LinkedIn has offered multiple premium services via paid subscriptions, starting way back in 2005 with LinkedIn Business Accounts. This was a service aimed at employers and researchers, and acted as the origin for following releases of other premium subscriptions including Personal Plus and Pro. The idea of these subscriptions offer extra value for employers, service providers, networkers and job seekers.
In 2023, LinkedIn Premium is the only subscription service offered by LinkedIn, however it is split for personal and professional use (more on this later). LinkedIn Premium provides access to numerous features that standard memberships won’t have, some of which can be valuable to digital marketers. Here we assess the value of LinkedIn Premium and whether it’s worth the money for digital marketers specifically.
InMail
Although credits are limited, InMail should still be recognised as a highly beneficial feature for digital marketers. InMail essentially allows you to message individuals on LinkedIn who you are not connected with, like key decision-makers. Naturally, this opens up exciting opportunities for digital marketers.
The number of credits ranges from 3 per month for LinkedIn Premium users, to 15 per month for Premium Business users. Premium Business offers a lot of the same features as Premium, yet also has features designed specifically for employers and business owners including Applicant and Company Page insights. For digital marketers, the extra 12 credits per month may come in handy, however even 15 per month is still quite limited.
These caps mean we have to be resourceful and only contact those who are most suitable. Perhaps key prospects, other contacts who work in your customers accounts, or ABM accounts. Opening up conversation in a personable manner while making sure they’re aware of what you do and why you chose to contact them is most effective. Copy and pasting a message and sending to all 15 contacts will come across as a lack of personality and care for their brand.
Who viewed your profile?
The other major benefit of Premium is having access to who viewed your profile. This can be a powerful feature for identifying potential leads and potential networking opportunities. As digital marketers, we are most often going to be the ones seeking suitable customers. However, being able to view who viewed your profile is quite the opposite.
Those who viewed your profile may well be potential customers, so this can help save time and resources on searching for leads and get you straight into highly valuable networking. It’s a feature that is perhaps predominantly meant for employers but can be just as beneficial for marketers.
So… Is LinkedIn Premium worth it?
The two features we discussed above in particular are going to be the most beneficial for digital marketers. Furthermore, LinkedIn Premium also allows you to grow and manage your network and reputation, generate more leads, and find target audiences more effectively when compared to traditional free membership. However, it is worth mentioning that Premium Business is almost double the cost of Premium’s £29.99 a month.
These days, there are so many tools and platforms being used in digital marketing strategies, all charging premium fees on a subscription basis. Whether or not the extra cost for LinkedIn Premium is worth it depends on the marketing budget available, but we feel that for only 15 InMail credits and to see who visited your profile, it’s perhaps a bit steep (and it’s safe to assume the cost of Premium will only continue to rise).
We’d love to hear what you think. Is LinkedIn Premium something that is key to your digital marketing strategy? Or do you feel that the free LinkedIn membership offers you enough to carry out your day-to-day marketing operations? Get in touch and let us know!
About Inflowing
Inflowing is a B2B marketing agency. We help B2B organisations do meaningful things with marketing. Whether that’s getting more leads, more visibility, or supporting their sales teams.
We’re an experienced team of marketers with an incredibly strong background in B2B. To learn more about B2B and improving your marketing, check out our other blogs or get in touch.
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