The document discusses potential ways for LinkedIn to improve user experience and monetization. It proposes combining LinkedIn Answers, Groups, and Today into a single "Frames" feature to reduce feature overload. Frames would allow sharing questions, articles, discussions, and news within groups. It also suggests improving LinkedIn's advertising platform by positioning ads more seamlessly and in prominent but non-intrusive places like the LinkedIn bar or scrolling strips. Overall the document analyzes how LinkedIn can boost user engagement and time spent on the site to increase its value for recruiters and advertisers.
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LinkedIn Frames
1. Twesume Integration:
Background:
LinkedIn supports a 120 char headline whereas twitter has 140 char tweet.
If both these features are combined one could see the emergence of tweet status as the headline of the
LinkedIn profile. But it contradicts the professional paradigm that Linkedin showcases through its profile,
as Tweeter is more social and casual platform.
Concept definition:
To up bring the utility of headline feature of Linkedin profile, the company can tie up with its profile
updates sharing partner “Twitter” and give proper emergence to feature- Twesume.
Twesume is a short bio or resume condensed into 140 characters or less. Sometimes paired with the
#twesume hashtag, the Twesume can be tweeted, messaged or emailed to potential employers. It is the
gain of social recruiting over Job boards and recruiting sites.
Current proposition by Twitter:
Create Twesume, Tweet this to the followers, DM to a specific employer or use as the Twitter bio. On
contrary one can link his/her full resume via twitter handle on sites like CVLYNK or curv.me for those
who want to know more details.
Prospected Twesume behavior for Linkedin: <Twesume System>
User can create Twesumes at the following places:
A] On Twitter keeping his Linkedin profile shared with twitter; herein as the tweets are pulled on the
Linkedin shares, the latest twesume will be pulled to the Profile Headline on Linkedin, thereby making
the Twesume active on the Linkedin profile. This will help the recruiters identify that the Profile is
available for hiring.
Pulled
Twitter Twesumes Twesumes Headline on Linkedin
B] Users can directly post a share a Twesume on Linkedin or add Twesume as Profile Headline to shout
cast the Linkedin community that the profile is open for hiring. The profile displays the Twesume icon on
its search and for sorter which is enabled for Twesume profiles on Linkedin.
Shared on Headline
Linkedin Twesumes Jumps to latest updates
Posted on Twitter
2. Usually a new recruited professional does updates his status, taking this idea the system prompts him to
removes the Twesume that was initially present. System updates the Headline “XYZ Professional at ABC
Corp” where XYZ is the user’s new grade in ABC Corp which recently recruited him; Linkedin also has a
custom headline option.
Proof of Concept:
Information that should be included ranges from accomplishments, goals, skills, past job titles, and a link
to one’s actual resume or a detailed profile. Twesume follows KISS principle. Tools like a twesume will
become commonplace as filters to sift through potential employees and simplify recruiting.
Cognitive Psychology states that forced brevity sharpens the mind and quickens the soul. This implies
that a human brain thinks accurately to refine the minutest information and imbibes quick responses
when such information is about oneself or one profile. E.g Try to Tweet your Vision or Motivation.
This concept actually percolates the heavy tagging & comprehension of Resumes which helps recruiters!
Vice versa: It would be another avenue to see companies Tweet the nuts & bolts of a position, using
keywords in hash tags and linking to a more detailed description. Doing this would ensure that
applicants have a reasonable knowledge of social media before they ever apply. Trial tests can help
understand the reverse feasibility of this system.
Benefits to the users:
With recruiters only giving a 10-15 second read to make first cut it’s perfect play. This quick snippet of
information allows job seekers to put themselves directly in front of big time companies who are
actively using social media to search for future employees. It’s also an excellent way to provide an
encapsulated description of who you are and what you have to offer to the world.
One can use it everywhere - on social media profiles, e-mail signature, web sites and of course, it fits
nicely on a business card!
3. Linkedin Frames | The marriage of LinkedIn Answers, Linkedin Groups and Linkedin Today
Background:
The feature LinkedIn Answers similar to Yahoo! Answers, allows users to ask questions for the
community to answer. This feature is free and the main difference from the latter is that questions are
potentially more business-oriented, and the identity of the people asking and answering questions is
known. Adding the Networking effect to aid the Q&A system. Similarly, Linkedin Groups were launched
for the purpose of expanding time online but groups are not killer apps: even if thousands of groups
were created, the real audience remains low. They support a limited form of discussion area, moderated
by the group owners and managers. Since groups offer the ability to reach a wide audience without so
easily falling foul of anti-spam solutions, there is a constant stream of spam postings, and there now
exist a range of firms who offer a spamming service for this very purpose. LinkedIn has devised a few
mechanisms to reduce the volume of spam, but recently took the decision to remove the ability of group
owners to inspect the email address of new members in order to determine if they were spammers.
LinkedIn Today another article sharing / discussion frame as a news line differs from other social news
sites as it skews heavily towards B2B topics. While some categories could be viewed as B2C exist (such
as entertainment, automotive, etc) the vast majority of content is aimed at businesses, a unique niche in
social media.
