3 Surprising LinkedIn Stats All B2B Marketers Should Know

Daniel Kushner

Looking for a job? Go to LinkedIn. That’s pretty much how the average person views the social platform. B2B marketers, on the other hand, see it quite differently. For them, LinkedIn is viewed as perhaps their greatest social media resource; an active community of potential prospects just begging for relevant content and engagement.

Despite its growing popularity, there are a few things that many B2B marketers still don’t know (but should) about the social platform. In this post, I aim to share 3 statistics even I was somewhat surprised to see. Take a look:

• 70% of LinkedIn users are outside the US (source): This was not true several years ago, when adoption rates outside the US were as low as 30%. The obvious significance of this statistic is that LinkedIn is now a valuable B2B sales and marketing resource for every company, regardless of geographic location. It also means that you should consider extending the reach of your LinkedIn content and campaigns to new territories – not just on your home turf (if you are US based).
  
• The average user spends 17 minutes on LinkedIn per month (source): This stat was taken back in 2012, so it’s quite possible that the actual number is much higher today (and I’d be shocked if it weren’t). Nevertheless, it’s obvious that LinkedIn still trails Facebook and other, more consumer-focused platforms when it comes to overall engagement. Thus, the key takeaway here is that if you hope to engage prospects on LinkedIn and nurture them to leads, your content needs to be eye-catching and extremely relevant. Time is of the essence.
  
• LinkedIn generates 4X as many homepage views as Twitter and Facebook (source): The important thing to note here is relevancy and context. It’s much harder to get the attention of a LinkedIn user versus Facebook or Twitter (see stat above) but it is much easier to get them interested in your brand.

While LinkedIn has always been a key part of a B2B marketing organization’s game-plan, there are many ways to optimize its use. I hope these three statistics have shed some light on how to generate even more social media ROI from this amazing platform.

Have another great LinkedIn stat to share? Let us know in the comments section below!

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