Are you starting an ecommerce venture similar to eBay or Dollar Shave Club? Not quite certain how to begin marketing? The sheer number of options can leave you scratching your head. But if you consider the proliferation of social media, one thing is for sure. You cannot overlook social platforms like Facebook or Insta when devising your internet marketing strategy.
But digital marketers, here’s the kicker. From Twitter and Facebook to Snapchat and YouTube, your target audience is present on so many different social platforms. Whew, we know that can make your head spin!
No doubt, consumers from diverse socio-economic groups flock to social media giants. You know the likes of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Many B2B and B2C marketers depend on LinkedIn to promote their business ventures. Need an example? Sure! Dell leverages LinkedIn to promote its tech products and services to businesses and companies – large and small.
Consider Jay Baer. This dude is a savvy and eloquent marketing consultant, speaker, and author with more than 300,000 followers on LinkedIn. Whoa, that’s impressive if you ask us! Jay uses LinkedIn to share his insights on marketing. Plus, he uses the platform to promote his consulting business.
For many marketers, LinkedIn is one of their top social media channels. This is especially true for reaching professional buyers and key decision-makers. Want to market your business or products to business professionals? If so, LinkedIn is the place to be.
Still, before launching yourself on this social media platform, you must consider the demographics, number of users on LinkedIn, and other key stats.
Why is LinkedIn Important for Advertisers and Marketers?
Oh LinkedIn, it is not just another social media platform. Think of it as the secret weapon in your marketing arsenal. You probably know that LinkedIn is amongst the most popular social media sites globally. Also, the peeps at LinkedIn are not shy of tooting their own horns.
The social platform hails itself as “the world’s largest professional network.” Let’s understand why LinkedIn is a marketer’s goldmine.
Large and Highly-Engaged Audience
Wow! A whopping 850 million LinkedIn members worldwide! Plus, half of these folks are active monthly. Marketing on this platform is like hosting a blockbuster event with an international guest list. So, why not target your ads to specific job titles and industries, like healthcare?
By doing this, you can reach people who are likely to be most interested in your products or services. Think doctors, engineers, and artists. For suave marketers, LinkedIn is a colossal playground teeming with potential customers and partners.
The B2B Powerhouse
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think about LinkedIn? Perhaps posting your resume or a job hunt! If that’s the case, you need to reconsider. It’s the world’s biggest and most famous professional network. How can you use that to your advantage and rake in new customers?
Here is an example. If you are into B2B, you’ve hit the jackpot, as the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. LinkedIn is the place where businesses meet decision-makers. How is that helpful, you may wonder? If you’re targeting other business enterprises or startups, LinkedIn is your stage. It is the place where you can totally shine.
Bullseye Targeting
With LinkedIn, you can target your adverts based on numerous diverse criteria. Job title, company size, niche, industry, location, and interests are some examples. You can say that LinkedIn takes targeting to a whole new level. Need precision and accuracy? You got it! Ever considered aiming your ads like a sharpshooter? With this platform, it is possible.
A Slew of Ad Formats
Want to know another impressive thing about LinkedIn? It serves up a buffet of ad formats. Not sure what we are getting at? As a marketer, you can choose from text ads, video ads, and image ads. Let’s assume you are an online clothing retailer. You could use an image ad on LinkedIn to showcase your new line of fall fashion. Cool, right? You can also target the ad to people with job-specific titles, like “Fashion Designer” and “Retail Manager.”
But there’s more. How about experimenting with sponsored content? Why not use sponsored content to promote blog posts, articles, whitepapers, eBooks, and other content types? Want to tell your story visually? You’ve got it. Go with video ads. Prefer to keep it snappy? Text ads are your jam.
LinkedIn User Statistics
Number of LinkedIn Users
LinkedIn is colossal, boasting more than 850 million users. The platform is present in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide [Source: LinkedIn]. Talk about reach! Here’s another tidbit – nearly one-third (33%) of all LinkedIn users are from the Americas.
Let’s talk specifics – 210.1 million users are in North America alone. Plus, the US is home to at least 190 million of these users. Asia Pacific and Europe are not too far behind, with 251.3 million and 184.3 million users, respectively [Source: DataReportal].
What about Demographics?
Gender
Time to look at LinkedIn’s demographics! While there is not a big gender disparity, globally, men tend to use LinkedIn more compared to women. In January 2022, 57.2% of LinkedIn users were male, while 42.8% were female. Keep one thing in mind, though. The numbers of active users are skewed a tad higher to males in the US, at 58% [Source: Statista].
