REPORT Susan Jennings Kantari, [email protected] LinkedIn Only One of Many Sites Used by Employers, Job Seekers Companies: DHX, FB, GCI, LKND, MWW, YHOO December 18, 2012 Research Question: Will advertisers spend their non-Google ad and marketing budgets on LinkedIn, and is LinkedIn still the preferred site in the hiring community? Summary of Findings Silo Summaries Sources were split regarding LinkedIn Corp.‟s (LNKD) status as 1) ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES the hiring community‟s preferred site. None of the five staffing These four sources believe business-to-business (B2B) agencies and only one of four job seekers interviewed by advertisers are finding success with LinkedIn‟s platform Blueshift preferred LinkedIn over other hiring sites. However, but that the bulk of social media ad spending still resides four of six HR managers and two of three industry specialists with Facebook, Twitter Inc. and a dozen other platforms. said it is the favored recruitment tool. LinkedIn has branded—and priced—itself as a premium corporate site and needs to tweak that image to fully All four ad executives believe advertisers are finding success develop as a social platform. with LinkedIn, but the bulk of their budgets still lies with a plethora of other competitors. 2) HR MANAGERS Four of six sources view LinkedIn as a preferred method of A staffing agency, an HR manager and a job seeker described recruiting. Another prefers Craigslist while the remaining Craigslist Inc. as an effective recruitment tool that is free for source looks to trade associations; both cited cost- job seekers and costs only $75 for listing a position. effectiveness as the primary factor. One source added that LinkedIn is a preferred site for networking but not Of the nine sources who commented on Monster Worldwide necessarily making hires. No sources use Facebook for Inc. (MWW), only one, representing a staffing agency, said recruiting activities. Although not asked about Indeed.com, Monster is an effective recruiting tool. All others said using three sources mentioned the site as an effective tool. Four Monster‟s database is cumbersome. This negative trend has sources had negative comments on Monster, referring to it grown stronger since our Sept. 27, 2011, report. as big, bulky and cumbersome. Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd.‟s Indeed.com is a cost-effective 3) STAFFING AGENCIES recruiting site, according to three HR managers and a job None of these five sources described LinkedIn as an seeker. effective recruiting tool. One source uses her own marketing to target recruits, the second uses Craigslist and Only one source, a staffing agency representative, has other free sites, and the third does not believe a clear-cut effectively used Facebook Inc. (FB) as a recruiting tool. All recruiting leader exists. The fourth source said LinkedIn is others view Facebook purely as a social network site. the most well-known but not the most effective recruiting Facebook‟s new Social Jobs Partnership app may better tool. The fifth uses LinkedIn to research—but not recruit— position it for job searches and recruiting; Monster is included candidates. Of the three sources who commented on Monster, only one viewed it is an effective tool. Also, only in the app, but LinkedIn is not. one source has used Facebook for recruiting. 4) JOB SEEKERS Only one of these four sources cited LinkedIn as a LNKD MWW FB preferred job search site. Another uses LinkedIn as a Indeed.com Preferred Relevancy Effective Popularity networking site. The remaining two said LinkedIn was difficult to navigate and not cost-effective. Three sources use Craigslist for job searching; another said Indeed.com is HR Managers gaining market share. The two sources who commented on Monster said it was losing relevancy. No sources use Staffing Facebook for job searches, but one source does use the N/A Agencies site for gathering information on hiring managers‟ likes and dislikes. Job Seekers 5) INDUSTRY SPECIALISTS Industry Two of three sources view LinkedIn as the top recruiting N/A N/A site for employers and job seekers. The third sees college Specialists graduates directly interacting with employers. All three agree Facebook is not a threat to LinkedIn. 