LinkedIn Wants to Hook Users With 'Trending Storylines'
March 22 2017 - 09:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Jay Greene
Microsoft Corp.'s LinkedIn plans Wednesday to add a stream of
links to news and posts from the site that is curated by editors,
in a bid to convince customers to linger longer on the professional
social network.
The new feature, called Trending Storylines, is the latest
attempt by LinkedIn to drive engagement among its 467 million
members, particularly those who only visit the site when looking
for a new job. The more frequently people visit LinkedIn, the more
revenue the company can generate from ads and useful member
data.
Trending Storylines will exist alongside the regular news feed
under a "Trending" tab on the mobile app and at the top right of
the desktop site's homepage.
LinkedIn has 25 employees on its editorial team around the globe
who will select and, in some cases, write on the major issues of
the day in health care, technology and finance to fill the feed.
More topics are expected later. The feed will use algorithms, based
in part on a member's industry and contacts, to show people
relevant storylines.
LinkedIn ultimately wants to be more like Facebook and Twitter,
social networks that have become digital destinations. That would
drive ad revenue, which LinkedIn generates in large measure through
"sponsored content" that appears in users' LinkedIn feeds.
In the third quarter of 2016 -- LinkedIn's last quarter as a
publicly held company -- the company generated $175 million in
revenue from its marketing-solutions unit, with about two-thirds
coming from sponsored content. The company stopped disclosing that
revenue after the Microsoft acquisition.
"That's the primary mechanism in which we monetize our feed,"
David Thacker, LinkedIn's vice president of product, said in an
interview.
The company also believes better-engaged members are more likely
to add their latest promotions and accomplishments to their
profiles, connect with more members, and post more comments
offering insight into their work interests. That data is a key
reason Microsoft last year paid $27 billion for the company.
When woven into Microsoft's customer-relationship management
applications, those up-to-date profiles could help give sales
representatives better access to prospects and more insight into
the executives to whom they are making pitches.
The goal is to make LinkedIn "a daily habit," Mr. Thacker said,
that will "provide dividends for all our businesses."
LinkedIn's biggest challenge may be convincing members, many of
whom already frequent other social networks, to find additional
time to loiter on its site. Surfacing news that is relevant to its
members' work life is a start, said Susan Etlinger, an analyst with
the Altimeter Group, an industry research firm.
"The issue for LinkedIn is that it's competing for attention
with platforms whose currency is attention," Ms. Etlinger said.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 22, 2017 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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