• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

The Social Media Hat

Always On Top Of Social

  • Home
  • Social Media Articles
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • Social Media Resources
  • Social Media Tools
  • GET HELP
  • Search
  • Home
  • Social Media Articles
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • Social Media Resources
  • Social Media Tools
  • GET HELP
  • Search

LinkedIn Congratulatory Email – Brilliant or Brainless?

You are here: Home / Social Media Articles / LinkedIn Congratulatory Email – Brilliant or Brainless?

February 12, 2013 //  by Mike Allton

Reading Time: 2 minutes

You may have received or read about the emails that LinkedIn is sending out. To “celebrate” reaching 200 million members, LinkedIn has sent a series of emails out to select members, congratulating them on an achievement and thanking them for helping to build LinkedIn to what it is today.

This morning, I received mine, with LinkedIn congratulating me for being in the top 1% of profiles viewed. I assume the same exact message was sent to me and 2 million other LinkedIn users. I do know that other people have received emails that were somewhat different, so “profile views” was not the only category, and the percentages varied.

If you click the Read More button, you end up on a LinkedIn page with a nice letter from Deep Nishar, Senior Vice President, Products & User Experience. The page includes a pre-written post that you can share to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook mentioning your new-found fame.

To most observers, this is a simple email marketing campaign, perhaps as a response to recent statistics indicating LinkedIn’s monthly activity is not nearly as high as other social networks. Kred issued a similar campaign recently to users who had hit 1%, 5% and 10% levels.

As a marketing technique, I find this interesting. LinkedIn has obviously decided to stroke my ego a little bit, but they’re not inherently asking for anything in return. They’ve provided me with some canned messages for social media which, presumably, would advertise LinkedIn a little bit to those I’m connected to.

So, LinkedIn gets to create a little buzz, generates some immediate activity, and potentially makes some users feel special. Is this a good long-term marketing strategy?

Buzz is obviously very short-term. No one is going to be talking about their “achievement” for long. It’s also not the kind of topic that could even potentially expand beyond the initial individual. I dutifully tweeted the message LinkedIn provided, and I’m sure some of my Twitter followers noted it. I have not, however, received any retweets or favorites, and don’t expect to. Since there’s very little context with this 1% number, why should anyone else care?

Some recipients may have logged into their LinkedIn accounts to consider their profiles and maybe even look at the people who have been looking at their profile. Some people who saw the tweets and Facebook posts from recipients might have logged into LinkedIn to see what’s up. But again, once the “buzz” dies down, all that gained activity will have plateaued.

LinkedIn Profile StrengthPerhaps most troubling is the idea that LinkedIn was making an effort to stroke my ego. This is a dangerous technique for marketers. If you’re not careful, your users will come to expect this special treatment, and then what happens if you stop? This is actually nothing new from LinkedIn. Take a look at your profile and look at the right sidebar. The old profile completeness percentage has been replaced with a graphic that describes your profile. Apparently, I am a LinkedIn All Star, at least according to my profile gauge. i know people personally who are far better and more advanced at LinkedIn than I am, so I honestly question the validity of this label. And again, there’s no context. How is this label measured? What exactly makes my profile an All Star?

It seems to me that, while well-intentioned, this is yet another “scheme” from LinkedIn to try and boost their numbers. I would much prefer to spend more time on developing and improving the platform. What do you think? Was this a brilliant marketing move, or just another brainless ploy to increase activity?

Related

Category: Social Media ArticlesTag: Email Marketing, LinkedIn

About Mike Allton

Mike Allton is a Content Marketing Practitioner – a title he invented to represent his holistic approach to content marketing that leverages blogging, social media, email marketing and SEO to drive traffic, generate leads, and convert those leads into sales. He is an award-winning Blogger, Speaker, and Author, and Brand Evangelist at Agorapulse.

Mike has partnered with Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, Amanda Robinson and Eric Butow to write Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing published by Entrepreneur Press.

Join The Community!

Thousands of other businesses and bloggers get the latest social media insights and ideas.


Previous Post: « How to Turn Off Social Media Spam
Next Post: Getting Started in Social Media Series, Part Four: Storify »

Primary Sidebar

Mike Allton is a Content Marketing Practitioner – a title he invented to represent his holistic approach to content marketing that leverages blogging, social media, email marketing and SEO to drive traffic, generate leads, and convert those leads into sales. He is an award-winning Blogger, Speaker, and Author, and Brand Evangelist at Agorapulse.

Reserve Your Copy

Reserve your copy of Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing by Eric Butow, Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, Amanda Robinson and Mike Allton. Available here.

Plan To Succeed

Social Media Planner for Social Media Success

Grab your copy of the Social Media Planner, today!

Join The Mastermind

Want access to experts and live video training for just a few bucks a month?

The 360 Marketing Squad is a private Facebook Group featuring 4 of the industry’s top minds, covering every aspect of online marketing, and costs just $5/month to join. Learn more.

Footer

Recent Posts

  • 5 Dizzying Changes To Twitter Already In 2021
  • Top 10 Reasons Not To Miss This Summit
  • Instagram Trust Score: What It Is and How to Improve It
  • Agorapulse To Host Premiere Online Marketing Event
  • 10 Light Years Ago
  • We Whisper Too Quietly on Social Media
  • The Social Media Job Hazard No One Is Talking About
  • 15 Newsletters To Level Up Your Marketing, And You!

Key Topics

Agorapulse Apps Bing Blab Blogging Buffer Business Canva Content Marketing Easil Email Marketing Evernote Facebook Facebook Groups Gmail Google+ Holidays Hootsuite Influencer Marketing Infograph Instagram Klout Link Building LinkedIn Live Video Marketing Meerkat Mobile MySpace Pinterest ROI SEO SnapChat Social Media Marketing Social Pulse Summit Strategy Tailwind Triberr Tumblr Twitter Video Vine Yahoo Yelp YouTube
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • About The Social Media Hat
  • Social Media Planner
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure

Site Footer

  • Social Media Articles
  • Digital Marketing
  • Social Media Tools
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 The Social Media Hat · All Rights Reserved