LinkedIn’s First Public Quarter A Success
August 5, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
The social media marketing world is an interesting place. Just take a quick look at the top players and their business.
Facebook – Everyone wonders when the IPO will occur while the privately held company’s revenue numbers are talked and speculated about more than most public companies. Secondary market ‘trading’ of Facebook shares is the norm amongst the privileged. In the end, most people don’t know the truth about Facebook other than the warm fuzzy way that it handles its users’ privacy .
Twitter – It is still unclear just how and exactly how much money Twitter is making, can make or will make. Despite all the moves to look like an actual company it still gives off the feeling that it wouldn’t know a plan to generate revenue if one came up to it and kicked it in the shins.
Google+ – It’s a Google product so it is funded by Google’s paid search dollars. That was easy!
Then there is the little old, boring LinkedIn. The low hype social networking site that doesn’t have high profile corporate leadership, doesn’t do anything real ‘sexy’ as a product other than provide information to certain types of people that can be really useful for real world stuff.
Well, if their first quarter report as a public company is any indication, boring works especially in light of the rest of the news on a day when the economy of the US is in a shambles. SFGate.com reports
LinkedIn may have boosted the fortunes of the entire social-networking sector Thursday when the Mountain View firm surprised Wall Street by reporting a profit in its first-ever earnings report as a public company.
Some analysts had expected the professional social-networking firm to post a net loss of between 1 and 4 cents per share. But LinkedIn reported second-quarter net income of $4.5 million, about 4 cents per share, a slight increase from the $4.3 million for the same period last year when it was still a privately held firm.
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An interview by Fortune of LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, shows just how well things are going.
With 115.8 million members, a jump of 61% from a year earlier, the company is on a tear.
Fortune: Which of your three revenue streams—hiring solutions, marketing solutions (ad sales), and premium subscriptions—will be most important to the business going forward?
Weiner: We’re seeing strength across the board. While hiring solutions is showing continued momentum, we’re growing significantly faster in [ad sales] than the overall industry and will continue to take share there…and we’ll continue to invest in our ad sales team and generating more share of mind around our marketing solution products.
We also saw good momentum with premium subscriptions as a result of the overall lift [of membership] on the platform and some continued optimization of the existing product portfolio.
All of this is to say that while the world wants flash and excitement (actually maybe they don’t but we act like they do) what actually works is providing a useful service or suite of services that people will pay for. It’s that simple.
We seem to spend a lot of time confusing hype with reality in the Internet marketing space. We get caught up in the ‘celebrity’ of the space and wonder who is jumping to the top of the Google+ leaderboard or what Mark Zuckerberg ate for breakfast or whatever. We discuss all the cool ‘possibilities’ for various platforms and come off like technology beatniks clicking our fingers whenever some guru incorrectly predicts the future of communication in the modern age.
In the end, though, if these aren’t viable businesses that can sustain operations through their own revenue generation over the long term this is just chasing the wind.
LinkedIn seems to have figured out something with it’s dirt simple approach of “Hmmmm, let’s see. People need jobs. The economy kinda sucks but people need a way to try to succeed in this game. Maybe they could talk to each other about their work and careers and actually move themselves forward through a channel designed for just that purpose.” Brilliant!
Personally, I need to pay a lot more attention to what LinkedIn is actually doing and how it can help me professionally. I mean who cares about Mark Zuckerberg or which Silicon Valley hanger-on is topping the social media charts? Does that really help you get anything done? Nope.
So a tip of the hat to LinkedIn for doing something that the rest of the social media world seems to struggle with: building a business based on reality rather than hype.
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The ROI of Social Media
August 5, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
What’s the return on investment for your social media. It certainly depends upon what you are trying to accomplish with your social media campaign. Are you trying to build community, develop brand recognition or loyalty, drive sales or encourage sharing of your content or ideas? Every approach will require a different strategy…and a different way to gauge response. Read on.
Your Channels
What’s your social media ROI? Defining return on investment in social media is made easier with tools like Google Analytics 5, but the real question is what you are seeking in your social media campaign. Conversion is important but defining what this means when it comes to your particular business become among the most important things you will need to consider. The Unbounce Blog
The question of authenticity. Especially when discussing the brand your business projects, the question of authenticity emerges. What makes social media or the brand we promote with it authentic? And what kind of return on investment do we get for the authenticity we invest? Is there a substantial difference from the return where a company doesn’t invest this? Chris Brogan
Social media investment and the Civil Rights Movement. The word investment when thinking about the Civil Rights movement, and especially its leader, Martin Luther King Jr. takes on a whole new and nobler meaning, but when we think of what authentic business ought to be doing in relationship with the clients and customers they serve, perhaps it is a better mark for which to strive. Traffika
Facebook now friendlier to marketers. Could Facebook’s stance on marketing make the social networking site even friendlier to marketers, including the many small businesses who now rely on Facebook for a huge chunk of their marketing efforts either through direct advertising on the social site or maintaining of a branded page for their businesses? WSJ
How many of your “likes” are really your customers. More an issue with brick and mortar businesses depending on clients and customers from nearby, a recent social marketing study suggests that, on average just 15 percent of the “likes” on most small businesses’ Facebook pages actually reside in the same town. Pretty remarkable if you are depending upon these people as a source of business. The solution? More local focus. WSJ
Your Strategy
Timing is everything. When looking at how to get the most you can from social media, time can become a critical factor. The reason is simple. Timing is everything on a medium that enters your customers’ or clients’ lives on a daily 24 hour basis and knowing the best times to get the most out of your social media efforts is critically important to your success. Search Engine Optimization Journal
Tips on building a friendly community. Whether it’s a paid membership community or a free social media space where anyone can join, it’s important for you to start thinking about your online social efforts in the right way. Social dynamic can be as important as content and creating a welcoming tone is the key to creating a community that rewards your time and effort. Scott Fox
Social Media Trends
Is it too late to get started? Certainly not, says blogger Peter Masters who shares a wonderful infographic on social media adoption and more. Certainly, though social media isn’t a simple cure all or a one size fits all. Take the time to consider the message you wish to send and how that message could be most easily communicated through social media. The Marketing M8 Blog
Are you a content currator? Matt Mansfield explains this great way to think about the content you provider to your visitors in the social media world. Your goal is to bring people back to your social media presence again and again and eventually get them to check your main site with the products and services you offer there. Matt About Business
Conclusion
Social media is not a fad. Be ware of anyone who tells you otherwise. Top sites may come and go but the means by which marketing on the Internet has been transformed is irreversible. To understand how social media can return the investment of time you put in, first ask yourself what would happen if you did nothing. Failing to use one of the most cost-effective forms of business communication on the planet also may have costs. resonance
