LinkedIn has completely shaken up the PR game. With 1.12 billion[1] wordlwide users (UK: 47.5 million[2] and 34 million in France[3], pretty much every tech journalist is on the platform. As a consequence, PR pros who ignore this network are shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to major opportunities. What with all the industry shifts and new ways of creating content, PR folks need to completely rethink how they work and treat LinkedIn as their best mate in media strategy, rather than a threat.
PR and LinkedIn: friend or foe? … that’s missing the point!
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. LinkedIn has become a proper media outlet and this is old hat.
180,000 active newsletters!
The platform started bringing journalists on board back in 2016, churns out newsletters and gets its users creating their own newsletters too. There are well over 180,000 active newsletters on LinkedIn.
- Meanwhile, the professional networking giant has rolled out features specifically for journalists. The LinkedIn for Journalists programme launched over 10 years ago helps journos sharpen their research and publishing skills through training and tools tailored to what they actually need. The platform works hand-in-glove with over 400 newsrooms globally to help them boost their presence on the network.
- On the user front, LinkedIn (source) is boasting over 1.12 billion members worldwide [Editor’s note: This number keeps climbing], which in some countries is more than 80% of the total working population. Half a million companies have set up shop with LinkedIn pages. A whopping 84.8% of B2B decision-makers in France use LinkedIn for professional purposes, and nearly half of them (45.6%) say they discovered purchase-driving content there — figures that stand up well against global benchmarks, where 87% of B2B marketers use the platform and 50% of buyersThe B2B purchasing process is the result of a long life cycle often linked to a contract as there are many people to convince. cite it as a source in purchasing decisions.
Ed. note: The French figures come from a 2020 Digimind social selling study tracking French B2B decision-makers specifically. No directly equivalent country-level study using the same methodology exists for the UK or US; the 87% global B2B marketer figure and the 50% purchasing decisions figure are drawn from different sources and timeframes and should not be read as strict like-for-like comparisons.
But here’s the hitch: how on earth can anyone afford to ignore LinkedIn these days? That’s a question that should be keeping PR professionals up at night.
Reaching out to tech journalists through PR on LinkedIn
According to research focusing on “tech journalists versus everyone else” from State of the Media 2024, a staggering 98% of tech journalists are active on social media:
- for keeping tabs on what’s happening: 62% compared to 54% of journalists across all beats,
- to publish and push their content: 76% vs 71%,
- to get in touch with experts or line up interviews: 52% vs 47%,
- more than half of tech journalists lean on LinkedIn more heavily than their colleagues (51% vs 39%).
More broadly, the 2024 Cision study on how journalists use social media shows that 71% use social platforms to publish content, 63% to engage with their audience, and 51% to fact-check information. Only 3% claim they don’t use social media for work purposes at all.
LinkedIn: where information meets opportunity
For press relations professionals, treating LinkedIn like the enemy or competitionMarket definition in B2B and B2C - The very notion of "market" is at the heart of any marketing approach. A market can be defined... is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. You’re missing out on expanding your network of journalists, understanding what makes them tick, and spotting those golden calls for case studies and expert comment.
Turning your back on LinkedIn also means missing out on brilliant opportunities to up your game by joining groups where comms and media professionals hang out, keeping track of people’s career moves, and connecting with potential collaborators. LinkedIn is also an absolute goldmine for business development: by following what companies are up to, savvy professionals can spot new projects brewing and pitch their services, stay in the loop about new comms teams being set up, or find out who’ll be at which industry events.
Put simply, being “anti-LinkedIn” is a bit like being against the very soul of what we do: building networks, nurturing relationships, spotting brilliant ideas and learning from others’ experiences.
LinkedIn: the poster child for how PR is evolving
LinkedIn epitomises the shift from “Press Relations” to “Media Relations specialist”
LinkedIn is also a brilliant platform for showing off our networking chops and taking our client relationships to the next level, creating stronger bonds that go way beyond just firing off press releases electronically and following up with phone calls or emails to journos. It’s a chance to share our expertise, show them which discussion groups they absolutely need to be part of, and propose proper “omnichannel” communication strategies.
From PR strategy to content strategy – is that tomorrow’s real challenge?
When you really think about it, whilst digital is absolutely everywhere and technology seems to be pushing us to change how we work, it’s crucial to get back to what our profession is really about: building networks that last, staying alert to spot trends and opportunities whilst also catching the early warning signs of potential PR disasters, being strategic enough to advise clients on the how, where, when and what of communication – and making sure it all hangs together.
The real challenge might well be in the editorial skills department: knowing how to create compelling content and come up with fresh formats. This is actually one of journalists’ biggest headaches too: creating content that’s engaging, entertaining and works across multiple formats, stuff that fits with how people actually consume information nowadays. Particularly by embracing newer formats like podcasts and explainer videos on social media.
