Should Linkedin be a key channel for B2B Companies? What’s happening in Linkedin right now? Is it worth it to invest my resources on Linkedin? What are the interesting Linkedin statistics?
As other social media platforms slow down in user growth, Linkedin continues to grow rapidly. As Gary Vaynerchuk puts it, Linkedin feels like Facebook 5 years ago. So it’s still not too late for Marketers to get on board.
Right now, Linkedin is undisputed as the world’s biggest B2B gold mine for Marketers today.
If you’re looking to engage with Fortune 500 companies, decision-makers, and professionals, there is no better place to be than Linkedin.
It’s becoming a “ritual” to create a good Linkedin profile once anybody steps into the professional life. This becomes an individuals’ work identity, personal brand, and passport in the professional world.
Instead of telling you, we’d like to show you with data points why Linkedin is a must-have for B2B Marketers.
We’ve spent hours sourcing, examining, and consolidating everything you need to know about Linkedin.
At the end of this guide, you’ll be able to decide if Linkedin is the right channel for you.
Related: How to run a Linkedin Ads in 2022 – A Definitive Guide to Advertising on Linkedin
Table of Contents
Linkedin Company Information
CEO: Ryan Roslansky
Employees: 16000+ full-time employees.
Offices: 33 cities worldwide. Found in Mountain View, Headquartered in San Francisco
Revenue: Linkedin’s revenue increased by 25% year over year in Microsoft’s Q3FY21 earnings report
Platform Engagement Levels: Linkedin’s 756 million professionals hit a record engagement level. More professionals are looking to connect, learn, and find new ways to be productive at work.
Linkedin’s Economic Graph
The Linkedin economic graph is how Linkedin maps the global economy. It studies the members, skills, companies, open jobs, and schools. These insights are meant to help members better connect to professional opportunities.
- More than 57M companies that have a company page on Linkedin
- 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Linkedin.
- Fortune 500 companies find Linkedin the most successful social media for their businesses
- 15M open jobs on Linkedin (as of the start of 2021)
- More than 120k of Schools listed
- More than 38k skills listed
- Engagement with “hourly workers” are growing by x2 faster than the average Linkedin membership. Although we feel these stats are US-Based. Frontline professionals are not engaging widely outside of the US.
- 96M first-line and hourly workers on Linkedin
- 60% of jobs on Linkedin are first-line and hourly
Linkedin’s User, Membership & General Statistics
Total number of people and users on Linkedin:
- 756+ million members worldwide in over 200+ countries.
Global Membership User Statistics
We’ve compiled the estimated regional breakdown based on the above map:
- North America: 196+M
- Europe: 198+M
- APAC: 206+M
- LATIN AMERICA: 114+M
- MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA: 39+M
Based on the segmentation, more than 76% of the members are outside the US. This is a massive opportunity for global B2B marketers.
Country-level user statistics: Which country uses Linkedin the most?
By country, United States has the largest member base of Linkedin users. That said, 75% of total members are outside the United States.
- Australia: 11+M
- China Mainland:53+M
- Hong Kong: 2+M
- India: 76+M
- Indonesia: 18+M
- Japan: 2+M
- Korea: 2+M
- Malaysia: 5+M
- New Zealand: 2+M
- Singapore: 2+M
- Taiwan: 2+M
- The Philippines: 9+M
- Belgium: 4+M
- Czech Republic: 1+M
- Denmark: 2+M
- Egypt: 5+M
- Finland 1+M
- France: 22+M
- DACH (Germany, Austra, Switzerland): 16+M
- Hungary: 1+M
- Ireland: 2+M
- Israel: 1+M
- Italy: 15+M
- Kenya: 2+M
- Morocco: 2+M
- Netherlands: 8+M
- Nigeria: 5+M
- Norway: 2+M
- Poland: 4+M
- Portugal: 3+M
- Romania: 2+M
- Saudi Arabia: 4+M
- South Africa: 8+M
- Spain: 13+M
- Sweden: 3+M
- Turkey: 9+M
- UAE: 4+M
- United Kingdom: 30+M
- Argentina: 8+M
- Brazil: 49+M
- Chile: 5+M
- Colombia: 9+M
- Mexico: 16+M
- Canada: 18+M
- United States: 178+M
4 out of 5 Linkedin members drive business decisions in some form.
