LinkedIn is On Fire with Influencers and CEOs Revolutionizing their Brands!

Marketing specialist Zain Kahn says he earns more than $1 million a year in advertising revenue, largely thanks to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers.

However, he does not offer products to his fans on TikTok and Instagram. Kahn belongs to a new generation of “influencers” on a completely different platform: LinkedIn.

Kahn has gained 772,000 followers on the site in about a year. He doesn’t make money directly from LinkedIn, but primarily uses it to promote his AI newsletter, which attracts advertisers. “The audience on LinkedIn is much more valuable than those on other platforms,” ​​he says.

The Microsoft-owned professional networking platform, once a home exclusively for job searching and networking, has been overrun by many of its 930 million users sharing career-focused, often aspirational content. , hoping to gain a large number of followers.

Initially, the realm of select business tycoons like Richard Branson, lesser-known marketers, tech entrepreneurs, and even creatives like American rapper Snoop Dogg are now trying to take advantage of the platform.

Its success in attracting a large following has caught the attention of some high-profile CEOs, who are now also trying to build personal brands on the platform and raise the profile of their businesses.

Building an audience takes you from a point where you’re chasing opportunities to where they’re chasing you.

“We get tons of questions about how can I, as a C-suite leader, present myself in a way that brings a halo to my company.” says Dan Shapero, COO of LinkedIn. “There is a growing demand for advice. . . “Executives are recognizing that their company’s brand often has a lot to do with how they are seen.”

A market has emerged to help, with consultants, agencies, in-house advisors and public relations specialists advising CEOs on how to leverage LinkedIn.

Craig Mullaney, a partner at media relations firm Brunswick Group, says LinkedIn has proven to be the most powerful communication channel for some of the CEOs he works with. “In a crisis, that’s often the time when it’s most difficult for the CEO to get his point across, especially if the media doesn’t agree with his perspective. So [LinkedIn] It acts as a direct channel to its employees and investors.”

Last year, for example, when an employee mass shooting took place at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, targeting his colleagues, the retailer’s CEO Doug McMillon took to LinkedIn offer support to those affected and reassure staff.

Another benefit of having a platform on LinkedIn is the ability to attract staff. According to a 2022 report from Brunswick, when applicants research a company they might join, they first look at the company’s website and then the CEO’s LinkedIn page.

Creating a profile on the platform is easier thanks to the relatively small number of “influencers” (aka creators), which makes it less competitive. At the same time, the user base is compromised. “No one is ever going to challenge LinkedIn because our entire network is there,” says Lou Paskalis, an advertising veteran and CEO of AJL Advisory.

While CEOs’ main goal on LinkedIn is to build their corporate image, the influencers they turn to for advice are turning the platform into a livelihood, monetizing audiences indirectly through brand deals and conferences, endorsed newsletters for advertising and courses.

Kahn, who calls himself “The AI ​​Guy,” shares practical advice, often in list form, on how professionals can take advantage of new AI trends and tools. One of his most popular posts, “15 Powerful ChatGPT Prompts to Save You 15 Hours a Week,” has garnered over 15,000 likes and hundreds of other comments and posts.

One of the reasons you choose LinkedIn is the user profile. On X, formerly Twitter, its audience tends to be younger and less professional. But on LinkedIn, “they reach a certain income threshold, so they have purchasing power and they also make decisions,” he says. “Building an audience takes you from a point where you’re chasing opportunities to where they’re chasing you.”

For baseball player-turned-entrepreneur Sahil Bloom, LinkedIn is also the biggest source of subscribers to his newsletter, which earns between $60,000 and $70,000 a month from advertising. He also generates leads for his other businesses, which include a personal branding and web design agency.

“LinkedIn is in the early stages of realizing its power as a social network,” Bloom says.

For those seeking internet fame without the trolling and vitriol that often accompanies it, LinkedIn offers a safer space than rivals like X, according to users.

Bloom says, “As someone who prides herself on growing her platform by sharing positive content and not stoking negativity, anger or controversy, I find this particularly compelling.”

Gretchen Rubin, a bestselling author who writes about self-management and careers, has nearly 3 million followers on the platform, but says she has “never been attacked or had a negative experience like that.” She describes the platform as “a great free resource” for her work and adds: “I feel like the world is my research assistant.”

Still, LinkedIn isn’t for everyone. Some complain that it lacks user experience as well as analytics capabilities, while it is home to sophisticated scammers, leading to warnings from the FBI.

Meanwhile, the tendency of some users to post glowing corporate speeches and motivational mantras has drawn criticism that it is the social media embodiment of “toxic positivity”.

A popular formula has emerged whereby users describe how they overcame adversity and found success, often with a pithy, inspirational send-off, prompting satirical covers from comedians and mockery from X accounts such as “The State of LinkedIn “. Users on a Reddit forum dedicated to “unbearable” LinkedIn content took issue with Snoop Dogg’s release on the platform.

No one will ever challenge LinkedIn because our entire network is there.

LinkedIn, which grew revenue 8 percent this year, is encouraging creators. It has been adding new capabilities and formats such as audio, live video and newsletters. It has a news and creator team, led by former Fortune managing editor Dan Roth, consisting of more than 200 journalists and editors who help promote and curate a source of professional conversations.

Recently, it started an initiative that uses AI to generate talking points and then asks relevant experts to add their own comments and contributions.

“What’s really unique about LinkedIn is that it has an editorial function,” Mullaney says. “When an executive has news that’s important to hear, if he’s working with LinkedIn and the editorial team, there are all kinds of levers the team can pull to generate real reach.” He cites examples like putting creators in recommendations, push notifications, and the news tab.

Other users, like clothing designer Jason Mayden, applaud the platform for promoting diversity and Black entrepreneurs where others have failed.

“I discovered on LinkedIn that because there is a level of intellect in what I do, the platform allows me to show it and not pigeonhole myself,” says Mayden, one of LinkedIn’s so-called Top Voices, who posts to its 10,000 users. followers about her creative process and professional career. “[With] On other platforms, you are at the mercy of an algorithm that places you in a certain category.”