LinkedIn Teardown

In this teardown, I'm exploring LinkedIn Personal, an app known for its professional vibe, networking opportunities, job-hunting capabilities, and career growth potential. I'm diving into its features, benefits, how it works, and any possible issues with the app.

What problem is LinkedIn solving?

The LinkedIn app is majorly solving the problem of lack of professional networking and access to job opportunities.

Many social media platforms exists, all can be categorized differently and each of them have one goal to connect. While other social media platforms have an informal feel to them, Linkedin from the get-go positioned itself as a professional website. Like every other platform people join to connect , but over here at linkedin people connect professionlally.

On Facebook we often connect with family and friend and it makes sense to share contents of our children, parents, siblings, marriage and our audience gets it. This also works with Instagram. If you want to share insights about your work, the intricacies of work and your small wins it will seem to be inappropriate sharing it in on their platforms especially because your audience are likely not going to get it. One may try but again you have to dumb it all down and as well avoid technical terms. SO why does LinkedIn exist? What problem is it solving?

Well LinkedIn is solving the problem of lack of professional connection and no one has beat them to it.

Target Users & Segments

Pain Point: Struggles to find and connect with professionals in her desired or current industry.

Behaviour: Claire has a few years of work experience and is proactive in networking with colleagues within her industry. As a millennial, she is focused on career growth and development.

Goal: To build a professional network within her industry and stay informed about industry trends and opportunities.

Pain Point: Faces challenges in finding industry peers and keeping up with industry trends.

Behaviour: Frank frequently shares his work experiences and insights on processes and frameworks. He values staying updated with the latest information in his niche and connecting with like-minded professionals. As a Gen Xer, he is keen on building a strong network of mid-level professionals and business executives.

Goal: To connect with peers and industry leaders, and stay current with trends and developments in his field.

Pain Point: Struggles with personal branding and effectively leveraging social media for professional purposes.

Behaviour: Mark is the CEO of his own company and seeks to humanize his business while growing his personal brand. He actively shares his experiences and insights to establish thought leadership. As a Boomer, he focuses on leveraging his extensive experience to provide value to his network.

Goal: To position himself as a thought leader, enhance his personal brand, and share industry insights to influence and inspire others.

Feature Priotisation

Unlike most social media platforms, LinkedIn incorporates features that ensure users can efficiently navigate LinkedIn’s features to enhance their professional networking and career development. Hence I have outline the platform's major features.

Function: Displays updates from connections, followed companies, and groups.

Workflow:

Open LinkedIn and land on the Home feed.

Scroll through posts to view updates, articles, and interactions.

Like, comment, or share posts to engage with content.

Function: Manage and grow your professional network.

Workflow:

Click on "My Network" in the top menu.

View connection requests and suggested connections.

Accept or send connection requests to expand your network.

Function: Share updates, articles, photos, videos, and documents.

Workflow:

Click on the "Start a post" box at the top of the feed.

Write your post, add media, or create a poll.

Click "Post" to share with your network.

Function: Alerts users to important activities and updates.

Workflow:

Click on the bell icon in the top menu.

Review notifications about interactions, mentions, job postings, and more.

Click on notifications to view details or take action.

Function: Search and apply for job opportunities.

Workflow:

Click on the "Jobs" icon in the top menu.

Enter job titles, keywords, or company names to search for jobs.

Apply filters to refine your search and click on job postings to view details.

Click "Apply" to submit your application through LinkedIn or the company's website.

Function: Private messaging between users.

Workflow:

Click on the "Messaging" icon in the top menu.

Select an existing conversation or start a new one.

Type your message and click "Send" to communicate privately.

Function: Personal page showcasing professional background and achievements.

Workflow:

Click on your profile picture or name in the top menu.

Update your profile with new experiences, skills, and endorsements.

Click "Add profile section" to include additional information.

Function: Find people, jobs, companies, groups, and content.

Workflow:

Use the search bar at the top of the page.

Enter keywords, names, or companies to search.

Apply filters to narrow down results and click on items to view details.

How does LinkedIn make money?

They make money through Premium Subscriptions which is known as LinkedIn Premium. LinkedIn premium consists of several packages depending on the user’s interest. If you're a personal user and upgrade, you get LinkedIn Career.

LinkedIn Premium: Offers additional features such as InMail credits, advanced search filters, access to LinkedIn Learning courses, and insights on who has viewed your profile. Perfect for entry-level professionals.

Sales Navigator: Aimed at sales professionals, providing advanced tools for lead generation and relationship building. Perfect for business executives.

Recruiter: Targeted at hiring managers and recruiters, offering advanced search capabilities and access to a larger pool of candidates.

Career: Tailored for job seekers/entry-level professionals with features to help them get hired faster, such as resume insights and applicant insights.

Advertising:

Are their specific problems currently on LinkedIn and how can they be solved? List pain points

Entry level jobseekers find it impossible to continue afford premium features for access to verified jobs.

The InMail message is a clone of cold emailing. Marketers know that cold calling is a numbers games. One chooses to either message 5 different people or one person 5 times. Emailing 5 recruiters per month is likely not going to yield any tangible feedback or lead to 5 job offers. Basically a half baked paid offering.

To see who viewed my profile is a vanity metrics that people shouldn't have to pay for. Users may be curious to know who viewed their profile but it is just not enough information to be relied on.

Use regional pricing to make costs fit better for different areas leading to increased sales in poorer regions.

Let each premium user send 2 messages to same individual and allow 10 InMails to 10 different people leading to increase app activity and user satisfaction.

Show how someone found your profile (Google search, profile link, LinkedIn search keyword).

Show which search keywords brought people to your profile and the frequency.

Provide detailed analytics to see which parts/sections of your profile were viewed.