This includes individuals who are part of a buying committee or direct decision-makers themselves.
Marketers, this shows the level of quality for Linkedin’s audience.
Linkedin is probably the most expensive social media now. And this is the main reason. There’s no point collecting 100+ low-cost, low-quality leads from Facebook. If the quality of leads is key for your business, then Linkedin is a good place to explore.
In terms of absolute numbers, there are 180 million senior-level influencers, 63 million decision-makers, 10 million c-level decision-makers. If you’re in the IT industry, you’ll be glad to know there are 7 million high-level IT decision-makers on Linkedin.
That’s why Linkedin is the world’s biggest gathering of decision-makers and professionals. There’s never been a time where Marketers have this scale of decision-makers.
2x the buying power of the average web audience
44% of Linkedin users earn above $75,000 USD per year. Further, 26% of them earn $50,000 – $74,000 USD. This exemplifies the high affluence of Linkedin audiences. This is not just applicable to B2B companies. If you’re a B2C company with an affluent audience as a target, then Linkedin is also worth exploring.
54% of Linkedin users are Males, while 46% are females. This is an almost balanced mix of gender.
It’s interesting to see that Linkedin has a higher number of adult users than Snapchat, Twitter and Whatsapp. This shows how powerful Linkedin reach is.
94% of B2B marketers use Linkedin to distribute content.
When so many B2B marketers are using Linkedin consistently, you can be confident that it is producing ROI for them. Other B2B experts will not use a platform continuously if it isn’t giving ROI. The trick now is making sure you model best practices and find the best way to reach your audience on Linkedin
80% of B2B leads come from Linkedin
Many B2B companies prioritize lead generation. It is the lifeblood of any B2B organization. According to Octopost, Linkedin drives almost 80% of all B2B Leads.
Hubspot’s study similar results where Linkedin generated the x3 higher lead conversion rate as compared to Twitter of Facebook.
If you’re overseeing any lead generation program, Linkedin is a platform you cannot ignore now.
Executives rate Linkedin as the number one choice for the professionally relevant content
B2B buyers place a heavy emphasis on trustworthiness of the content’s source. Linkedin is rated the number one choice for professionally relevant content.
97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for their content marketing efforts
Looking for a platform where content marketing will shine? Try out Linkedin. Users are on Linkedin to learn and get inspired. So content marketing will be perfect on Linkedin.
Linkedin is ranked as the most trusted platform by Business Insider.
Linkedin overcomes Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and others to be the most trusted platform for 3 years in a row. Yes, you heard it right. They’ve been reigning champions for Trust in the past 3 years.
But what does this mean for you as an advertiser?
Business Insider researched that social media users are more receptive to ads on the platform that have high digital trust. If your brand message appears on Linkedin, they will trust your brand more. Not only will you avoid brand-safety issues but you’ll also receive higher levels of engagement.
78% of B2B marketers rate LinkedIn the most effective social media platform at helping their organization achieve specific objectives
38% of B2B Marketers attribute direct revenue from Linkedin. That’s x3 more than any other social platform.
While B2B marketers find that Linkedin is the best social media channel to generate revenue for them, there is a bigger issue from this statistic. It shows that the majority of B2B Marketers are not able to attribute their social media spending to sales. “Not sure” ratings were at the highest, with more than half of respondents selecting that.
71% of B2B marketers included Linkedin in their advertising strategy.
This is no surprise that Marketers are choosing to double down on Linkedin. Linkedin has proved itself to be excellent for lead generation, it’s only a matter of time before more marketers come on board.
Microsoft Acquired Linkedin for 26.2 Billion
This acquisition is the biggest move in the professional world. Microsoft has been synonymous with the business world. There are many possibilities when the World’s leading cloud and the World’s leading professional network come together. Watch Microsoft and Linkedin closely. I think we’re just at the beginning of a transformation in the professional world.
4 in 10 Millionaires use Linkedin. That’s more than x3 more than Twitter and second only to Facebook
How are Millionaires using Linkedin? Are they even using Linkedin?
