LinkedIn’s looking to solidify its ties with publishers, with a view to boosting industry-specific engagement in the app.
The professional social network, which has seen a 22% increase in views of updates in the main feed year-over-year, and a 25% increase in public conversations in the app, is now shifting its focus from creators to professional publishers instead, as part of its broader mission to “connect the world’s professionals to economic opportunity,” through more niche, high value content that sparks further conversation in-stream.
In an interview with Axios, LinkedIn editor-in-chief Dan Roth explained that LinkedIn is currently working with over 400 news publishers globally, with LinkedIn’s editorial team maintaining contact with these newsrooms to “inform them of what's trending so that they can better optimize their posts”.
And unlike Meta, which is pulling away from more divisive news coverage, LinkedIn’s more niche approach is helping to drive more positive, informative engagement.
As per Roth:
“We believe that when members and professionals come to LinkedIn, they should be getting insights that help them be better at the job they have or the job they want to have.”
The re-focus on industry publications also comes as LinkedIn removes its “Creator Mode” option, which it initially added back in 2021, as part of the broader industry focus on maximizing creator incentives. But on LinkedIn, being a “creator” is not really the focus, as most LinkedIn members are already experts within their professional fields, and it’s that industry expertise that also offers the most value and insight.
As such, LinkedIn is now turning to publications that offer more specialized insight, as opposed to trying to build its own in-stream influencers.
In line with this, Roth says that LinkedIn is also investing more into its podcast network, while it’s also running a new video sponsorship pilot with selected publishers.
That, ideally, will see more high quality video being shared in the app, which will further boost engagement and interaction within specific niches.
Roth also highlights the growth of LinkedIn newsletters as another publisher opportunity, with a 150% increase in the number of newsletters being published by publishers and journalists on the platform over the past year.
From a marketing perspective, this will also deliver more opportunities to focus on specific niches, as more industry-specific content filters through to these specific community networks. And with LinkedIn also recently updating its feed algorithm to focus on uncovering more in-depth, insightful posts, as opposed to the latest trending updates, that could also shift the focus of the app into a more resourceful, valuable tool.
As such, it may be worth digging into LinkedIn’s niche discussions, and seeing what’s happening in your brand sector. And if LinkedIn is able to build more specific silos of industry-based discussion, there may soon be a lot more value there for your marketing efforts.
