Ah, LinkedIn.
I remember hearing about this platform back in 2016. My friend was scrolling through her account when she turned to me and said: “Jessica, this is like Facebook, but for professionals, you gotta get on it.“
You may have heard of a similar saying.
Now after using LinkedIn (on and off) for 8 years, I’d say that “Facebook for professionals” is a pretty apt way to describe it.
But there’s a lot more to the app than you may think. And as a regular user and creator on LinkedIn, I’ll discuss in this article what LinkedIn is, how to use it, and some of its benefits.
Let’s dive in!
So, what is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional platform designed specifically for professional networking.
With 810 million Linkedin users worldwide – it’s a place where you can connect with other professionals, share your work experiences and skills, find new opportunities, and much more.
You know how Facebook connects you with mutuals you know?
And how Tinder connects you with potential partners you’d like to date?
Same thing. LinkedIn connects you with professionals and businesses.
Want to know what Sally from 10th grade is up to now? Find her LinkedIn profile to see her whole professional life since you graduated and parted ways.
Want to find more clients to sell your digital marketing services to? Great, here are millions of CEOs you can add to your social network and start pitching to.
I can go on forever, but the platform can be broken down into three primary functions: building relationships, sharing content, and finding opportunities.
I’ll go into more detail about these functions later on in the article. But for now, let’s talk about…
What is LinkedIn Used For?
Whether you’re a business or an individual, there are many reasons why you should be using LinkedIn. I’ll break it down into the 2 broad users of individuals and businesses.
LinkedIn for Individuals
LinkedIn is a platform for anyone to build relationships with other professionals, share their skills and experiences, find new opportunities, and much more.
Here are just some of the things you can do on LinkedIn as an individual:
- Creating connections with others in your field
- Joining Linkedin groups that relate to your industry or passion
- Finding job opportunities or internships
- Expanding your professional network for future opportunities
- Taking LinkedIn course for career development
- Creating content or sharing content that you find interesting
- Getting insights into what companies are hiring
- Building a personal brand
LinkedIn for Businesses
At the end of the day, Linkedin is a big business community. So, it’s no surprise that businesses can also use the platform to their advantage.
Here are some of the ways to leverage LinkedIn as a business
- Create job postings to hire and recruit the best candidates.
- Build many business connections with LinkedIn members within the same industry
- Promote brand awareness using the publishing platform
- Posting updates and articles related to their industry
- Sharing company news, such as new products or services, job openings, etc.
- Finding new sales leads
- Using LinkedIn marketing solutions like ads to promote brand awareness
Main Features of LinkedIn
Now, as mentioned before, LinkedIn has three primary functions: building relationships, sharing content, and finding opportunities.
All of the features of LinkedIn support these 3 functions. So let’s run through some of them.
1. Building Relationships
One of Linkedin’s main features is expanding your professional network and connecting with other professionals. LinkedIn makes it easy to find and connect with others in your field, whether you’re looking for a new job, prospecting, or just wanting to expand your network.
To build relationships on LinkedIn, you can: