5 ways LinkedIn will rule the world

The LinkedIn brand is growing, as it is secretly redefining professional connection, creating next-gen marketing tools, and attracting a younger generation of users.

Until a few days ago, I wondered what value LinkedIn had for all the students who were being told to create LinkedIn profiles just because they should. Now, high school students can signup for an account on LinkedIn (see my point below), search the schools that they’re interested in attending, and instantly see where alumni is working, what skills graduates take away, and what they are doing for a living. And for eager high school students, they can even filter  the school’s alumni network to contact or connect with specific alumni to ask them questions about their post-secondary experience. Here’s INSEAD’s University Page as a great example.

Mashable recently posted that the incoming generation of teenagers are not on Facebook. They’re on Instagram. Regardless of Facebook owning Instagram, having a family of brands see growth of one demographic in one brand and loss of the same demographic in another is operational failure. But why is this happening to teens? Blame social media in it’s whole. A flurry of rapid-sourced information may now be too much for them to handle. Facebook’s multitude of features is keeping them out, and Instagram’s simplicity is keeping them in. Are the same teenagers who use Instagram going to signup for LinkedIn? No, but the ones who are going to be the thought leaders of tomorrow will, and they will continue to build the legacy of LinkedIn’s brand.

Why waste your time searching for relevant business development contacts through Google when you can see a list of contacts matching search criteria on LinkedIn in seconds. Smart B2B marketers are already using LinkedIn as their primary business development and sales platform. If not already, expect LinkedIn’s marketing services to overtake their recruiting products in the  future very soon.

Group moderators, join requests, and an educated audience on LinkedIn is creating a haven for industry thought leaders around the world. Expect LinkedIn to become the new Wikipedia for white papers. Academic journals and databases have been given a run for their money.

Facebook was created by a Harvard student who wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do in his life. The founding team behind LinkedIn are experienced engineers, venture capitalists, and business development gurus who set out to fill in the negative space of their industry – a social network for connection leveraging professionals. LinkedIn’s C-level team understands all the problems they were facing in their industry, and is putting function ahead of form, whereas many other apps and networks are doing the opposite. Function wins in the long run.

Follow Michael Cacho on Twitter.