Up Your Intel With LinkedIn
By Amanda Grinavich, Published November 2, 2014
Today, we’re excited to announce the release of our latest eBook, ‘LinkedIn for Businesses & Brands.’ LinkedIn is often underused, and its usefulness to brands is often understated. It can truly be a powerful tool for businesses. Our eBook walks through seven core ways brands can use LinkedIn, from the very first steps to utilizing groups, advertising and more. You can download your free copy here. As a sneak peek, we wanted to walk you through some of LinkedIn’s intelligence gathering capabilities. We can’t promise you’ll feel like you’re in the CIA, but you can use the platform to discover new insights both internally and externally, including potential business prospects or mergers. What can you discover, exactly? Local Business Prospects and Networking Opportunities By the power vested in LinkedIn and Google, you have the ability to search the platform by location. Looking for new business connections or networking opportunities? Interested in companies in the area? You can pull a list by doing a simple Google search. Before you begin, take note of how LinkedIn refers to certain areas. For example, Boston is referred to as the ‘Greater Boston Area’ as opposed to just ‘Boston, MA.’ The same goes for New York City and others. This is a minor difference, but it does matter if you expect to get consistent search results through Google. (See the image below.) Overall, this is a quick and easy way to discover local connections that may be worth conversing with – whether they’re good recruiting leads or a new business prospect.
Company Hires This next example is a great intelligence resource, and it’s so simple it’s often overlooked. If you want to get a sense for what a company is up to, check out what job openings they’ve posted recently on their LinkedIn page – or what positions their employees are sharing. This can indicate a new product line or a different direction. For example, if you suddenly see a company is on the hunt for several new mobile developers, it’s a good indication that they may be planning to launch a mobile app soon. If you know your industry really well, you’ll be able to decipher what certain hires mean for your competitors and industry peers. General Industry Updates At first glance, the LinkedIn newsfeed can be a bit confusing. The good news is that you have the ability to customize your newsfeed in order to receive the most relevant information you’re looking for. That can be new jobs, new connections, or news. You can readjust these filters at any time to keep an eye on what is happening within your industry. Your filter choices look like this:
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