsements from various sources. This feature allows companies to sponsor content created by anyone, not just their employees, providing a fantastic opportunity to showcase testimonials, event sponsorships, or general brand love from customers and influencers.

The process seems straightforward: brands can contact the content creator through LinkedIn's sponsorship platform, and the creator can choose to approve or deny the request. This approval step is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the feature and preventing misuse, such as a company promoting negative reviews about competitors.

For creators, this presents a win-win situation. They can create content that resonates with brands and potentially gain financial benefits and increased exposure from the sponsored content. It's an excellent way for influencers and thought leaders to collaborate with brands they genuinely appreciate.

However, as with any new feature, there may be some potential for misuse that LinkedIn hasn't yet considered. The platform must implement safeguards to prevent companies from promoting negative content about their competitors, even if the original content creator approves the sponsorship. Encouraging a positive and collaborative environment should be a priority.

Thought Leader Ads expansion is a promising tool for brands to leverage user-generated content and build credibility through authentic endorsements. As long as all parties use the feature responsibly and ethically, it has the potential to create valuable partnerships and drive positive brand awareness on the platform.

Moreover, LinkedIn has quietly invested in the creator economy and has become a platform where influencers and thought leaders can make a significant impact. Traditionally, the world of influencers and creators has been associated with other social platforms, and LinkedIn hasn't always been at the top of people's minds when interacting with influencers. However, since 2020, LinkedIn has been steadily growing its focus on helping creators succeed on the platform.

Judi believes LinkedIn is increasingly becoming a go-to place for people to discover the latest trends and tools in their business, especially when selling business tools or staying up-to-date with the creator economy. Influencers on LinkedIn drive traffic to big names and brands, and the platform's recent updates, such as the expansion of Thought Leader Ads, align with this growing trend of influencer marketing.

Ready to Supercharge Your Marketing Strategy?

Get expert training and an unbeatable conference experience when you attend Social Media Marketing World—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

Broaden your reach, skyrocket your engagement, and grow your sales. Become the marketing hero your company or clients need!

🔥 As a valued reader, you can save $970 on an All-Access ticket if you act now. Sale Ends Tuesday! 🔥

GET THE DETAILS

Our Take: The new LinkedIn Premium features, which provide users with more detailed insights into who has viewed their profile, are a valuable addition to the platform. By offering “interesting viewer” filters, LinkedIn empowers users to quickly identify high-profile individuals, influencers, and decision-makers who have shown interest in their profile.

This targeted information can benefit professionals looking to expand their network, explore new opportunities, or better understand their audience. Instead of sifting through a long list of profile views, users can now focus on the most relevant and potentially impactful connections.

Moreover, seeing who has viewed your profile due to your content creation efforts is a game-changer. This feature helps users understand the impact of their content and enables them to tailor their future posts to engage their target audience better. By linking profile views to specific content pieces, LinkedIn provides valuable data that can inform users' content strategies and help them build their personal brand more effectively.

Our Take: LinkedIn's introduction of new DM filters and folders is a much-needed improvement that will help users manage their inboxes more efficiently. As LinkedIn grows as a networking and professional communication platform, the volume of DMs can quickly become overwhelming, making it difficult to keep track of meaningful conversations and connections.

Adding clickable buttons that function as folders across the top of the DM interface is a smart design choice. It allows users to quickly access unread messages, starred conversations, and other categories, reducing the time spent scrolling through a cluttered inbox. By enabling users to star specific people, LinkedIn is making prioritizing messages from key contacts easier and avoiding distractions from less critical communications.

While implementing these filters and folders is a step in the right direction, there is still room for improvement. The ability for users to create and name their own folders would take this feature to the next level, providing even greater flexibility and customization. Although LinkedIn may not be moving quickly, the space next to the existing folders suggests that there is potential for further expansion and refinement of this feature.

As the volume of communication on LinkedIn continues to grow, features like these will become increasingly essential for users looking to streamline their inbox and focus on the conversations that matter most.

Our Take: The announcement of LinkedIn's plan to introduce gaming features on its platform is surprising and intriguing. As a professional networking site, LinkedIn's decision to venture into the casual gaming world seems like an unexpected “cruise ship turn.” However, upon closer examination, the potential benefits of this move become apparent.

LinkedIn's primary goal with the introduction of puzzle-based games appears to be fostering a more engaging and interactive user experience. By providing a lighthearted and fun element to the platform, LinkedIn hopes to encourage users to spend more time on the site, deepen relationships, and spark conversations in creative ways. This strategy is reminiscent of the early days of mobile gaming when simple games like Scrabble-inspired apps provided an informal way for people to connect and communicate with one another.

While the initial reaction to the news may be one of skepticism or amusement, there is potential for gaming to enhance the networking experience on LinkedIn. Just as casual games on mobile devices have brought people together in the past, LinkedIn's gaming features could serve as an icebreaker, facilitating conversations and helping users build stronger connections with their professional contacts.

However, implementing these gaming features will be crucial to their success. The concept of companies competing against each other based on employee scores, as hinted at in the leaked user interface, could lead to some interesting dynamics within the LinkedIn feed. It's unclear how LinkedIn will handle the sharing of scores and whether it will encourage a competitive atmosphere or focus more on the collaborative aspects of gaming.

While the introduction of gaming on LinkedIn may seem odd at first glance, it can potentially inject some fun and engagement into the professional networking experience. As long as LinkedIn maintains a balance between its core purpose and this new entertainment element, adding casual games could be a successful way to keep users connected and interacting on the platform.