Worlds Largest Professional Network, turns 14 on 5/5 and tops 500 million users

This post is an update from a previous annual articles on the allthingsdigitalmarketing blog, enjoy!

According to statistics, LinkedIn is currently available in 24 languages, vs. 20 languages from 2015, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, and Tagalog.

At just 14, Linkedin has reached half a billion users (500 million) spanning 200 countries, this according to a recent LinkedIn's NEWSROOM blog post.  This marks a 14% increase from last year. A 2016 post titled "By the Numbers: 125+ Amazing LinkedIn Stats," as of February 4, 2016, there were over 441 million global LI users. In March 2015, an article by About LinkedIn it was reported that LinkedIn  had over 111 million unique U.S. members.

Not surprising that in the 4th Quarter of 2014 more than 75% of new members came to LinkedIn from outside the United States -- currently there are 347 million registrants globally from almost 200 countries and territories. Additionally LinkedIn revenue reported  Q4 at $643 million (an average increase of 44% year-to-year).

LinkedIn Enhancements and Acquisitions Over the Years

April 2013, a new streamlined tool was featured to enable LinkedIn users to tag each other in posts and comments

In January 2011 LinkedIn traded its first shares on May 19, 2011 -- NYSE symbol "LNKD" with an IPO price of $45 per share. LinkedIN is currently valued at 261.52, nearly a 600% increase.

In 2010, LinkedIn began acquiring companies and to date has acquired 15 American companies (below is a chronological list).
• August 4, 2010, mspoke, an adaptive content personalization for $0.6 Million
• September 23, 2010, ChoiceVendor, Social B2B Reviews, $3.9 Million
• January 26, 2011, CardMunch, Social Contacts, $1.7 Million
• October 5, 2011, Connected Social CRM, price not available
• October 11, 2011, IndexTank Social search, price not available
• February 22, 2012, RapportiveSocial Contacts, $15 Million
• May 3, 2012 SlideShareSocial Content, $119 Million
• April 11, 2013, Pulse Web / Mobile newsreader, $90 Million
• February 6, 2014, Bright Job Matching, $120 Million
• July 14, 2014, Newsle Web applicat, $175 Million
• April 2, 2015, Refresh.io Web application, price not available-
• April 9, 2015, Lynda.com, eLearning, $1.5 Billion
• April 20, 2015, Hoaxbuster Club, Fact check and truth monitoring service, price not yet available
• August 28, 2015, Fliptop Predictive Sales and Marketing Firm, Using data science to help companies close more sales
• February 4, 2016, Connectifier, Web application, Helps companies with their recruiting

Latest resources:

• LinkedIn Joins the HoaxBuster Club, Buys Patent for Fact-Checking System, FACTUALLY, A Gizmodo Blog, http://www.techradar.com/us/news/internet/stop-lying-on-linkedin-because-soon-you-won-t-be-able-to-1291702
•http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/
•8 Mistakes You Should Never Make on LinkedIn, Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/2/

This post is an update from a previous annual articles on the allthingsdigitalmarketing blog, enjoy!

Worlds Largest Professional Network, LinkedIn, turns 13 today, May 5, 2016

According to LinkedIn it is currently available in 24 languages, vs. 20 languages from 2015. including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, and Tagalog.

According to a post titled "By the Numbers: 125+ Amazing LinkedIn Stats," as of February 4, 2016, there are over 441 million global LI users. In March 2015, an article by About LinkedIn reported LinkedIn as having over 111 million unique U.S. members.

Not surprising that in the 4th Quarter of 2014 more than 75% of new members came to LinkedIn from outside the United States -- currently 347 million registrants globally from over 200 countries and territories. Additionally LinkedIn revenue reported total revenue for Q4 at $643 million (an average increase of 44% year-to-year).

LinkedIn Enhancements and Acquisitions Over the Years

April 2013, a new streamlined tool was featured to enable LinkedIn users to tag each other in posts and comments

In January 2011 LinkedIn traded its first shares on May 19, 2011 -- NYSE symbol "LNKD" with an IPO price of $45 per share. LinkedIN is currently valued at 261.52, nearly a 600% increase.

