Starting April 14, 2014 LinkedIn will be eliminating an important section of company profiles on LinkedIn. Learn more about this change and how businesses can respond and optimize!

1. 5555EVANBURENSTREETNo.
215PHOENIX,AZ850084805054500OFFMADISONAVE.COM
1
LinkedIn Updates and Showcase Pages
March 2014
Overview
LinkedIn has recently updated its social media platform by allowing longer form publishing and
releasing Showcase pages. The new longer form publishing allows businesses and users to
utilize LinkedIn to create content similar to blog posts, which will appear within the company or
individual’s profile, similar to a post.
Showcases have also been added as well, which add a new dynamic to the LinkedIn
experience by allowing businesses to create specific pages for certain aspects of its brands,
replacing the “Products & Services” tab.
Content Overview and How Clients Can Use It
The company recently launched its publishing platform as a tool aimed at social influencers on
the website, but is now opening it to all users over the next few months. The new update will
allow users to create content similar to blogs onto their pages. Everybody, even those not in
the user’s network, will be able to follow the blog if they choose.
Rather than linking to a separate blog within a status update, users can instead post the blog
on the site, keeping people on LinkedIn, which may increase the visibility of content. When the
post is created, the content is part of the profile page and is shared with its professional
network.

2. 5555EVANBURENSTREETNo.
215PHOENIX,AZ850084805054500OFFMADISONAVE.COM
2
Unfortunately, this product is not yet open to everyone. As of February 2014, more than 25,000
members have access, mostly frequent users of the site. To obtain access to the publishing
tool, users must request it on the website.
When users have obtained access to the publishing platform, they can then create longer
published posts, which can include an image. The content can be simple posts or even lists.
The posts also have a comment section, allowing other users to interact.
Best Practices for Longer Publishing
These longer posts should be treated similar to a blog and offer content relevant to the
community. Most users with access to the tool are already influencers on the site, and use the
platform to post advice, news or general interest topics for their followers. The posts could be
from other blogs, but should also include original content for the page.
Because the product is so new to the platform, it is highly recommended to embrace earlier
rather than later when it becomes much more popular.

3. 5555EVANBURENSTREETNo.
215PHOENIX,AZ850084805054500OFFMADISONAVE.COM
3
How Showcases Work
The Showcases feature was created as an extension to a company’s page in order to spotlight
different aspects of a brand, business unit or initiative. These were created as a way for
popular aspects of a company to have its own pages for followers to interact with, and can be
found on the company’s LinkedIn profile.
Each Showcase page then has its own, smaller profile, allowing users to follow different
aspects of the brand. Microsoft, for example, has separate pages for Office, Bing, Visio and
other areas of the company.

4. 5555EVANBURENSTREETNo.
215PHOENIX,AZ850084805054500OFFMADISONAVE.COM
4
Users can specifically follow Showcase pages from the company, as opposed to a primary
page. This allows the brand to better connect with its audience by post content specifically to
their interests.
How our Clients Can Use Showcase and Best Practices
It is important to only create Showcases based on aspects of a brand that can produce a
decent amount of content that users will find valuable over time. It is not necessary to create
Showcases for all aspects of the brand, as that content may be more suitable and effective on
the main page. In fact, it may not even be necessary to create a Showcase page at all,
depending on whether the company has utility in the feature. Many larger brands on the
website still do not utilize this option, possibly because they feel they can better express their
brand with one main page.
Each showcase must feature its own content to make it specific for the part of the business.
Showcases can also be broad in definition. For example, an agency may have a creative
Showcase that features both print and video, while having a separate digital Showcase page.
How these pages are used can be up to the company, but it is important to understand
whether a page is needed. As of April 14, 2014, the “Products & Services” tab on the primary
LinkedIn company page will no longer be available. LinkedIn recommends all brands that use
this functionality save this information, including recommendations that may have been tied to
a specific product or service, prior to this date.
Off Madison Ave helps clients to make the most of all social media efforts, including those on
LinkedIn. For more information on how we can help make your social media perform for your
company, get in touch with us today.