LinkedIn is an awesome social media platform for businesses and a great marketing tool too. It works really well if you are a business selling to businesses, also known as a B2B business. But how does LinkedIn help businesses?

The easiest way to explain LinkedIn to people that haven’t used it before is that LinkedIn is like Facebook for businesses. In the past it was all about recruitment and a place to find a new job or be head hunted, but this has really changed.

Research was recently completed that looked at what LinkedIn users felt that LinkedIn had helped them with. Below is what the research found;

  • 77% of people found that LinkedIn helped their business by giving them a way to research people and companies that could be their potentials clients, customers, suppliers or even competitors.
  • 71% of people felt that LinkedIn helped them reconnect with business associates and colleagues that they had worked with or for in the past.
  • 41% of people feel that LinkedIn has helped them uncover potential job opportunities that were not available to them elsewhere, or in any other ways.
  • 39% of LinkedIn users find LinkedIn really helps them build new networking relationships with individuals who may influence their target audience and potential customers.
  • 39% of people using LinkedIn feel it helps them increase their branding and marketing in the relevant and correct marketplace for their business.
  • 38% of LinkedIn users felt that LinkedIn helps them increase their face to face networking effectiveness. This is because the people they network with through the platform online recognise them when they meet in person.
  • 37% of people using LinkedIn feel that LinkedIn has helped them build new relationships with potential customers, some of which have lead to real conversions.
  • 22% of people found that LinkedIn has helped them generate real and identifiable business opportunities that are extremely valuable to the business.

This is how LinkedIn helps businesses, but how does LinkedIn help your business, or how could it help your business if you were doing LinkedIn right?