In 2010, LinkedIn began acquiring companies and to date has acquired 15 American companies (below is a chronological list).
• August 4, 2010, mspoke, an adaptive content personalization for $0.6 Million
• September 23, 2010, ChoiceVendor, Social B2B Reviews, $3.9 Million
• January 26, 2011, CardMunch, Social Contacts, $1.7 Million
• October 5, 2011, Connected Social CRM, price not available
• October 11, 2011, IndexTank Social search, price not available
• February 22, 2012, RapportiveSocial Contacts, $15 Million
• May 3, 2012 SlideShareSocial Content, $119 Million
• April 11, 2013, Pulse Web / Mobile newsreader, $90 Million
• February 6, 2014, Bright Job Matching, $120 Million
• July 14, 2014, Newsle Web applicat, $175 Million
• April 2, 2015, Refresh.io Web application, price not available-
• April 9, 2015, Lynda.com, eLearning, $1.5 Billion
• April 20, 2015, Hoaxbuster Club, Fact check and truth monitoring service, price not yet available
• August 28, 2015, Fliptop Predictive Sales and Marketing Firm, Using data science to help companies close more sales
• February 4, 2016, Connectifier, Web application, Helps companies with their recruiting

Latest resources:

• LinkedIn Joins the HoaxBuster Club, Buys Patent for Fact-Checking System, FACTUALLY, A Gizmodo Blog, http://www.techradar.com/us/news/internet/stop-lying-on-linkedin-because-soon-you-won-t-be-able-to-1291702
•http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/
•8 Mistakes You Should Never Make on LinkedIn, Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/2/

Happy 12th to LinkedIn May 5, 2015

World's most professional networking site, LinkedIn, turns 12 today.

Founded in December 2002, it launched May 5, 2003 for the sole purpose of a professional business network site and had an initial membership of 4,500.

LinkedIn was founded by Reid Hoffman with fellow founding team members from PayPal and Socialnet.com (Allen Blue, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Lee Hower, Konstantin Guericke, Stephen Beitzel, David Eves, Ian McNish, Yan Pujante, and Chris Saccheri).

Founder Reid Hoffman, previously CEO of LinkedIn, is now Chairman of the Board. LinkedIn is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with additional U.S. offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha, San Francisco, Sunnyvale and Washington D.C.

Linkedin also has International office locations in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New Delhi, Paris, Perth, São Paulo, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

Within three years (by 2006) usage increased to 20 million members (an increase of 4,444% in 3 years).

LinkedIn is also available in 20 languages including Chinese, English, French, German, Italian,Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, and Tagalog.

In March 2015, an article by About LinkedIn reported LinkedIn as having over 111 million unique U.S. members.

Not surprising that in the 4th Quarter of 2014 more than 75% of new members came to LinkedIn from outside the United States -- currently 347 million registrants globally from over 200 countries and territories. Additionally LinkedIn revenue reported total revenue for Q4 at $643 million (an average increase of 44% year-to-year).

LinkedIn Enhancements and Acquisitions Over the Years

April 2013, a new streamlined tool was featured to enable LinkedIn users to tag each other in posts and comments

In January 2011 LinkedIn traded its first shares on May 19, 2011 -- NYSE symbol "LNKD" with an IPO price of $45 per share. LinkedIN is currently valued at 261.52, nearly a 600% increase.

In 2010, LinkedIn began acquiring companies and to date has acquired 14 American companies (below is a chronological list).
• August 4, 2010, mspoke, an adaptive content personalization for $0.6 Million
• September 23, 2010, ChoiceVendor, Social B2B Reviews, $3.9 Million
• January 26, 2011, CardMunch, Social Contacts, $1.7 Million
• October 5, 2011, Connected Social CRM, price not available
• October 11, 2011, IndexTank Social search, price not available
• February 22, 2012, RapportiveSocial Contacts, $15 Million
• May 3, 2012 SlideShareSocial Content, $119 Million
• April 11, 2013, Pulse Web / Mobile newsreader, $90 Million
• February 6, 2014, Bright Job Matching, $120 Million
• July 14, 2014, Newsle Web applicat, $175 Million
• April 2, 2015, Refresh.io Web application, price not available-
• April 9, 2015, Lynda.com, eLearning, $1.5 Billion
• April 20, 2015, Hoaxbuster Club, Fact check and truth monitoring service, price not yet available

