We don’t talk a lot about LinkedIn. It is not a platform designed to connect retail to customers. If you were looking for information on a big sale your favorite store was having, LinkedIn wouldn’t be your first choice — or even your fifth choice. Chances are, you’d never turn to the site. While it is not a natural fit for marketing your college store to students, there is still benefit to being active on the site. Here are three ways LinkedIn can help you grow professionally.
- Networking
LinkedIn is great for recruitment and job searching, but there is more to it than that. In the same way Facebook is great at connecting you with people you went to high school with, LinkedIn can connect you with other individuals who work in the same industry as you.
As an author, I can live a solitary existence if I choose to do so. As much as I appreciate time alone, interacting with other creative and marketing professionals is an invaluable experience. Being able to speak with people who understand the ins and outs of my industry sparks new ideas. I get to hear about techniques that have worked for them and what didn’t. Often these are ideas I would have never come up with on my own even if I diligently researched every day.
Chances are you already have people you know in the industry, but what if you could double or triple that number? Increasing your professional network is the kind of benefit LinkedIn can bring to you. - Gen Z and nontraditional students
Right now, LinkedIn has about 106 million active users and 414 million total users. Of those users, almost a quarter of them are between the ages of 18-29. While these numbers are compelling, I have already said this wasn’t a traditional marketing platform for a store, and I stand by that. However, Generation Z and non-traditional students prioritize career — LinkedIn’s specialty.
For career-minded students, LinkedIn might end up being a more natural fit than less professional social media platforms. In 2016, they developed an app just for students to help with their post-college job search. While I wouldn’t suggest directly marketing to these individuals on LinkedIn, I do think sharing information and articles that might help them in their career search and preparation is a good way to connect with two groups of students that may prove hard to reach. - Knowledge
Having millions of professionals and companies on this site gives it a wealth of information. Depending on who you choose to follow, you can sculpt the bank of articles you see to include anything you want. One of my personal favorite aspects of LinkedIn is the variety of companies and news sources I can follow in one location. Given the nature of other social media platforms, I can follow the same businesses but see less from them — not because they aren’t sharing, but because of how the platform is set up.
On LinkedIn, I can scroll through my timeline and see everything from marketing to writing to developments in technology. Rather than devoting time to visiting multiple sites, I can stay up-to-date on my favorite business news sites and learn from my peers in just one location, saving valuable time.