Concept Definition:
The majority of Linkedin user community is reluctant to use these features as the prime reason being
they are the similar features adapted from other Web 2.0 product and they are not ready to create
another stereotype of theirs online using such feature. The idea lies in combining these features into
one single utility there by reducing the feature load on user profile.
The feature can revolve around an entity or a unit common to these three features i.e. “Frame”. A frame
can be a Question raised; Article shared; Point of discussion; News which will have its members (close
loop) and followers. The Frames will get associated to the Updates section of the profile where user can
share, comment, or play around this feature.
Prospected Frame Behaviour:
There are two ways to look forward into this
A} A user sending a frame to the community:
Sending a Frame essentially consist of steps to Create a frame; add the followers whom you want to
discuss or make it public; and publishing the same.
Frame Creation: Editing the frame like a blog with WYSIWYG editor
Grouping the Frame: Invites to join this frame for discussion, review or simply sharing is sent to the
Connections in Linkedin Community.
4. Frame Creation
Frame sharing Group Creation
Publishing
B} A user receiving frame in the updates section of Linkedin:
The frame receiver will essentially see the frame sent to him at 3 places:
Updates window
Mail box
Frame view on Linkedin Profile (Rich Interface)
Linkedin Updates window
Viewing shared frames Mailbox
Frame view (RIA)
The grouping concept essentially drills down to how a person manages his connections and people-
groups that he would like to join on Linkedin. Currently the connection management on linkedin is more
controlled due to security reasons; the concepts of grouping and creating circles around the connections
can to be looked upon afresh from the frames perspective.
The frame will initially support the ‘followers’ type linking for the shares that are done amongst the
frame users on Linkedin. Twitter integration can also be the next step in the process.
Proof of concept:
The concept of framing the active information from a nodal point that provides a window of new
information or experience is always a watch out during a surfing experience. If such nodes increase the
rate of processing of this information decreases significantly and a loss of interest is eminent. With the
bundling of information like News, Articles, Q&A, Updates, Shares etc. the multiple nodes get chunked
into a single node for the framing.
Users are always on looked out of different kind of information but prefer customization which is often
overlooked by the Web 2.0 companies to cater a better User experience. In concept of frames the user
will have an upfront option to customize the option to view the type of information he wants and can
thus personalize his area.
5. Benefits to the users:
Today the content to like-minded professionals is like a part of information economy. The rate at which
the content becomes viral in short span of time is primarily due to Social Media. People want to be
connected with the information and share the same on the go. The specific industry of the user sharing
the story is taken into account as well thereby following group frames.
The grossing information of an industry sector is also presented to the users in the Frames. One of such
characteristics of the rich interface frame application will be it can more interactive and engaging to
view information from a single node than traditional way of experiencing the information.
E.g. If a LinkedIn member is listed as a frame group of the advertising industry, that information is
factored in when an article is shared or liked and will help to boost the articles presence within the
“marketing & advertising” industry. The more targeted votes from industry individuals, the quicker
an article will rise up within that category.
6. LinkedIn Adbase:
Background:
LinkedIn advertising makes a lot of sense for the company, mainly for the two following reasons:
LinkedIn has a premium audience and nice, non-controversial content, which advertisers like;
LinkedIn is a page view monster This is because of LinkedIn's excellent search engine optimization,
which drives tons of traffic (a person's LinkedIn profile is most often one of the top results for a search
of their name).
LinkedIn sells ads both directly and through a self-serve platform. There's only one problem with
LinkedIn as an advertising platform: According to Forrester reports, LinkedIn ads are not very effective at
all. Marketers say they're expensive and provide poor conversion ratios.
While Facebook generates billions of advertising revenues, LinkedIn clearly suffers from a lack of
addiction. The average time spent per visit by its active users is under 9 minutes, while Facebook keeps
its users above 25min.Therefore, a returning visitor on LinkedIn views 30 pages a month and Facebook
about 1,000!
Other than addiction being the factor; the Form and placement of Ads on LinkedIn [Small text ads that
similar to other social network platforms] perform poorly. Given its attractive demographics, LinkedIn
could directly sell much higher priced rich graphical ads and get higher CPMs. And as we noted above, its
competitors generate higher revenue per user from subscriptions by pricing lower. LinkedIn may be
reluctant to do these things for user experience reason. The funniest part being Linkedin Newsline:
Linkedin Today doesn’t have an Ads section!
Concept Definition:
The Linkedin Adbase is basically the places and positions on the website that showcase at different
screen levels. The basis is taken that the Ads should not hamper the overall site user experience so a
strategic positioning is tried out in this concept.
The Website’s Grid framework:
The Ads are currently positioned on the rightmost grids on the upper fold in a rich visual; The format of
Ads placement is too wide and consumes a prominent space where a graphic and text is accommodated,
the ad cost for the same is very high compared to a small ad frame that is seen on Facebook. Linkedin
should change its strategy of placing ads on the web by adopting the Facebook model of Ads by
constructing the best of form to represent the Rich visual ads.