The definition of Millionaires is individuals with a net worth of 1 Million – 5 Million (Not including their properties). They use Linkedin to get updated about financial news and industry updates. Most of them see Linkedin as a great place for personal branding and marketing.
Linkedin experienced it’s first biggest layoff in History due to Covid-19
Linkedin recently announced job cuts in the corporate hiring department. About 960+ Linkedn employees are now searching for their next play. That’s 6% of their global workforce. Employees are giving 10 weeks severance pay among other health and equipment perks. Who says tech companies are insulated from the pandemic.
Linkedin Marketing Statistics
Marketers say Linkedin generates x2 more leads than other social channels
People use each social media for different reasons. For Linkedin, people are there to network, learn new ways to do their jobs better and improve professionally. This means the audience there are “high-intent” and are more open to advertisements.
So it’s no surprise that B2B Marketers are finding Linkedin a more effective channel for lead generation overall (Although it’s definitely more expensive).
The average conversion rate on website landing pages is 2.35%. The average conversion rate on Linkedin lead gen forms is 10-13%.
I highly recommend using Lead Gen Forms if you are running lead gen campaigns. Linkedin lead gen forms are designed to provide maximum convenience to users and marketers.
Lead gen forms come with pre-populated fields which reduce friction to the lead generation process. On the other hand, Website landing pages and manual form fields will cause a high drop-out rate.
The difference in results here are significant. Use Lead gen forms.
Lead gen form campaigns increase conversions by x2-3 times when compared to standard sponsored content campaigns
The strength of lead gen forms can also be seen when compared against Linkedin’s other sponsored content products.
89% of consumers would like to use messaging with businesses, but only 48% of businesses use it to engage with prospects and customers
As mobile messaging becomes the preferred way to communicate, this presents marketers a unique way to engage with prospects in a more personalised and interactive manner.
Members are returning to Linkedin to check-in and see what’s new in their industry or network. They are also interacting more through one-on-one conversations with colleagues, recruiters and even businesses.
LinkedIn’s Message Ads drive stronger engagement and response than traditional email marketing, with average open rates of 50% vs. 21% industry benchmark
It’s no secret that email open rates are low. This is an extremely crowded channel. Not to mention the spam filters that email providers have set up. Email marketing’s engagement level continues to plummet. While it is still effective, there’s another better alternative to B2B email marketing.
Introducing: Message ads. It’s not a crowded channel and Linkedin has frequency caps on how many message ads a member can receive. This ensures that your message will not be crowded out in their inbox. So the 50% open rate wouldn’t be surprising especially with a strong offer in your message.
Messages sent via LinkedIn Messaging has more than quadrupled since 5 years ago — and messaging reply rate has grown 30%
In other words, marketers and members are sending more messages and seeing more replies.
In my opinion, Sponsored messaging has to be paired with Sponsored content to be more effective.
For message ads, Member sender tends to outperform company sender with a 16% increase in open rate
Many brands are sending their message ads using their company’s brand. The problem with that it doesn’t feel “human”. Message ads will be more effective if they came from a Member profile.
Being more authentic has shown an increase in 10% CTR and 10% conversion rate.
10 pieces of content are consumed before a purchasing decision is made
Many marketers are expecting revenue after someone downloads a free eBook or attends a free webinar. That’s very unrealistic and misaligned.
We’ll have to understand and respect the customer journey. In this information age, many prospects prefer to research by themselves first before reaching out to sales. If you cold call them before that, you risk ruining your brand reputation and become known as spammy.
Your job as a marketer is to aid this research process with useful, relevant and timely content. To be precise, at least 10 or more content touch points.
Video ads earn 30% more comments per impression than non-video ads in the feed.
Planning to run awareness or engagement campaigns? Video ads is definitely your go-to ad format for those objectives.
In my opinion, videos are not as effective for lead generation (Not unless they are short fast frame changing videos).
LinkedIn members spend almost x3 more time watching video ads compared to time spent with static Sponsored Content
Another reason why video ads would be a smart choice for awareness or engagement objective campaigns.
