As 2014 continues to roll on, business owners need to take some time to reevaluate their strategies and tactics based on the most recent data. Now that we’re about one fourth of the way through the year, now’s a good time to look at the data on LinkedIn marketing. New data on the demographics and habits of LinkedIn users should give business owners and marketers reasons to rethink their LinkedIn strategy. Not because LinkedIn is losing steam, but because the platform is stronger than ever. Here are 8 recent LinkedIn stats that will make you want to connect to the network (or to connect more than you already are).
According to the Pew Research Center, 22 percent of US adults online use LinkedIn. Clearly, this pales in comparison to Facebook, but it’s higher percentage than Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. And it represents a 10 percent increase in market share from the previous year.
LinkedIn now has more than 277 million users worldwide and is gaining an average of more than 2 new members every second (for the sticklers, that means more than 63 million new members in a year)!
While other social media sites cater to the general public, LinkedIn serves a more educated audience. When randomly selected, a person is 17 percent more likely to pick a LinkedIn member with some college education and nearly twice as likely to have been to graduate school than to pick a LinkedIn member that hadn’t.
According to the March data from Quantcast, LinkedIn members are 85 percent more likely to earn more than $150,000 per year than the average internet user.
Advertising on LinkedIn is attractive because according to data from Lab42, 60% of LinkedIn users have clicked on an ad on the site.
People that use LinkedIn are indeed using it for business purposes. According to Forrester Research, nearly 75 percent of people surveyed said business was the primary or one of the primary reasons they used LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has an impressive percentage of people who visit the site regularly. Lab42 reported that 35 percent of user visit every day and 32 percent said they visit a few times a week. Since many business professionals don’t check the site on the weekends when they’re off, this means more than 65 percent visit LinkedIn whenever they are at work.
Lab42 also reported that LinkedIn members are very engaged. Their study found that 81 percent of LinkedIn users have joined at least one group and of those members, more than 50 percent had joined in the conversation.
As the social media platform for business, LinkedIn is a necessity of every business owner and marketer. Even if a business’s target audience isn’t on LinkedIn, the platform is the place to connect with other business owners and people of influence who can help promote a brand.