After years of users asking for a revamp or increased capabilities, LinkedIn has finally done something about it. With the recent announcement of their Next Gen Career Pages, LinkedIn for Business now has an improved product which focuses on its core area - employer branding.
The updated user interface seems pulls away from the intense product marketing war zone of Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn has famously lagged behind the two main social media players in terms of organic capabilities as well as paid amplification. Instead of playing the catch-up game and investing millions to just become a worthy adversary, LinkedIn for Business is playing it smart - it's already dominating the employer-employee niche and this latest update is a clear indication that the network's future in this direction.
The new LinkedIn Career pages are focused around three main tabs: Overview, Jobs and Life, with the latter two centered on reaching more of the right talent and offering a glimpse into the company's culture. With this, LinkedIn's also introducing more visual elements to the page, enabling companies to better showcase their brand personality and spark the applicant interest.
And even though in early testing and with limited roll-out, LinkedIn has reported some very positive results. Using the new format, brands have experienced a 60% increase in pageviews per visitor, and 175% increase in job views.
The new look is estimated to roll out on a larger scale mid to end October, so marketers, you need to get ready. Here's what you should know about the three core functionalities of Next Gen Career Pages:
1. Connecting brands with the right applicants
With the Jobs tab, LinkedIn's making it easier for companies to find the best candidates, while sparking interest in positions by listing jobs relevant to visitors.
For example, my profile title as a Social Media Manager is enough to prompt LinkedIn to suggest jobs that could interest me in the Marketing and Communication field, without me having to perform any filtering or searches. This is definitely a key feature for the platform, as passive applicants could, just by clicking on a company's page, see jobs that could turn them into activate candidates, while at the same time it streamlines the process for active applicants.
Potential candidates can even see relevant employee insights that could help them determine if the company environment is suitable for them. Does the company have a startup working culture? Which working locations have most employees? Does your skill set match with those of current employees? Now you can see it all beforehand.
2. Increasing employer attractiveness
The Life tab is where LinkedIn is betting big. This tab will enable brands to showcase important moments and allow visitors to deep-dive into company culture, values, activities and benefits. It's fully customizable and allows the addition of videos and photos, all features that make it ideal for presenting the company in-depth and in a positive, attractive light.
The tab can also be customized in multiple ways, including by geo-location and interests, as we see on LinkedIn's own profile page. LinkedIn shows a great understanding of the fact that the employment market is now global and without borders: companies seek talent from around the world, while candidates are more willing than ever to relocate for the right position. That's why it's so beneficial for employers to be able to show off drawcards such as their office environment or other perks that could sway that perfect candidate.
3. Driving measurable results
The range of analytics offered is one area where LinkedIn has still some catching up to do compared to its main rivals Facebook and Twitter. With this new update, LinkedIn will now showcase a full range of company insights and analytics that could help companies analyze the health and evolution of their LinkedIn marketing activities.
Even though the update is mainly focused on employee insights and helping companies figure out what type of candidates they attract and what actions these candidates undertake, there are also engagement metrics - impression clicks, likes, social engagement - while traffic and follower metrics will also be made available.
What about using LinkedIn for driving demand gen?
Outside its employer branding scope, LinkedIn has, historically, been one of the main networks that brands use to distribute their content and fuel demand generation, especially in B2B sectors.
This will remain the case with the new Pages, as company updates will be seen in the feed as before. The change here is evident once potential leads visit your profile - the setup of your updates will be different, the Home page being replaced by the Overview page and updates pushed to the bottom. The consequences of this are yet to be weighed.
From preliminary observations it looks like LinkedIn will also follow suit in what is the new normal with social networks - being mobile first and bringing more video and images to the platform. These updates could definitely aid organic posts by enticing users to spend more time on LinkedIn on the probably most important device people own, their phone, but also make information more visually appealing and relevant.