Audiences exposed to brand & acquisition messages on Linkedin are 6x more likely to convert
This statistic comes directly from Linkedin. I would take it with a pinch of salt. Although this does make sense. Imagine if a prospect is consistently exposed to your brand (in a positive way), they would likely remember you and become top of mind when they are ready to buy.
Remember to add view-through custom conversions (90 days) in your campaigns.
This will help you track audiences who converted but did not click on the ad initially. Many members will not convert on the spot. It’s only natural that they see something, get back to their daily lives and come back to your brand if they do remember.
21M members attended virtual events on LinkedIn in 2020
If your company relied heavily on event marketing before, this is a perfect alternative. There is no other platform in the world with the scale Linkedin has for professional audiences.
Members are showing up in huge numbers in Linkedin events. While the product is still in its infancy, Linkedin is constantly adding new engagement tools like integrating Linkedin live within events and adding lead gen forms.
LinkedIn Live streams have increased more than 400% YoY
Many around world are getting used to online experiences, that includes Linkedin Live streams. While there are many more streams, the engagement on your live streams would likely be low compared to other platforms. But that’s fine as Linkedin’s quality of audience makes up for the quantity.
Also, running live shows also lets you repurpose the content (We all know how time-consuming it is to create content!)
There are nearly 1,500 newsletters on LinkedIn and 23.5M newsletter subscriptions.
While this is an invite-only function, it is gaining traction. Even Twitter acquired Revue to provide newsletter functionality. Linkedin is extremely picky to who they give this function to though. This is to control the quality of content on the platform. Which is great to maintain the integrity of the platform.
Engagement and Content Statistics on Linkedin
Professionals sign up to Linkedin at a rate of 3 new members per second.
eMarketers are forecasting a 4.2% growth in 2022 for the US market alone. Linkedin continues to grow faster than expected. Although Linkedin is slower in terms of product innovation than other social platforms, they continue to create new ways for marketers to engage with business-minded audiences.
Most notably, Linkedin’s ad targeting for B2B business is unmatched.
6.3 Million members attended Linkedin events since it’s launch in 2020.
It’s no surprise that Linkedin events it picking up so much steam during this pandemic. This is after all the biggest B2B professional network. Linkedin remains a great place to build connections and events are a perfect fit for their platform environment.
The number of feed updates viewed on Linkedin is 443B
With a total member base on 756 Million members and an estimated 40% daily active users, Linkedin would have an estimated 302+ million daily active user base. The huge spike in engagement shows that people use Linkedin to find relevant content, engage with brands, learn from peers, and improve themselves on a professional level.
Linkedin is becoming a news destination with 9 Billion content impressions per week that are not just job-related.
There are 1,200+ posts per minute on Linkedin and a +48% increase in engaged feed time compared to 2020. There are 15x more content impressions than job postings. This busts the myth that Linkedin is only a “job site”.
This is great news for Marketers.
Average Visit Duration per visit on Linkedin is est 7:20 minutes
Members also review an average of 6 pages per visit. This data is extracted from Similarweb, so take this information with a pinch of salt.
To give more context and comparison, Similarweb is tracking Facebook’s average visit duration on Similarweb is 11:00 mins.
People spend a shorter time on Linkedin, so when you’re planning your marketing campaigns, you’ll need to capture decision-makers’ attention fast.
57% of Linkedin members use Linkedin from Mobile.
Ensure that your web pages are mobile optimized and loading fast. This is a trend globally. There’s a steady growth in the usage of mobile.
80% of engagement on content comes from Mobile.
While Linkedin still has a high number of users from a desktop as compared to other social platforms, you’ll notice that majority of Linkedin users only engage with content via mobile. As a content marketer, this is key. Use digestible content that is mobile-friendly.
Technology, Business, and Management are the top topics on Linkedin
If you see the top 10 topics on Linkedin, you’ll notice that conversations are well-rounded. People are also interested in health, politics, and education too.
Marketers should open up. Speak and market to these audiences as human beings, and not like stiff businesses. Get rid of business jargon. Relate to your audiences on a personal and professional basis.
Another way to identify what’s trending would be to observe Linkedin Hashtags. We’ve compiled the top Linkedin hashtags being used in this article
Linkedin group activity has grown by x2 since it was reintroduced.
