I believe two things are true about LinkedIn:
1️⃣. No one is in charge who’s willing to admit that the platform is incredibly annoying. Members receive requests and spam daily. LinkedIn should offer a “No Soliciting’ option for its members. The purpose of LinkedIn should be to develop meaningful business connections, not bombarding members with sales pitches.
2️⃣. LinkedIn has an incredible opportunity to become a leading source for news related to business, and become a powerhouse in media.
If I were advising Microsoft and LinkedIn, I would recommend evaluating three acquisitions:
Business Insider
The Information
CNBC
LinkedIn already owns the world’s largest professional identity graph. It has more than one billion members, deep relationships with companies and executives, proprietary workforce data, recruiting products, advertising, Sales Navigator, Microsoft AI, and massive global distribution.
What it lacks is a scaled portfolio of original business journalism. CNBC, Business Insider and The Information solve different problems.
CNBC:
Provides real-time coverage of financial markets, global economic news, and expert analysis on a variety of topics related to business. CNBC is the place where CEOs and CFOs go for news. CNBC is owned by Versant Media. I believe CNBC is worth more if owned by LinkedIn.
Business Insider:
It offers broad coverage of business, technology, careers, finance, leadership, retail, and workplace trends. It could make LinkedIn a daily business-news destination rather than a platform people primarily use to find jobs, make announcements, or promote themselves.
The Information:
It is built around exclusive reporting for executives, investors, founders, and operators. It would give LinkedIn a premium intelligence layer based on scarcity, subscriptions, proprietary reporting, executive communities, and enterprise products.
CNBC is the place for business news. Business Insider brings reach. The Information brings credibility. LinkedIn brings identity, distribution, data, AI, and the ability to convert information into action.
I believe LinkedIn has an opportunity to build a new service: LinkedIn Intelligence.
Imagine combining original journalism with LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, hiring trends, executive movements, workforce changes, company growth signals, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, and Microsoft Copilot. LinkedIn must do a better job of utilizing and monetizing their data.
This is an incredible opportunity for LinkedIn to transform the company. LiniedIn can become a better version of Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist in one platform.
Think BIG, LinkedIn!!
#retail #journalism #socialmedia