Although LinkedIn rarely discloses the number of active monthly users that their platform boast of, various sources confirm that the network has grown by more than 65 million total members since 2016. Is this a testament to the new features? Perhaps, but there is definitely a lot to unpack from these new additions. Without much ado, here are the top additions that anybody who want to become a LinkedIn expert should leverage:
1. Trending topics
The platform is now endowed with a feed that allow users to follow trending stories. This is to make their users engage more on the platform. In fact, the newsfeed has been modeled in the style of Facebook. To the top-right of the newsfeed, there is a news widget that highlights “what people are talking about now”, a function that is seeded with some of the popular topics selected by more than 20 editors composed of former business journalists and is integrated with LinkedIn’s algorithm to output trends that are specific to user’s connections and content that they engage with on a daily basis.
2. Smart Replies
Though an effective Chatbot has not yet been integrated into the platform, artificial intelligence (or AI) is already making inroads into the user experience via smart replies. Inside LinkedIn Messaging, there are suggested responses (such as ‘thumps-up symbol’, “awesome”, and “sounds good”) below an open conversation, based on the messages that you recently sent. Although you may not find them in every chat window, the platform plans to customize the responses further based on the person you are chatting with. For instance, there will be “Thanks, John!” as opposed to simply “Thanks!” As users continue to spend more time with their peers and business connections, AI and machine learning are expected to make the platform even more convenient and more user-friendly in the coming feature.
3. More analytics
More than ever, LinkedIn now provides extra analytics on how other users on the platform interact with the content that you share—not just the people who likes your posts or views your profile. You can now see not only who likes your content but also the companies they come from, their roles in the companies, their locations, and even where they found your content.
Bottom-line
When it comes to new LinkedIn features that a LinkedIn expert can leverage, the above list isn’t in any way exhaustive. Scout for more if you want to master the platform. In the meantime, click and experiment with the capabilities of the three to see if your audience or prospects want to spend more time with you.