LinkedIn Finally Roll Out Targeted Status Updates For Brands

Considering it was originally announced back in April, LinkedIn certainly took its time with rolling out Targeted Update, but today, the company has introduced the feature to all pages to help brands better connect with specific demographics.

For those not familiar with the feature, Targeted Status Updates gives brands the ability to target followers based on specific criteria, including industry, seniority, job function, company size, non-company employees and geography. This feature is included with post insights, showing how many people it reached, the number of clicks, shares and overall engagement, allows brands to get a better idea of what their audience will respond to and for page admin to adjust their approach accordingly.

Prior to the announcement, only a small number of brands have been able to avail of this service, but now brands will be able to target specific users. More targeted posts will result in posts that will relate to followers more and will result in an engaged audience.

LinkedIn claim on their blog that in its most recent study, 67% of its members follow a company to gain industry insights, 61% for company news, while 49% are attracted to the peer community. It also says that one of their brand partners, Philips, saw a 106% increase in engagement by followers after running Targeted Status Updates on a daily basis.

For large businesses who have a significant audience or have products/services aimed at different demographics, then it’s a welcome addition. For those businesses who have smaller audiences, say 5,000 or less members, they might be better off resorting to general status updates.