Latest resources:

• LinkedIn Joins the HoaxBuster Club, Buys Patent for Fact-Checking System, FACTUALLY, A Gizmodo Blog, http://www.techradar.com/us/news/internet/stop-lying-on-linkedin-because-soon-you-won-t-be-able-to-1291702
•http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/
•8 Mistakes You Should Never Make on LinkedIn, Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/2/

Be on the Lookout for Another LookBack Enhancement: Coming to your Facebook Soon

"It’s been an amazing journey so far, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. It’s rare to be able to touch so many people’s lives, and I try to remind myself to make the most of every day and have the biggest impact I can."
~~ Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg

Most of us know by now that Facebook celebrated its 10 year milestone with LookBack, a 1 minute, auto-generated video of your life on Facebook. The photos were automatically selected by Facebook based on popularity, viewership, etc. Many liked but many also complained because the photos included (unintentionally) ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, nasty comments and other drunk messaging, etc.

Facebook reacted quickly with a tool that lets you edit out any photos or nasty message posts enabling you to replace with another from the collection. Unfortunately, you are still limited to the auto-selected photos by Facebook (you cannot choose from your entire Facebook photos). Don't fret just yet; This limitation will be changing soon.

Be on the lookout for another LookBack enhancement. The Facebook tech team is working on an editing tool that will enable users to remove and replace content to their LookBack video from other photos in their respective Facebook account.

Did you notice your LookBack yet? Find yours at https://facebook.com/lookback/ ‪#‎FacebookIs10‬

Post by Gloria Buono Daly.

In our world of dense network connectivity (i.e., Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.) and now with Facebook's latest LookBack, do you believe our culture is becoming overly narcissistic?

I was actually very happy and surprised by my LookBack. Although I'm not crazy about the fuzzy photo quality or the loooong Facebook intro and ending logos. I try not to spend too much time there but with the latest LookBack, coupled with my curiousity it's very tempting to spend hours on Facebook.

How about you? What's in your Facebook LookBack?



Below are my handpicked Resources about Facebook LookBack; bookmark this as this list will grow:

♦ You can now edit your Facebook.com/lookback video, PIX11.COM, http://pix11.com/2014/02/06/you-can-now-edit-your-facebook-look-back-video/
♦ Hilarious Parody Shows What Those Facebook 'Look Back' Videos Really Look Like http://www.businessinsider.com/hilarious-facebook-look-back-video-2014-2
♦ A handdrawn history of Facebook, Mashable, (only thing missing is the latest addition, LookBack) http://mashable.com/2014/02/06/facebook-look-back-parody/
♦ Link to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Lookback video, Facebook Feb. 5, 2014 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10101251383040151&set=vb.4&type=2&theater
♦ A New Way to Look at Facebook, The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/02/facebook-paper-iphone-app-stream-new-look.html
♦ Paper Stories from Facebook, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/paper‎
Facebook Launches Paper, A Curated Visual News Reader Feb. 3 on iOS, TechCrunch

Photos are from screen captures from my computer, unless otherwise indicated.

Follow me at @GBDaly


Photo of FB comments are screencaptures from my FB account.

“Be on the Lookout for Another LookBack Enhancement: Coming to your Facebook Soon ” is part of the evergreen marketing insighter ▲▲▲ series by Gloria Buono-Daly


Please visit this blog frequently and share this with your social media and professional network. Thanks.

What will the latest digital communications trends for business be in 2014? ▲ ▲ ▲ 'evergreen marketing insighter' by Gloria Buono-Daly

Mobility programs have enabled many companies to replace standard business procedures with more improved, customized and preferred procedures. This applies to internal and external communications programs but also for various other types of physical work environments and activities throughout a company.

As a result of these mobility enhancements, business media communications has become the latest 2014 trend for driving efficiency and productivity in corporations. Communicating more effectively throughout a company and incorporating various mobility preferences based on behavioral work patterns has resulted in improved products and services, increased brand awareness to their consumer audiences and ultimately has resulted in more sales and improved ROI.