So, how to use these stats to hone your marketing strategy? While LinkedIn has a slight male majority, don’t forget that there are still millions of cool chicks on there. So, for your LinkedIn marketing campaign, make sure to go for both gents and ladies! Plus, don’t be all uncool with your words. Be polite and politically correct. You have to use inclusive talk and not get all gender-specific. Need an example? Instead of saying “businessmen,” be like, “businesspeople,” you know? Keep it totally rad, and not fall for those stereotypes.
Age
Are you setting up a LinkedIn ad campaign to promote your tech startup or healthcare organization? If so, consider the LinkedIn age demographic. Here’s what Statista has to say. The international LinkedIn user age distribution was as follows (as of January 2023):
- 18-24: 21.7%
- 25-34: 60%
- 35-54: 15.4%
- 55+: 2.9%
Also, 31% of adult LinkedIn users — about one in three—are between 30 and 39 [Source: Statista]. It isn’t surprising to see that more than 50% of LinkedIn users are in the age bracket that’s starting or growing their careers. After all, it is a professional network.
Who’s next in line, you might wonder? We have the seasoned professionals, the 50 to 64-year-old group, at 28%. These include the likes of CEOs and COOs. These folks bring a wealth of experience and expertise to LinkedIn. These professionals are not merely climbing the corporate ladder; they’ve practically built it. They are followed by the 40 to 49 years old category, at 23%. These individuals are usually in the prime of their careers. [Source: Statista]
Lastly, we have the 18 to 29-year-olds. These peeps make up 17% of LinkedIn users [Source: Statista]. They’re the young guns, the future professionals, and passionate entrepreneurs in the making.
Alright, fellow marketers and advertisers, what can you glean from these numbers? One thing is for sure. You have to set your sights on the future. I mean, I would if I were a suave digital marketing professional. You can’t gloss over the millennials and Gen Z, the powerhouses of LinkedIn.
So, what can you do to win over Gen Z and millennials? Ah, it is rather simple. Ditch the corporate jargon, and don’t get caught up in highfalutin language. It is about embracing authenticity. Why? These folks can spot a scripted message from a mile away. You’ll be better off speaking like a friend, not a salesperson.
Education
Looking for LinkedIn education stats? We have you covered. As of January 2023:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher: A whopping 50%
- Associate’s degree: About 18%
- Some college: 20%
- High school diploma or equivalent: 12% – don’t need any fancy degrees [Source: Statista]
Not surprisingly, the majority of LinkedIn users have a bachelor’s degree – at least. Makes sense, right? ‘Cause LinkedIn is the pro network place! This is why the folks with higher education are more inclined to rock those professional gigs.
How can you use these stats to your advantage? Suppose you’re marketing a product that is geared towards professionals. Maybe a subscription-based CRM system! You should ideally focus your efforts on people with higher levels of education. CEO, COO, VP of Sales, and the like!
LinkedIn User Engagement
Engagement occurs when users post new social media content, including images and videos. Sharing other people’s content or interacting with others on the platform also boosts engagement. Here are some figures to put things in perspective:
- Monthly active users (MAUs): 875 million [Source: Sprout Social]
- Average session duration: 7.27 minutes [Source: Sprout Social]
- The average number of pages visited per session: 7.66 [Source: Sprout Social]
- Percentage of LinkedIn users who engage with company pages organically every week: 40% [Source: Sprout Social and LinkedIn]. Organic engagement is usually hard to come by nowadays. But, on LinkedIn, a high percentage of visitors engage with a page organically. This is an impressive stat as it demonstrates the platform’s power and market relevance.
- Percentage of users who post weekly: 10% [Source: Sprout Social]
- Percentage of users who watch videos on LinkedIn: 50% [Source: Influencer Marketing Hub]
Images – Casting a Magical Effect on Engagement
Using images in your LinkedIn posts results in an impressive 98% higher comment rate than text-only posts. [Source: Promo]. Plus, for adverts with a single image, you should consider larger images of 1200 x 627 pixels. This is because they garner up to a whopping 38% higher click-through rate [Source: Newsworks]. This clearly shows the importance of having images in your posts. The more, the merrier.
Need some specific examples of how to use images in your LinkedIn posts? You got it!