7. Ad data with the Website link (Visual Cognition).
Rich Visual Modeless Feedback (RMVF): This
concept signifies that a rich data is given to the
user that is modal in nature giving no actionable
feedback other than presenting rich information.
Bigger visual space for displaying adds (Eye ball
catching images)
Smaller visual space (Less prominence)
Extra link not adding much value since average
users does know how to navigate through ads.
Rich Visual Modeless Feedback (RMVF): This
concept signifies that a rich data is given to the
user that is modal in nature giving no actionable
feedback other than presenting rich information.
Ad positioning below the fold of the page posted mainly by Linkedin subscribed users; this placement has the least number of clicks and
viewing by the users.
A high prominence place to showcase ads; for catching maximum eyeballs. The cost is ads post is highest of all. Ads don’t fit to the form of the
website. Text ads lack aesthetic sense.
8. Both the positions of placing the ads on the horizontal bar high above and low below the fold displays
the bad user experience from purview of data hierarchy set by Linkedin. A better and more efficient way
is displayed below.
Prospected Adbase Behaviour:
The adbase for Linkedin should be seamless with the web experience rather should not create a
difference in visual or functional experience. It should be designed from a point of giving the right kind
of information to the user acceptable in format of the Linkedin template rather a customized one.
Places of prominence:
1. Linkedin bar which is integrated to most of the websites that are navigable through linkedin.
2. ‘Web Screen strips’ which move with the scroll and keep a constant frame throughout the scroll
or navigation.
3. Grids on the right side.
4. Hide-able Ad strip escalated from left side of the screen.
Proof of Concept:
The Linkedin Bar/ Web screen strip are the prominent ad space that remains on the page as modal even
during the scrolling mode. The cost of keeping these places filled with ads during the time user is logged
on to the website can be gain a lot of ad revenue since the ads consistently remain on the screen and
such places can be charged with high cost to the advertiser considering the time they will be showcased
on the bar or strip.
The Grid concept is redesigned with adding the natural aesthetic sense to the grid to make it pleasing to
the eye and creating the right architecture of the grid frame. Keeping it simple and clean!
9. Benefits to users:
Ads are essentially benefited to the user to whom they are targeted. Most of the time if the ads
consume the locus of attention then the user loses the interest from the page. The propositions
done will add a natural sense of information flow to the user rather creating and adjunct brake
in flow. Ad design and Content creation should be another proposition that the Linkedin can
propose to its advertisers on the basis the user experience and utility of ads which they can
convince through these mediums.
10. Business Strategy:
Vision of the Company:
"To create economic opportunity for every professional in the world”, with an aim to "transforming the
way people work by connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale."
The company states that it will prove the adage that non-paying users of its social network aren't the
customers, they're the product. Its prime work tactic being to empower professional individuals and
networking, yet it has a keen focus on competing with Job search portals
LinkedIn Business Composition:
Advertising |30%, HR Solutions |45%, Premium Subscription | 35%
What is seen is that LinkedIn is making itself more prolific, by designing the site specifically for marketing
and recruiting folks. The tangible essence of professionalism is lost in the making the web structure
much aligned to Recruitment profile. It would be highly interesting to see LinkedIn from the substance
of things or work, rather than about managing or marketing things and work. They should note that
their products are not eaten up for the ‘Hungry LIONs’ (LinkedIn Open Networkers)
As LinkedIn expands internationally, its premium subscription rate falls dramatically and there are no
revenues the HR Solutions.
Hiring Solutions is basically two businesses:
Jobs postings Companies can post job ads to LinkedIn for a fee, starting at $95 for a 30-day posting.
A search engine for recruiters that allows them to search LinkedIn's massive resume database and
contact potential hires directly through "InMail"; this is sold to big companies (and increasingly SMBs) as
a subscription-based software-as-a-service product
LinkedIn’s hegemony is challenged in multiple key countries (Germany, France, China, and Brazil, India)
by its small competitors, and its base revenue model doesn’t work there:
Capturing revenues from HR Solutions and advertising requires a massive sales team in close
proximity to the client (already more than 300 in the US) and such investments abroad would
jeopardize the corporate organization.
Web marketing revenues has shown its limits (close to zero premium subscribers abroad).
While the company seems to follow a long term growth strategy (keep the members’ base grow rapidly
without too much boundaries for acquiring premium subscriptions or marketing to beat its competitors
by size, not revenues), it is unclear whether an extended free membership is really a driver for its
expansion.
11. Overall User Experience Outlook:
It seems obvious that the fundamental challenge for LinkedIn is to increase addiction. Addiction creates
premium and advertising revenues for sure, but is also the key for its HR Solution business. Recruiters
are concerned about the number of CVs but only with updated profiles, and users ready to engage and
respond to recruiters. Linkedin need to look upon to the new business directions in the emerging
markets where the social networking platforms are more apprehensive than professional networking
ones.
From the purview that Linkedin is engaging professional networking platform the user experience needs
fine tuned and engineered to be seamless across all its features and applications so to keep the users on
the addiction buzz!