Catch up with all the new improvements, research, and learning opportunities LinkedIn has coming your way this August. From a Customer Success Certificate to a better Content Search Engine, and a report that linked creativity and better B2B ad performance there is a lot to be curious about. Read below for all the details!
LinkedIn Introduces Improvements for its Content Search Engine
Over the years, LinkedIn has observed a shift towards more sophisticated searches, where users often use natural language phrases like “how to ask for a raise?” or specific concepts like “dropout in AI.” The platform’s traditional search engine, which relied heavily on exact keyword matching, struggled with these complex queries. This often resulted in either no relevant posts being returned or posts that contained the keywords but failed to address the query’s intent. Recognizing this limitation, LinkedIn has improved its search engine by introducing semantic matching capabilities.
The new content search engine is designed to better understand and interpret the context of user queries, allowing it to return more accurate and relevant results. The system features two layers: a retrieval layer and a multi-stage ranking layer. The retrieval layer uses both token-based and embedding-based retrieval methods to select candidate posts from a vast pool of content. The multi-stage ranking layer then scores these posts based on their relevance to the query, considering factors such as post quality, engagement potential, and personalization based on the searcher’s profile.
Source: LinkedIn
This advanced search engine has led to significant improvements in search performance, with on-topic rates and long-dwell times increasing by more than 10%. These enhancements have had a positive impact on user engagement across the platform, as members are more likely to find and interact with relevant content. Looking ahead, LinkedIn plans to further refine its search metrics by evolving the on-topic rate metric and incorporating large language models (LLMs) into the ranking process.
LinkedIn and Churn Zero Offer New Customer Success Certificate
LinkedIn’s Learning Platform has received a new addition thanks to Churn Zero. The Customer Success Foundations certificate is aimed at both early-career Customer Success (CS) professionals and seasoned experts looking to refine their practices. This Professional Certificate covers core CS skills, including customer rapport building, onboarding best practices, customer journey mapping, and leading customer success initiatives.
Source: ChurnZero
ChurnZero, founded in 2015, is a leading platform dedicated to Customer Success, helping subscription businesses grow and succeed at scale. The company joins other prominent brands like Microsoft, Twilio, and Zendesk in endorsing LinkedIn Learning’s offerings. According to You Mon Tsang, CEO and co-founder of ChurnZero, “Customer success teams are on their way to becoming the most sophisticated, impactful departments in SaaS companies, and they’re hungry for training opportunities.”
This partnership addresses the growing need for specialized training, as ChurnZero’s research has identified a significant skills gap in CS teams, especially in areas such as analytics, strategy, and operational leadership—all of which are thoroughly covered in the LinkedIn Learning certificate.
LinkedIn Links Creativity and B2B Ad Performance
In their recent 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark report, produced in partnership with Ipsos, LinkedIn has highlighted the importance of creative tactics for B2B Ads. According to the research nearly 90% of CMOs advocate for more creative campaigns, and 67% are increasing budgets for brand-building efforts. This shift toward creativity is proving beneficial, with notable improvements in brand engagement, Share of Voice, and media coverage.
Inspired by that the professional platform together with MAGNA Media Trials surveyed over 1,700 LinkedIn users for new research – The B2B Renessaince Drivers of B2B Ad Effectiveness. Its main goal is to uncover to how creativity can help support both brand and bottom-line growth.
- Both display and video B2B ads on LinkedIn effectively improve brand opinions, favorability, intent, and purchase consideration.
- B2B ads often underwhelm decision-makers, lacking humor, emotional appeal, relatable characters, and unique perspectives.
- Creativity is lacking across all industry verticals, with business decision-makers rarely seeing creative B2B ads, regardless of the sector.
- More creative ads drive interest and action, encouraging next steps and personal connections with purchasing decision-makers.
- Creative ads significantly boost brand consideration, with decision-makers being 40% more likely to consider purchasing from brands with creative ads.
Creative B2B ads achieve higher engagement, leading to longer view times (+24 seconds) and more likes (+21) compared to average ads.
Source: The B2B Renaissance, MAGNA Media Trials x LinkedIn, 2024
The key takeaway is clear: B2B brands need to move beyond a focus on functionality and embrace creativity to build emotional connections with their audience. By doing so, they can create more impactful ads that resonate deeply with decision-makers and drive better outcomes on platforms like LinkedIn.
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