- Consider sharing infographics and charts to represent trends and data visually.
- Share images of your company products or services, showcasing them in a visually appealing and engaging way. It is a simple and slick way to keep users hooked!
- Share a few behind-the-scenes images of your company. This will give your audience a glimpse of your corporate culture and values.
It Makes Sense to Complete Your LinkedIn Page
Did you know that pages with complete info get 30% more weekly views [Source: LinkedIn]? So, here’s my two cents. Follow the LinkedIn best practices and fill in all the information. Your logo, overview, organizational information, and so forth! Remember, members can search your company by keywords. As a result, the more relevant and complete your page is, the better.
Companies that are active on LinkedIn see a significant increase in engagement. For instance, page views increased by 5x, and average impressions per follower increased by 7x. But that’s not all – clicks per follower increased by 11x. Plus, companies that post weekly see a 2 times higher engagement rate [Source: Neal Schaffer and Hootsuite].
LinkedIn has introduced revolutionary features of late. Some examples are Creator Mode, Link Stickers, Post Templates, and Pinned Comments. These tools offer businesses and entrepreneurs an invaluable opportunity to engage and interact with their target audience.
LinkedIn Business Statistics
What’s up next in our LinkedIn statistics round-up? Folks, it’s time to explore the LinkedIn business statistics and trends driving the professional world this year.
Making Business Decisions
Four out of 5 individuals on LinkedIn “drive business decisions.” These people are either decision-makers or have considerable influence over corporate decisions [Source: LinkedIn]. The platform’s main selling point for marketing pros and advertisers is that it can target an audience by their job titles, not merely their demographics. This enables B2B marketers and advertisers, in particular, to reach the folks who make important buying decisions.
Companies Listed on LinkedIn
You’ll be impressed to know that over 58 million companies are present on LinkedIn. Go wrap your head around that number [Source: Kinsta]. LinkedIn is an invaluable resource for many. Job seekers, employers, recruiters, and the like!
Active Companies
Did you know that 2.7 million companies post on LinkedIn daily? [Sources: Kinsta, Hootsuite, and Influencer Marketing Hub]. As a digital marketer, you can use this info to understand LinkedIn’s competitive landscape.
This will help you make sure that your content is high-quality and engaging. Otherwise, your content will quickly get lost in the sea of other posts. No one wants that!
Second, you can leverage this information to target your LinkedIn advertising more effectively. Here is a simple example. Say you run a retail company that sells high-end clothing or footwear for women. You may target your LinkedIn ads to women who work in fashion or beauty.
The Presence of Schools
Need another interesting nugget of information? 129 thousand schools are listed on this social network [Source: Omnicore Agency]. Schools use LinkedIn to promote and market their programs to young professionals and curious minds looking for further education. Also, they can connect to past employees through their network of alums. This helps improve recruiting and marketing efforts.
Similarly, a school could create an ad on LinkedIn for its MBA program. This advert can target young professionals with a bachelor’s degree and an interest in management and business. The ad could also elucidate the benefits of the MBA program. Career advancement opportunities and higher salaries are some examples.
LinkedIn Marketing Stats
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Ever heard of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions? This impressive platform surpassed $5 billion in July 2022 [Source: Influencer Marketing Hub]. This rapidly-growing platform offers a wide range of advertising options, including sponsored InMail. You can also experiment with sponsored content, display ads, and dynamic ads and impress your customers.
It has been projected that by 2024, LinkedIn will capture almost half of all display ad spending as well as a quarter of all digital ad spending [Source: Insider Intelligence].
Increase in Purchase Intent
Owing to ad exposure on LinkedIn, brands have witnessed a 33% boost in purchase intent [Source: LinkedIn]. LinkedIn allows marketers to connect with potential customers early in the marketing funnel, as users engage with brand posts and share them on their own feeds.
Final Remarks
These LinkedIn statistics and trends will help you better understand the platform and gauge its users. This way, you can harness and mine the platform’s potential to the maximum, driving traffic from LinkedIn to your site. As the social media giant continues to grow, update your marketing plans and strategies. Align your tactics with these insights so that you remain effective and relevant in 2023 and beyond.
Whether you use LinkedIn as part of your sales process or leverage it as a free marketing channel for your online business, you can’t overlook this channel. Considering jumping on the bandwagon to up your marketing game? Why wait? Use these LinkedIn stats to your advantage before your competitors.
