Comments on: Are You Really LinkedIn? http://www.marketingtrenches.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-really-linkedin/ The Marketing Trenches blog is designed to provide marketers & business executives with concrete examples of successful marketing strategies & tactics Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:05:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mike Sweeney http://www.marketingtrenches.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-really-linkedin/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Mike Sweeney Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:38:53 +0000 http://www.marketingtrenches.com/?p=14#comment-12 Excellent comment - I get similar responses from some of my B2B clients. Strangely enough, it reminds of the comments I got 5-6 years ago from execs who refused to believe that search engine marketing could ever represent an effective lead generation vehicle. The comments ring in my ears even today, "Executives don't use Google to find complex or sophisticated software or technology solutions." Right. The same people that made those comments now spend a bulk of their marketing budgets on search engine lead generation programs. I completely agree with you on the idea that certain "gritty" B2B category executives may not benefit from web-based networking tools. Category definitely matters. That being said, I think the generation/age of the user matters as well. While you might not find a lot of > 60 C-level types using LinkedIn, it's rare that I don't find LinkedIn profiles on the < 50 C-level types, at least in the "younger", or perhaps "less gritty" industries. Since this original post, I've seen LinkedIn get more and more crowded. More people answering questions even though they're not really qualified to answer questions. More people joining groups that don't exactly fit their profile. More folks posting status updates covering meaningless items. LinkedIn remains a fantastic tool if you know how to use it, but I worry about the abuse factor that occurs in any community that goes "unmanaged" for the most part. Excellent comment – I get similar responses from some of my B2B clients. Strangely enough, it reminds of the comments I got 5-6 years ago from execs who refused to believe that search engine marketing could ever represent an effective lead generation vehicle. The comments ring in my ears even today, “Executives don’t use Google to find complex or sophisticated software or technology solutions.” Right. The same people that made those comments now spend a bulk of their marketing budgets on search engine lead generation programs.

I completely agree with you on the idea that certain “gritty” B2B category executives may not benefit from web-based networking tools. Category definitely matters. That being said, I think the generation/age of the user matters as well. While you might not find a lot of > 60 C-level types using LinkedIn, it’s rare that I don’t find LinkedIn profiles on the < 50 C-level types, at least in the “younger”, or perhaps “less gritty” industries.

Since this original post, I’ve seen LinkedIn get more and more crowded. More people answering questions even though they’re not really qualified to answer questions. More people joining groups that don’t exactly fit their profile. More folks posting status updates covering meaningless items. LinkedIn remains a fantastic tool if you know how to use it, but I worry about the abuse factor that occurs in any community that goes “unmanaged” for the most part.

]]> By: Katherine Ventres Canipelli http://www.marketingtrenches.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-really-linkedin/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Katherine Ventres Canipelli Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:45:31 +0000 http://www.marketingtrenches.com/?p=14#comment-11 Since several execs among my industrial B2B clients have done exactly this -- created but not populated their LinkedIn profiles or avoided LinkedIn altogether -- I polled them recently to understand why. #1 reason: FEAR. Two types -- discomfort with things not quite understood and concern about exposing their contacts. #2 reason: I NETWORK WITH CEOs AND THEY'RE NOT USING LINKEDIN. You may recoil at this -- but in many segments, the C-suite isn't active yet. Or at least not as contributors, so it's opaque. With exec suite demographics about to undergo disruptive change in the coming years, it's no stretch to predict that tomorrow's executive suite leaders will use social networking tools for myriad purposes. Of course, there are gritty B2B markets that won't benefit that much from social tools applied to business processes. Not many, though, when one considers the potential value of supply chain collaboration built on simple social communications tools. We're limited only by the limits of imagination and commitment to improvement. Katherine www.twitter.com/kvcanipelli Since several execs among my industrial B2B clients have done exactly this — created but not populated their LinkedIn profiles or avoided LinkedIn altogether — I polled them recently to understand why. #1 reason: FEAR. Two types — discomfort with things not quite understood and concern about exposing their contacts. #2 reason: I NETWORK WITH CEOs AND THEY’RE NOT USING LINKEDIN.

You may recoil at this — but in many segments, the C-suite isn’t active yet. Or at least not as contributors, so it’s opaque. With exec suite demographics about to undergo disruptive change in the coming years, it’s no stretch to predict that tomorrow’s executive suite leaders will use social networking tools for myriad purposes.

Of course, there are gritty B2B markets that won’t benefit that much from social tools applied to business processes. Not many, though, when one considers the potential value of supply chain collaboration built on simple social communications tools.

We’re limited only by the limits of imagination and commitment to improvement.

Katherine
http://www.twitter.com/kvcanipelli

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