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I decided I’m going to crowdsource all my important decisions. I’m being serious. (Read: no I’m not being serious).
LinkedIn’s “Career Pages” were brought to my attention (here).
Tldr: for companies looking to hire, it’s the souped up Company Page that promises to be an employer brand home run. They’ve got all sort of numbers around how their value add service will pay off:
“Candidates are 1.8x more likely to apply for a job if they’re familiar with the company.”
“Customers...are seeing a 3.2x lift in InMail acceptance rate from members viewing their Career Page?”
I can’t argue against the numbers as presented. But the real question is: doesn’t effective employer branding accomplish the same goal? Are the companies seeing the benefit less sophisticated in their content strategy and using it as a quick fix?
And I don’t mean to pick on LinkedIn. They’re not alone. Glassdoor and Built In have their premium services, too. Hiring aside, the product world has plenty of similar services too - G2, Clutch, Product Hunt, etc.
The premium model is how a lot of these companies make money. It’s easy to see why: the changes can be tens of thousands of dollars. (The prices are often gated by the ‘contact sales’ button but that’s another rant entirely.)
If you’re seeing the return, then the ROI is worth it. But here’s where I get hung up: I’ve literally never heard someone say “I’m so glad we upgraded our LinkedIn/Glassdoor/Built In! It totally paid off!”
And my job is talking to HR peeps all day. You'd think I'd hear that a few times...
Don’t get it twisted: I LOVE review and community sites. Big fan of all the places I listed. Glassdoor’s reviews are incredibly accurate, based upon what I hear from people.
My hot take: premium upgrades make more sense for companies that don’t know what the hell they're doing. The money you’d sink into these would be better spent beefing up your content game elsewhere. If you already have an effective strategy, it’s absolutely a waste.
Am I wrong? (Pls respond, I don’t actually know.)
Back to my decision-making. I’m looking into this today. What does the crowd have to say about it? (Click to vote)
You can follow me on LinkedIn here. Join the discussion on this LinkedIn post (or give it a 👍) here.