LinkedIn increases its influence with latest updates

Graeme Parton +

Professional-targeting social network LinkedIn has added a number of new updates which look set to improve the site’s functionality for company owners.

Most significantly, the site has added a host of new prominent business leaders and political figures to its ‘Influencer’ program, meaning users can now directly interact with some of the world’s most important people.

With more than a hundred politicians, C-level business figures, philanthropists, world leaders and entrepreneurs involved, LinkedIn is hoping the feature will provide its users with plenty of opportunities to become involved in thought-provoking, innovation-led conversations.

In recent months, LinkedIn has been working hard to build up its repertoire of big names. The Influencer feature now boasts involvement from such figures as Barack Obama, Richard Branson, CEO of Burberry Angela Ahrendts and Richard Branson.

While it is currently seen by many as just a place for job hunters to search for vacancies and business owners to look for potential employees, LinkedIn is looking to change this. It is thought that the company’s bosses are looking to develop the site into a network which focuses more on conversation and communication.

The drive to improve the benefits of LinkedIn has also involved a range of updates to the feature. The site’s users now have the ability to directly respond to, or even just ‘like’, any post made by an Influencer. Others on the page will then be given the opportunity to communicate with those who have commented. With some of the Influencers boasting millions of followers, this could certainly be beneficial for business owners looking for extra exposure.

While Facebook may have the biggest overall user-base, it is no secret that LinkedIn can be extremely useful – particularly for B2B marketing campaigns. The latest updates simply give business owners even more reason to use the site to publish content.