We all are in the business of Publishing when it comes to Digital Marketing!
That’s right and as much as it may seem a fad, it’s quite true. Either you are a healthcare professional, a pharma company, a manufacturer, a contractor or a small business owner looking for getting the word out or looking for Internet Marketing ideas, you will be most commonly queried – Do you have a Blog? Are you on Social Media? And if you look around you-you will notice that most thought leaders – be it companies or Individuals – have a “Voice”. And also they are constantly publishing either on their website, adding new pages, may be authoring an eBook or a blog (BTW-I recently wrote an eBook myself on 11 strategies to Dominate Page 1 of Search Engines in 90 days) or on microsites like Twitter, Instagram, creating infographics on Pinterest and what not…. There’s always a way to voice your opinions on a subject matter.
With technological advancements – social channels seem to be in a competitive turf to attract followers, engage their members and essentially create value for their network. Over the last year, LinkedIn has evolved a lot and if you’d like to read more about my past LinkedIn posts-feel free to browse the Digital Marketing Hub (Yes, our blog is named DMX Hub)!
So in this ever-changing competitive environment – new to the realm of publishing is the LinkedIn Publishing Platform. With an objective to create a platform for members to share professional insights & successes and contribute, LinkedIn has scheduled to roll out the LinkedIn Publisher Platform. It’s not the same as LinkedIn Influencer but a very similar mode for members to post detailed longform posts about their expertise and professional interests.
So, what’s the difference between LinkedIn Publishing Platform and LinkedIn Influencer?
LinkedIn Influencer Program membership is a designation that LinkedIn chooses to give to the industry leaders and is a selection-only program. LinkedIn works with these influencers to create engaging, thought-provoking content to create further value for its members. The content produced by the influencers is created based on careful planning and considering the needs of LinkedIn member base; whereas LinkedIn Publishing Software is a self publishing platform that will eventually be extended to all the members.
LinkedIn Publishing Platform Benefits that Rise up:
Upon appraisal, I think it’s a GREAT way for business owners and professionals to build better relationships with connections and create new followers.
- This can instantly mark you up as a thought leader if you do a right job of creating compelling and engaging content.
- By creating the long-form posts, you create value for search engines because these posts are searchable on LinkedIn as well as off LinkedIn.
- It allows you to create hyperlinks and add graphics & visuals – be it Logos or videos and/or slide-share presentations. As of today, LinkedIn supports the following video formats – YouTube, SlideShare, TED, Getty, Vimeo, and Lifestream.
- Helps you to create a following and more connections; as members in your network can now follow you from your long-form posts and opt in to get updates etc.
- Not only that – like with any other content you see on LinkedIn, posts on LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform can be shared through Twitter or by sharing the direct URL. You can also opt to like Facebook posts or +1 posts on Google.
- It also allows you to search a publisher by searching their posts in the search bar drop down menu and clicking on the in Post.
And if for some reason, after this post, you notice that you haven’t been sent an invite, then please don’t be disappointed as it’s a fairly new roll-out. And if you’d like to get an early acceptance, (Yes, somewhat like a university early acceptance) fill out this short form – http://specialedition.linkedin.com/publishing/
New to LinkedIn? Want to get a Personal Coaching Session or a Group Social Selling Session on LinkedIn for your sales team? Please contact us and we’d be happy to explore the possibility of working with you!