As a consultant who has helped dozens of small and medium-sized businesses improve their LinkedIn marketing approach, I can directly attest to LinkedIn‘s incredible power for generating leads, recruiting talent, and elevating brand credibility with the right strategy.
But I‘ve also witnessed businesses waste time and money on LinkedIn by misaligning their activities with the current realities of the platform and its 900+ million users worldwide.
That‘s why, as we head into 2023, I wanted to provide entrepreneurs and marketers the complete, up-to-date data around LinkedIn usage, content best practices, and advertising capabilities – so you can accurately calibrate your efforts to realize results.
Let‘s dive in!
LinkedIn Continues Explosive Growth Despite Platform Maturity
With LinkedIn now over 18 years old, some assume its growth is slowing. But user statistics reveal the opposite:
- LinkedIn added 42 million new users in 2024 alone, its largest ever annual increase
- LinkedIn is projected to cross 1 billion users in late 2023 or early 2024 if growth continues
Driving this growth is strong momentum across emerging international regions like Brazil, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and post-pandemic re-engagement among previously passive users.
For entrepreneurs, LinkedIn‘s relentless user acquisition provides an ever-expanding audience and lower customer acquisition costs over time.
Who‘s on LinkedIn in 2024? Deep Dive into Key Demographics
To best tailor your LinkedIn activities – whether messaging prospects directly or crafting content – it‘s crucial to understand the makeup of LinkedIn‘s user base across age, gender, geography, employment status, seniority level, and other variables.
Let‘s explore the key stats:
Age: LinkedIn Resonates Most with 25-34 Year Old Users
- 59.9% of users are ages 25-34
- 22.9% of users are ages 35-54
- 14.3% are ages 55-64
- Just 2.9% are ages 65+
So while often considered the "professional" social platform, LinkedIn overwhelmingly indexes towards millennials compared to older demographics.
This informs content creation and messaging – young professionals consume differently than CEOs nearing retirement.
Gender: Slight Tilt Towards Male Users
- 57% of users are male
- 43% are female
Though as female membership growth outpaces male growth annually, this gap should continue narrowing.
Employment: Majority Are Full-Time Employed White Collar Professionals
- 72% of users are full-time employed
- 10% are part-time employed
- 5% are students
- 13% are unemployed or otherwise not working
This aligns with LinkedIn‘s professional employer-employee matching functionality. Though note still 10%+ of users are open to job opportunities despite having current part-time roles.
Geography: Widely Distributed Globally Beyond North America
- Just 24% of users are in the United States
- Other top countries include India (21%), China (5.3%), United Kingdom (4.7%), Brazil (4.1%)
So while founded in America and available only in English initially, international adoption now dominates daily active usage. This grants entrepreneurs access to prospects across continents.
Seniority: Majority Are Senior Influencers, Directors and Above
- 65+ million are senior-level Influencers, Directors, CXOs, or business owners
- 33% involved in work purchase decisions
- 55% conduct company research during vendor selection processes
This degree of seniority and purchasing power enables truly targeted lead generation and sales prospecting outreach at scale.
LinkedIn Usage Statistics: Frequency and Duration Trends
Beyond pure user totals and attributes, usage frequency and session duration metrics reveal how deeply ingrained LinkedIn is in professionals‘ routines:
- 61% of users visit LinkedIn daily
- 25% visit weekly
- Just 14% use monthly or less
- Average session duration is 7 minutes 12 seconds
For further context, LinkedIn‘s monthly visitor base now exceeds 760 million – highlighting the huge recurring reach.
Content Marketing on LinkedIn: Crucial Stats to Inform Posting Strategy
I often say: "content is currency" when it comes to social media marketing.
And that maxim especially applies to libraries with extensive professional networks eager for industry knowledge, career advice, and profiles of aspirational thought leaders in their field.
Here are the key content stats that should frame your organic and paid content efforts on LinkedIn:
Post Frequently – Ideal Frequency Levels Revealed
Posting consistently over time is vital to being discovered by new visitors:
- Companies posting 20+ times per month achieve 2X the follower growth rate
- Companies posting 4+ times per week see 2X engagement vs. less frequent posters
- Just 12% of company pages have posted within the past month – so frequent posting instantly stands out!
Article-Style Posts Drive Majority of Engagement
While job listings serve a valuable purpose, visitors rely on LinkedIn primarily for premium written content:
- Articles account for 15X more content impressions than job posts
- How-to and list-based articles see highest engagement
This informs the models to emulate – think blog-style thought leadership over static company descriptors.
Optimize Length For Strong Reader Retention
Contrary to the age of snackable social media, LinkedIn uniquely rewards long-form educational posts:
- 2000+ word articles sustain higher engagement than shorter posts
- Use 5-7 subheaders to chunk long posts into skimmable sections
- List posts formatted with bullet points also perform well
So don‘t shy away from thoroughly exploring topics in a guide-style format – LinkedIn visitors crave depth.
Choose Optimal Multimedia To Enhance Articles
Well-selected images and video boost content visibility and sharing:
- Articles with 8 images receive 400% more views than posts with just 1 image
- Native video is shared 20X more than static images
- But avoid multiple media types in one post – stick with either images or video
In each post ask: what format best enhances and informs this content?
Carefully Target Keywords For Discovery
While LinkedIn‘s feed serves content to engaged connections, keyword targeting expands reach to those searching topics:
- Including 2 relevant hashtags can boost views 50%+
- Feature key phrases in titles and summaries to appear in search
- Tools like Buzzsumo also reveal popular search terms
Borrow from SEO strategies by identifying terms your audience actively looks for.
When To Post on LinkedIn – Optimizing Your Timing
One of my top tips for massively boosting content visibility is posting when your audience is most active on LinkedIn:
- Best individual times are 8-10 AM weekdays when people arrive at work
- Lunch hours (11 AM – 1 PM) also see upticks in engagement
- In terms of days, Wednesdays and Thursdays trend well
The days and hours people are most frequently checking LinkedIn align with periods of highest traffic – so time publishes to coincide with these patterns.
LinkedIn Advertising Continues Strong Growth Trajectory
In addition to organic content distribution via your Company Page and employee accounts, paid advertising allows further amplifying your messaging to highly targeted audiences.
Powering LinkedIn‘s rapidly growing $5+ billion in annual ad revenue:
- 33% increase in purchase intent from Sponsored Content exposure
- 200+ targeting dimensions across demographics, interests, company attributes
- Ad delivery to 13% of global population – exceeding 1.14 billion users!
And the platform offers extensive analytics into content performance and audience segmentation – arming entrepreneurs with data to optimize conversion rates.
Key Takeaways – LinkedIn Delivers Unparalleled B2B Value
I hope exploring the latest platform statistics provides greater clarity on the immense marketing potential LinkedIn holds for your business in 2024.
With over 930 million members – including senior professionals, influencers, and decision-makers across nearly every company worldwide – LinkedIn has truly become the hub for lead generation, recruitment, and thought leadership elevation.
By regularly posting educational and inspiring content, thoughtfully targeting prospects via ads and organic outreach, and joining relevant industry conversations – the opportunities abound for entrepreneurial brands to grow via LinkedIn.
Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance formulating your LinkedIn strategy or have additional questions!