QUALITITATIVE BUSINESS MEDIA REPLACING QUANTITATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA?
The latest shift is focusing on business media communications and information programs, particularly qualitative logistics with much less to no concentration on social media campaigns -- i.e., mobile audience behavioral patterns and audience personal preferences for device use. This trend does not appear to be going away anytime soon as business media continues to replace social media.

This, along with anticipated changes in audience perceptions and behavioral tendencies from the use of mobile technologies to clouds and other disruptive innovations, has been transforming real time digital communications and multi-channels.

BUSINESS MEDIA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILITY
The hottest communications trends have shifted more toward business media, customized communities, and big data. Does this mean that the traditional social media communications strategies will be left out in the cold?

An example of the use of mobility business media, is illustrated in an earlier blog (August 2013) titled, “Mobile and HTML5 integrating big time: "evergreen marketing insights" by Gloria Buono-Daly”.

In this article I reported on how the business mobility trend has been transforming and improving the way people work. Also this latest business communications trend is one of the main reasons why many companies continue to allow their employees to use their own devices at work.

PERSONAL DEVICE PREFERENCE DRIVES MOBILITY
According to a recent gomomentum.com report, two-thirds of companies already let employees bring their own devices to work and use them for business-related purposes because this has helped boost productivity by keeping employees in constant contact (real time) with customers, business partners and colleagues. Also, it makes it easier for employees to work outside of the office. This digital communication concept holds true for communicating to consumers as well. Websites are now developed for all user devices not just the desktop computer.

All things multi-channel and mobility, will become more prevalent in 2014 and onward.

Workforce systems and networks are enhancing communications and work portability, increasing productivity, and improving efficiency.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS DRIVES COMMERCE
2014 will also mark the year that transforms digital communications as measurable results will continue to prove it has become the driving force for commerce. More than branding, it is the communicating and storytelling across the various business media platforms that drive businesses and commerce for 2014.

While many experts indicated that Facebook advertising increased sales (articles written in 2010 - 2012, no articles supported this in 2013 with the exception of one or two articles about small companies), this does not seem to be the case for 2014. Major corporations do not rely on Facebook advertising to increase sales.

Besides no supportive research on business value using Facebook, there are many political, personal, and advocacy pages communicating on Facebook that are offensive yet Facebook policy identifies them as “poor taste” or “crude attempts at humor” pages and therefore are not removed since they do not violate Facebook policy. As a result, many corporations have dropped advertising on Facebook. For more on this, refer to the 4th bullet item in the "RESOURCES" section below.

This latest, disruptive trend -- customized mobility -- will continue to replace “social media” in 2014 as business communication campaigns implement customized “business media” platforms for their audiences – employees and consumers.

What do you think? Are your company’s “business media” programs incorporating the latest digital communications and mobility strategies for driving commerce?

RESOURCES
▲  Out With The Old: 4 Communications Trends for 2014 http://www.gomomentum.com/old-4-communications-trends-2014/
▲  The Top 7 Communications Trends For 2014, B2C http://www.business2community.com/communications/top-7-communications-trends-2014-0717938
▲  “Mobile and HTML5 integrating big time: "evergreen marketing insights" by Gloria Buono-Daly” http://myblog.allthingsdigitalmarketing.com/2013/08/mobile-and-html5-integrating-big-time.html
▲  13 Companies Drop Facebook Advertising Over Domestic Violence Ads, http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/05/28/2064461/13-companies-drop-facebook-advertising-over-domestic-violence-content/
▲  Latest trends in digital communication, http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/2013-trends-in-digital-communication
▲ Econsultancy: A list of 10 retail mobile apps that customers love, http://econsultancy.com/blog/64140-a-list-of-10-retail-mobile-apps-that-customers-love


If you are interested in following I’m on Twitter @gbdaly or http://www.twitter.com/gbdaly

Do feel free to share your digital insights and thanks for visiting.

Please share this blog with your social media and other professional networks. Thanks.


