scheck+strategy+report

TO: Proximity Social Networking Team FROM: Alex Scheck DATE: Jan. 6, 2010 SUBJECT: LinkedIn strategy analysis

Here is my LinkedIn strategy analysis. Although it dominates the professional-oriented social networking site market, LinkedIn's demographic is predominately Gen-X. LinkedIn must find ways to appeal to Gen-Y to solidify its future dominance in this market.

LinkedIn is a business-based social networking site that helps professionals communicate and find jobs. It was founded in 2003 by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly, and Konstantin Guericke; it made its IPO the same year. LinkedIn is based in Mountain View, California. Its CEO is Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn, 2010).
 * Profile**

LinkedIn's revenue comes from two sources:
 * users paying a membership fee for premium accounts, and
 * investments from venture capital companies and individual investors (LinkedIn, 2010).

LinkedIn currently has over 55 million members in over 200 different countries, up from 33 million at the end of 2008 (LinkedIn, 2010). Its revenue for 2009 is not readily available because it is a private corporation. However, LinkedIn has an expected revenue of $205 million for 2010 (Garland, 2009).


 * Competitive Landscape**

The primary forces driving LinkedIn's market are:


 * __ members __ - LinkedIn's success depends on the size of its membership. LinkedIn relies on its current users to attract more users in the future.


 * __Xing__ - Xing is LinkedIn's primary competitor, based in Hamburg, Germany. Launched in 2003, Xing has 8.3 million members but is available in 16 different languages. LinkedIn is only available in English, French, Spanish, and German; giving Xing a significant advantage in the global market. Xing's revenue for //QI - QIII// in 2008 was $36.15 million, while LinkedIn's was estimated at $17 million (Everitt-Carlson, 2010).


 * LinkedIn's Business Strategy**

LinkedIn recently unveiled a new user interface. Its navigation bar has been reorganized to be easier for users. LinkedIn benefits from added white space, making advertisements more noticeable (Perez, 2009). Some analysts claim its simplicity allows the new interface to perform faster than its predecessor (Schaffer, 2009).

On Dec. 28, 2009, LinkedIn released version 3.0 of its iPhone app. The new app improves over the previous version with a nicer menu and larger buttons. An "In Person" button makes exchanging contact information easier by using the iPhone's Bluetooth capabilities (Seigler, 2009).

Also, LinkedIn recently opened a satellite headquarters in the Netherlands; the country with its highest number of members after the United States. Already with a branch in the United Kingdom, this is LinkedIn's first branch in continental Europe (Parfeni, 2010).


 * Implications of Strategy for Gen-Y Marketing/Branding**

Gen-X is LinkedIn's current demographic, with 41 as the average age of LinkedIn's users (SlideShare 2008). However, LinkedIn's iPhone app takes advantage of Gen-Y's desire to be constantly connected to others.

LinkedIn's branches in Europe will assist it in global market. However, LinkedIn needs to make their site available in more languages in order to expand its user base. __Reference__

Everitt-Carlson, D. (2010, Jan. 4) Xing vs. LinkedIn: Round II - a Macro to Micro and back to Macro Again Overview. //The Wild East Dailies//. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2010 from http://wildwildeastdailies.blogspot.com/2010/01/xing-vs-linkedin-round-ii-macro-to.html.

Garland, R. (2009, Nov. 24) Numbers Games: Putting A Price On Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. //Wall Street Journal//. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2010 from http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/11/24/numbers-games-putting-a-price-on-twitter/.

Google Finance. (2010, Jan.) LinkedIn. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2010 from http://www.google.com/finance?q=linkedin.

LinkedIn. (2010 Jan.) About Us. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2010 from http://press.linkedin.com/about.

Parfeni, L. (2010 Jan. 6). LinkedIn Sets Up Its First Outpost in Mainland Europe. //Softpedia//. Retrieved Jan. 10, 2010 from http://news.softpedia.com/news/LinkedIn-Sets-Up-Its-First-Outpost-in-Mainland-Europe-131315.shtml.

Perez, S. (2009 Nov. 6). LinkedIn Reveals New Look, Better Navigation. //Read Write Web//. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2010 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/linkedin_reveals_new_look_better_navigation.php.

Schaffer, N. (2009 Dec. 24). What's Missing Here? A Detailed Analysis of the New LinkedIn User Interface. //Windmill Networking//. Retrieved Jan. 8 2010 from http://windmillnetworking.com/2009/12/24/whats-missing-here-a-detailed-analysis-of-the-new-linkedin-user-interface/.

Siegler, M.G. (2009 Dec. 28). LinkedIn Polishes Its iPhone App Into A More Facebook-like Gem. //TechCrunch//. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2010 from http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/28/linkedin-iphone-app/.

SlideShare. (2008 June). LinkedIn Demographic Data Jun08. Retrieved Jan. 10, 2010 from http://www.slideshare.net/erickschonfeld/linkedin-demographic-data-jun08-presentation.

Wikipedia. (2010, Jan. 6). LinkedIn. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedIn.