Technology advancement triggers how businesses carry out their activities, and it has a substantial influence on their marketing strategy through e-commerce. The internet is a powerful tool, and it provides businesses with a platform to sell their products, market, explore new business frontiers, shares ideas and learn from others on new ways to do business. Currently, many entities join professional social networking communities to be part of a universal business community and reap the benefits of networking. One of these professional social networks is LinkedIn, which has been very influential in the business community. It was founded in 2003 and has a membership of over 175 million users in over 200 countries (Tifferet & Vilnai, 2018). The online site provides a platform for professionals to connect with the past and current colleagues to increase their business connections, discuss business ideas, and search for jobs and network within the industry at large.
One of the main features is the profile and the company page. For individuals, they need to take advantage of this feature by updating their profile to a level that fits their resume that will allow users to view a snapshot of your professional history. For businesses, LinkedIn has a feature known as the company page. It is structured in a way that users can get an overview of a company, its products and services and its career opportunities. This platform serves as a summary of the company website and enables users to learn more about a company without really having to leave LinkedIn. The profile and company page provides community participants with a platform to get an overview of a professional or a company in a snapshot.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The second primary characteristic of LinkedIn is the group's feature. The network has the capability of grouping like-minded users and business together. They can share news, ask related questions and post business opportunities. The groups are filled with people or companies that share an interest in a specific topic or industry. Groups also serve as knowledge bases; users can ask questions, and within minutes, they have experts providing relevant responses. Linked has another feature referred to as recommendations or endorsements. This feature offers an avenue for users to recommend your work or the company. It is very resourceful in that others can market you without your intervention and can result in creating new opportunities.
In Mail is a feature of LinkedIn, which serves as a version of the email. Users can send in emails to all of their current connections and can even send emails to new users that they would wish to connect with. It can also be used as a tool for sending an invite to connect with a new user or company. Users can reach out to prospective clients and explain to them why they have an interest in connecting. It is an excellent tool for communication and aids in following up with someone you met at a networking event. It is resource full in maintaining communication history and can act as appoint of reference for business transactions.
Besides LinkedIn providing a normal search tool where users can search for connections and opportunities, it also has an advanced search tool. Some situations would require the use of this specific feature. For instance, when one is looking for a candidate with a particular set of skill, or when is looking for a mentor in a particular field or industry. This tool allows a user to go beyond the regular search by entering into specific criteria for their search. A user can access such information as employees who work at a particular company, live in a particular geographic region and hold specific job titles. Further to the advanced search option, there is an alumni tool. This feature allows a user who is connecting with a company to find out if they have a connection with anyone currently working for that company. It also provides a platform to explore what your peers are doing after graduation.
One of the most interesting features of LinkedIn is the news outlet. The newsfeed provides a variety of news stories from different sources. The tool relies on your profile and company page, status updates and groups to determine your interests and then target new stories that are most relevant for a specific user. This feature is paramount in providing information and updating users in top current affairs that best suit their industry. Further to all the above-described features, LinkedIn also offers several applications that allow users to enjoy a large pool of benefits. Some of these applications include tripit, reading list from Amazon and slide share, which allows users to show off a presentation that they have earlier given which is a bonus for those selling a product or service (Turban et al., 2017). No matter what objective a user expects from LinkedIn, there are hosts of application that really enhance their experience.
Most participants are highly motivated to join LinkedIn because of the multiple benefits that accrue from a universal business community. One of the most important reasons is the marketing factor (Huang & Benyoucef, 2013). LinkedIn provides an avenue through which a company can advertise its products or services on the company page. It provides a cheap means of connecting with potential clients; a company can attach their marketing communications such as newsletters, product presentation to their profiles. Secondly, when a company is very active in groups, this opens up potential business opportunities. In the groups, the user launches their discussions that focus on their company or industry and contribute to popular talks that other members have created. The results of these interactions are an increase in the company awareness from potential customers and business partners.
Individual entrepreneurs and companies are also motivated to join LinkedIn to gain information. The platform provides an avenue of sharing ideas and information. A user can ask an industry related question and can receive instant feedback from an expert in the same field. Companies can learn new ways of doing business from their industry counterparts and also get information on new emerging markets for business. It also provides a pool of potential talent for recruitment. A company can search the community to come up with an individual with the necessary skills to fill a vacancy in their organization.
LinkedIn has been very successful in creating a community from the number of membership evidenced by a number two people joining per second (Huang & Benyoucef, 2013). Many companies have gained from a universal business community, a universal pool of professionals and a global pool of ideas. It has been in existence for over fifteen years and all along it's been growing in features and users. It is a community since members can connect with past colleagues, current colleagues and empower their careers by finding connections when looking for jobs. The capability of making recommendations also translates to its success as a networking community.
In conclusion, for a business to remain relevant it has to engage in e-commerce. One of the ways is joining relevant social business networks. The networks provide affordable means for marketing and networking. They enable users to share ideas and knowledge and increase a company’s popularity and awareness in the industry. All players can enjoy rich relations with experts from their fields and industry. Therefore, it is imperative for every modern business to consider a robust social business networking strategy in its vision.
References
Huang, Z., & Benyoucef, M. (2013). From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications , 12 (4), 246-259.
Tifferet, S., & Vilnai-Yavetz, I. (2018). Self-presentation in LinkedIn portraits: Common features, gender, and occupational differences. Computers in Human Behavior , 80 , 33-48.
Turban, E., Outland, J., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. C. (2017). Electronic Commerce 2018: A Managerial and Social Networks Perspective . New York, NY : Springer.
