Saturday, March 07, 2020

LinkedIn enters the “stories” arena

LinkedIn has recently begun internal tests on a “story” feature,
similar to hat offered by Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. At the end of February, the company confirmed that it would roll out this feature to the public. As features become “universal” across platforms, it places focus on how - or whether - these platforms differentiate from one another.

Clearly, LinkedIn’s differentiation is its “professional” slant; there have even been widespread comments around certain types of content and posts not being appropriate for LinkedIn. The platform originally started as a venue for networking - making connections with other professionals. The onset of the stories feature begs a question as to what opportunities this will provide for digital marketing.

People may be able to produce serial content to promote themselves, their companies and/or products. It is possible that LinkedIn influencers may also use the platform to promote partners - whether they would be compensated for this or simply create “goodwill”. It will be interesting to watch a format that started for content we wanted to “self destruct” (ie. The origins of Snapchat) and that has historically been used for recreational purposes as it transitions to a professional-oriented network. It seems likely this will offer new and different - potentially more targeted - opportunities for digital marketing.

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