There are almost 3.1 Million Linkedin groups. Based on this statistic, Marketers should start thinking about Linkedin groups into their marketing mix.
However, there are still many complaints about Linkedin Group. Members are saying it’s rather spammy and lacks admin controls.
This shouldn’t be a top priority now if your marketing calendar is full. But this will be the next evolution of how you build a B2B following. Linkedin continuously updates its platform with new features. Follow up to date products in their blogs like Linkedin stories, Linkedin Live and Linkedin Events.
The number of Linkedin Messages sent has increased by x4. Reply rate of these messages has grown by 30%.
Marketers are sending more messages and Linkedin members are responding more to these messages. Linkedin messages are a personal space in Linkedin where conversations take place. Messaging helps build trust with your audience.
Based on this trend, messages will continue to be a key pillar of marketing on Linkedin. In fact, Linkedin is doubling down on messaging with a new ad product called Conversation Ads
Companies running Linkedin Live are seeing 7x more reactions and 24x more comments
Video content is the fastest-growing content format on Linkedin. Live video is no exception. This is the next evolution of video marketing. According to Livestream, 87% prefer to watch video online if it meant more behind-the-scenes content.
If possible, the live video should be added into your marketing mix. Early adopters are reaping the rewards now.
Videos are x5 more likely to start a conversation amount members
So if you want to up-level your engagement, use videos. Whether it’s Linkedin Live or organic post videos, it tends to generate more conversations and awareness. Also, video ads earn up to 30% more comments than non-video ads in feed.
Linkedin Slideshare receives 70 Million unique visitors a month.
Slideshare has become an after-thought for many marketers. Which means opportunity for you if no one else is focusing on it! Linkedin Slideshare still gets 70 million unique visitors. So there’s some free traffic here if you create relevant content and optimize it.
Linkedin Slideshare contains 400,000 monthly new content pieces
Imagine, 70 million unique visitors, yet only 400,000 monthly new content pieces. That is a blue ocean that is ripe for marketers. If you’re able to build standout content on SlideShare, you’re going to get tons of free organic traffic.
The average Linkedin post reaches 21 industries and 9 countries
Now, you might be thinking that’s outrageous. These numbers are made with the assumption that the user actively publishes on Linkedin. Recommended to have bi-weekly long-form posting.
Although engagement is built over time, now is the best time to publish on Linkedin. They are seeing record levels of engagement.
There are only 2 million active publishers on Linkedin.
Do you see the opportunity here? There are 756M members on Linkedin and only 2 million members are publishing at least once bi-weekly.
At 90 billion content impressions a week, there is a lot of potential for your post to reach new audiences – For free.
This won’t last forever as more marketers realize this opportunity and start to post more.
46% of social media traffic coming to your company site comes from Linkedin
This is massive! Almost half of your website traffic from social is driven by Linkedin. Imagine if you scaled Linkedin properly. It will likely be the fastest way to grow your company.
Linkedin Cost Per Lead is 28% lower than Google Ads.
Based on Linkedin’s measurement across all clients, the Cost Per Lead of Linkedin is lower than Google ads. Of course, there will be individual and company differences.
But on a broader scale, marketers seem to be finding more success with lead generation on Linkedin than on Google ads. Definitely worth a test.
Check out these compilations of Linkedin ad benchmarks and Linkedin ad cost.
Members exposed to both brand and lead gen campaigns are x6 more likely to convert.
Launching branding and lead gen campaign together will result in higher conversion rates. Why? While the answer seems too easy, it’s because when people are more familiar with your brand, the more likely they’ll convert.
People buy from people/brands who they know, like, and trust. So always stack your branding campaigns together with lead gen for maximum effect. Don’t run them in silos.
Linkedin lead gen form has 400% higher conversion rate than traditional landing page forms.
That is not a typo. Linkedin has reported that using their lead gen form improves conversion rates. Linkedin’s pre-filled lead gen form reduces the friction to conversion. A traditional landing page requires manual form filling. In serious cases, some landing pages are not mobile optimized and load slow.
