San Francisco, California–LinkedIn marketers now can better target their audience across the web, thanks to the business-centric networking platform’s new pilot program. The rich treasure trove of data might be initially attractive to advertisers, but to-date, the early stages of the test program, reveal mixed results.
There are several high profile companies participating in the pilot program, such as GroupM’s programmatic-focused agency Xaxis. Another notable participant is data specialist Dstillery. LinkedIn is also giving companies a look at its proprietary ad inventory. Through what the social site calls a “private exchange”, marketers can focus on specific audiences on the networking site. This continues a popular trend in digital advertising.
LinkedIn Marketers Give Mixed Reviews
Though this foray into data releases is new for the company, some advertisers are giving it a thumbs-up, while others are reportedly disappointed. Those not satisfied state the lack of responsiveness of the network’s users as the reason for their disapproval. This is because, though the site is known for being a reliable networking tool, users do not log-in on a regular basis, as consumers do with Facebook and Twitter. The largest social network has stated it too, will begin to offer marketers data which in-part, is based on users’ web surfing habits.
The company recently updated its search features and improved premium member profiles. LinkedIn hit 300 million registered users in late April of this year and released new content marketing tools. In November of last year, it integrated Pulse, which replaced LinkedIn Today. The networking site went live in May 2003, and is estimated to be worth $18 billion.