1 1 Ferry Building, Suite 255, San Francisco, CA 94111 | www.blueshiftideas.com LinkedIn Corp. Background LinkedIn received 143 million unique visitors during September and expanded its reach to over 187 million members in the third quarter, a 43% growth rate year to year. The company reformatted its homepage in the third quarter, contributing to a 60% increase in homepage user activity. Differentiating itself from competitors, LinkedIn offers potential advertisers the ability to target a specific audience using job title, job function, industry, geography, company name, company size, seniority, age, gender, and LinkedIn group. Another unique feature is its “lead collection bar,” which allows a company advertising on LinkedIn to follow up directly with a prospect who clicks on an advertisement. Blueshift‟s found that LinkedIn was effectively growing its network of active users but was facing an increasingly competitive environment for advertisers and job seekers. A recent survey by Jobvite Inc. revealed that Facebook attracted the highest percentage of job seekers in 2012. Approximately 52% of job seekers utilized Facebook to help find work while only 38% of job seekers used LinkedIn. Competing with LinkedIn for small business advertising dollars outside of Google AdWords are recently established companies like Outbrain Inc. and Virurl, which offer lower-cost alternatives and widespread distribution across social media. CURRENT RESEARCH In this next study, Blueshift assessed how LinkedIn was viewed by advertising executives in terms of ROI and if the company was the preferred hiring site among HR managers, recruiters, staffing agencies and job seekers. We employed our pattern mining approach to establish and interview sources in six independent silos: 1) Advertising executives (4) 2) HR managers (6) 3) Staffing agencies (5) 4) Job seekers (4) 5) Industry specialists (3) 6) Secondary sources (3) We interviewed 22 primary sources, including three repeat sources, and identified three of the most relevant secondary sources focused on Facebook‟s new job board app, LinkedIn‟s new Ads API and Monster‟s fall from industry innovator to follower. Next Steps Blueshift will follow up with HR managers, particularly those not using LinkedIn, to determine LinkedIn‟s potential to be used by corporations. We also will monitor Facebook‟s Social Jobs Partnership app and its reception among our sources. Finally, we will check with advertising executives and marketers regarding LinkedIn‟s new Ads API and its ROI. Silos 1) ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES These four sources believe business-to-business (B2B) advertisers are finding success with LinkedIn‟s platform but that the bulk of social media ad spending still resides with Facebook, Twitter Inc. and a dozen other platforms. LinkedIn has branded— and priced—itself as a premium corporate site and needs to tweak that image to fully develop as a social platform. Media buyer for a social media agency This agency does 100% social media with a bias toward Facebook, which received the bulk of the agency‟s spending. The source said LinkedIn needs to rebrand itself as a social network site. However, LinkedIn “is definitely on everyone‟s radar” and should see increased ad dollars this and next year. 2 1 Ferry Building, Suite 255, San Francisco, CA 94111 | www.blueshiftideas.com LinkedIn Corp. “We‟ve tested all aspects of LinkedIn from paid, owned and groups for ourselves and our clients, and find it promising but still not flourishing as it will be.” LinkedIn is definitely on . “LinkedIn has branded itself as a corporate brand so it is not thought everyone‟s radar and being of in the same category as Facebook and Twitter, but it is similar to talked about; they are a close those tools. Their brand is oversimplified as a B2B social media third in the top three social network when it has greater potential.” sites. “LinkedIn skews toward B2B, which is an unfair reputation because it makes it less social, more dry.” Media Buyer, Social Media Agency . “LinkedIn is definitely on everyone‟s radar and being talked about; they are a close third in the top three social sites.” . “Companies are using LinkedIn for HR purposes, but after a while they are finding other uses for it.” . “The cost to advertise is higher on LinkedIn than other sites because of they have branded themselves as a premium site.” . “Our spending will double next year with the accounts we have in line, and we will be spending more on LinkedIn.” Media director for a midsize online advertising agency; repeat source Although this source said LinkedIn holds potential for large advertisers, the company currently does not appeal to his client base, which is not looking for B2B communication in its social messaging. “We are increasingly getting new accounts for online advertising, and next year expect to increase year-to-year spending by double digits.” . “We are not spending on LinkedIn, but we have looked into the platform. Right now their offerings are have more B2B interest, but I expect that will change.” . “LinkedIn is a great platform for a large company such as Xerox that touches so many industries to engage its user base.” . “Our focus is more on image sharing sites and platforms that are more established as social.” Director of media sales, formerly a media buyer for three top media agencies; repeat source This source sells media but has been on the buying end for many years. Although the source sees potential in LinkedIn because of its audience size, its current platform is not offering interesting choices for advertisers. “We are not currently doing advertising with LinkedIn, but they have big [audience numbers].” .