All these causes a lower conversion rates and higher CPL on landing pages.
That said, always measure the quality of the leads. Since the Lead gen form is much easier to complete, the quality might not be as good as someone who did a manual form fill.
Start with lead gen form. Observe the results. If the lead quality is not good, start adding some custom fields to your lead gen form. If you’re confident of your landing page, then send traffic and test it as well.
People like to read long-form content on Linkedin – 1,900 to 2,000 words long
It seems like Linkedin members engage in more long-form content. This is not surprising as members go on Linkedin with a mindset to learn from brands, peers, and experts. Many are looking for quality information and long-form content tends to provide that meat.
There are 87 million Millennials globally on Linkedin. 11 million of them being key decision-makers.
Millennials used to be considered “future decision-makers” in many of the marketer’s plans. That’s no longer accurate. In 2020, they make up 50% of the workforce. While some are possibly still early in their career, there are many who are already part of buying committees.
There’s no better place than Linkedin to reach millennials who are ready to interact with your content/brand.
Millennials represent almost 30% of all long-form articles on Linkedin
Engage millennials with quality content. If you have to decide between quality and quantity, go for quality and repurpose that in various formats.
45% of content readers are Managers, VPs, CEOs and other upper ranks in companies.
Decision-makers and highly affluent members do not just have a Linkedin profile. They actively consuming content on Linkedin. Help them discover your brand/product through a well-planned content marketing strategy. Thought leadership works extremely well for this audience. Help first, add value, then sell. Not the other way round.
Members are x7 more likely to be found if they have a profile picture.
In some companies, Sales Development reps fall under the marketing department. If that’s the case for you, make sure your SDR team has a profile picture on their Linkedin. It helps them to get found easily.
Members are x12 more likely to be found if they include their past 2 working experiences on their profile
Members tend to be curious about someone’s professional experience. This is why filling this out will help your team can found on Linkedin. This helps members find you when they search for relevant keywords on Linkedin.
A complete Linkedin profile will get you x21 more profile views and x36 more messages
If you’d like to expand your network and reach your target audience faster, get your employees to update their profiles and company statutes. Employee advocacy is a strong marketing asset.
Linkedin posts that use native videos received 10-100x more views as compared to youtube “cut-and-paste” links.
I know. It’s way easier and faster to just cut and paste a youtube link. Unfortunately, that move will kill your reach immediately. Linkedin’s algorithm somehow favors native videos better. It makes sense, why would Linkedin show their competitor’s platform videos if it could show their own native videos first?
Give it a test. You’ll see the much lower reach with anything that is not native.
Linkedin reports x3 increase in usage of Linkedin Learning in 2020
This comes on the back of Covid-19. Linkedin is seeing higher records engagement not only on its main platform but also on its learning platform.
26% Increase in company posts during covid-19
Covid-19 accelerated the engagement levels on Linkedin. The number of company posts increased as high as 26% at its peak over March.
Completed & Active Company Pages get 30% more page views
If you like free marketing and press like me, then you should ensure an active and completed Linkedin company page. On average, an active Company page gets x7 more impressions, increased clicks from followers by x11, 30% more page views, and x5 lift in pages views.
Final Thoughts
While Linkedin is nowhere near the size of Facebook, it has carved has a unique professional niche. It offers something that no other social media platform can: A scalable way to market to business-minded people.
User growth is still skyrocketing. Revenues look healthy. As a B2B Marketer, Linkedin is a great bet to invest your marketing dollars in, at least for the next 4-5 years.
Linkedin also continues to invest in products that help B2B marketers win. The latest is Linkedin events, Linkedin Live, and Linkedin stories. Every product is built to help marketers connect, network, and influence their audience better.
While Linkedin’s product innovation is not as fast as other social platforms like Facebook, you will still see ROI with marketing on Linkedin.
Linkedin’s path is intertwined with Microsoft now. So watch Microsoft’s strategies closely. There are many possibilities of integration that has yet to be unlocked. They have not fully utilized each other’s captive audience.
To add icing to the cake, Microsoft has entered the $1 trillion dollar club along with Amazon and Apple. Linkedin has joined this ride with the biggest tech boys.