“The latest digital communications trends for business in 2014” is part of the evergreen marketing insighter ▲▲▲ series by Gloria Buono-Daly

Digital marketing and the days of likes & followers ▲ ▲ ▲ 'evergreen marketing insighter' by Gloria Buono-Daly

Brand awareness and user engagement are integral for gauging the success of a marketing campaign. Yet, there are many other factors that need to be considered.

Although many marketers believe measuring the success of a campaign is by the amounts of "likes & followers," etc., research concludes that many companies who incorporate social media are not prepared because they do not have a metric strategy in place. Besides measuring social on engagement, conversion and revenue, there are many other challenges.

When it comes to sales and bottom lines, the digital marketing landscape no longer revolves around social media metrics and communities alone. There's much more to the equation which is more consumer driven and less social community based. With the many social platforms and digital channels, there is much speculation and inaccuracy in determining relationships.

The world of social media marketing is riddled with simultaneous text, images, geo-locations, iPhone, tablets, devices, etc., all in real time. There is no way managers can confidently make decisions based on complex data sources of this nature.

Major privacy programs are taking effect in 2014 and search engines are gradually incorporating hashtag search. Google has already implemented the use of hashtag searches on its search engine.

More and more marketers have accepted the fact that social media communities along with image-centric social media, geo-targeting and mobile marketing, are not meeting expectations. There's a whole lot more that will be going into digital marketing in 2014.

The hottest trends for 2014 are consumer oriented and are heavily involved with consumer protection and privacy.

As more and more people cling to their online devices (e.g., iPhones, tablets, laptops, etc.) marketers have accepted the fact that Web statistics (e.g., hits, followers, friends, likes, etc.) and social communities are not the major contributing factor to sales as originally anticipated.

In a world of big data, information and the feelings of being stalked on the internet, many consumers are opting for “privacy” over “social” despite dependencies on iphones, tablets, laptops, etc.

According to a recent Ad Age article, new laws and industry self-regulation privacy protections are being implemented in 2014 which will have a major impact for marketers and how they market to consumers.

Many thought leaders predict that 2014 will be the year of more customized content, video and technology disruptions; However, the days of tracking every move a consumer makes, will be diminishing as more and more legislative decisions and privacy protection programs get implemented.

In the world digital ecosystem, what marketing strategies are you incorporating for 2014? Do you believe the days of "likes and followers" are over? What impact do you think the digital revolution will bring for 2014?

RESOURCES


▲  10 innovative digital marketing campaigns from Diageo brands, Econsultancy, http://econsultancy.com/blog/63593-10-innovative-digital-marketing-campaigns-from-diageo-brands
▲  Four iPad Stats Every Publisher Should Know, AdAge, http://adage.com/channel/digital/20
▲  Top Digital Marketing Trends in 2014, socialmediatoday, http://socialmediatoday.com/anitaloomba/2035211/top-digital-marketing-trends-2014
6 digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2014, MoneyControl, http://www.moneycontrol.com/smementor/mentorade/marketing/6-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-out-for2014-1011867.html
▲  Experts outline key digital marketing trend s for 2014, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/dec/06/experts-digital-marketing-trends-2014
▲  2014 Digital Trends and Predictions from Marketing and Thought Leaders, Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2013/12/17/2014-digital-trends-and-predictions-from-marketing-thought-leaders/
▲  Three Big Privacy changes to Plan for in 2014, AdAge http://adage.com/article/datadriven-marketing/big-privacy-plan-2014/290885/


If you are interested in following I’m on Twitter @gbdaly or http://www.twitter.com/gbdaly

Do feel free to share your digital insights and thanks for visiting.

Please share this blog with your social media and other professional networks. Thanks.


"Digital marketing and the days of likes & followers" is part of the evergreen marketing insighter ▲▲▲ series by Gloria Buono-Daly

Cloudforce New York - November 30, 2011: You should have been there!

Corporate Overview and the Social Enterprise

See what you missed by viewing opening keynote from Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff. Benioff opened Cloudforce New York with a corporate overview and an explanation of the social enterprise concept. Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts also appears, offering a birds eye view of the luxury brand's social transformation. Recorded live from New York's Javits Center on November 30, 2011, this is part one of an eight video series.