LinkedIn, launched in 2003, is the world's largest professional social network, with over 75 million members globally. The document outlines LinkedIn's challenges in attracting college students, competition with other networks, future goals for user value, and a creative strategy to emphasize its exclusivity and benefits over casual social platforms. Campaign components involve integration with other social media, partnerships with job sites, and a budget plan to enhance visibility and effectiveness while measuring success through user engagement and member growth.

1. LinkedInGet In or Get OutLindsay Kwaselow

2. Client History & OverviewLaunched May 5, 2003 and is now the world’s Largest Professional Social Network and is free to join. 2008 LinkedIn gains applications, with initial partners including Amazon, Google, Wordpress, Twitter, Slideshare and more. By 2009 LinkedIn reached 40 million membersCurrently, LinkedIn has over 75 million members in over 200 countries.A new member joins about every second and about half of members are outside the USAll executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.What is LinkedIn? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlUwwgOfKw&feature=player_embedded

3. Current Challenges Getting college students to join before they become professionalsCompetition with other social networks (Facebook’s professional intrigue) How to take executives and professionals and make them more effective through enhanced communication.Leverage knowledge and reputations of professionals to help othersEncouraging current users to maximize their LinkedIn usage and add value to their profiles

4. Future GoalsGetting value for the end user (finding high value responses for job seekers and employers) Localizing resources to find prospects as quickly and efficiently as possible in one areaEliminating technological malfunction, enhancing speedSeparating LinkedIn from other social networks as a business focused network, rather than a casual family and friends network

5. Creative StrategyLinkedIn: Get In or Get Out A slogan that will suggest exclusivity and a network with efficient resources not available in other social media networks, i.e. a disadvantage to non-members.Target MarketConcentration on new college graduates as well as currents students Older professionals that are unaware of social networking capabilities and older generations that may not be as technologically-advanced. ObjectivesWe want to get people to notice LinkedIn’s simplicity and value compared to other social networks and to stress that it is the ONLY professional network intended for business use.Highlight the exclusivity of the site, and reiterate that there is no other social network like itUtilize other social networks and partnerships with career locating sites to gain awareness and popularity

6. Campaign ThemeVisuals Are you ?GetOr Get Out.

7. Key Campaign ComponentsIntegration with other social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook)Facebook/Twitter Integration: Establish a strong social media team that will produce valuable effects and improve existing profiles (i.e. tweeting about partnerships and connections LinkedIn helped to create) Partnerships with other online job searching communities such as Monster, CareerBuilders.com, collegegrad.com, job.com etc. Links on college academic department resources (Such as My Spartan Career)

8. Key Campaign ComponentsPromoting on college websitesLinkedIn BlogsHire a team of professional writers who are already recognized in the web community that can create a good voice for the LinkedIn blog that will give followers a daily “tip” or “update” to help users enhance their LinkedIn experience. This will give them a reason to update their user profiles and update connections.Bloggers will also inform users how to get the most out of LinkedIn and should feature videos and links elaborating on LinkedIn capabilities. Web Banners containing campaign slogan and taglinesBanners should be placed on sites such as facbook, twitter, career finder sites previously listed, college home pages, and websites commonly visited by older generations, such as google, AARP, and newssites such as the New York Times and other daily online news outlets.

9. Evaluation StrategyMethods for measuring success: Evaluation of new members added during the peaks of the campaign in relation to past percentagesA quarterly questionnaire designed for users with an added incentive designed to determine why and how they chose to join LinkedIn to help determine which online strategies are most beneficial (i.e. blogs, web banners, partnership links, etc.)Reports from google, facebook, and twitter to determine how often ads were clicked on and in return LinkedIn will feature ads from these sites

10. Budget & Timeline BudgetSalaries for professional blog writers (30% of budget)Salaries for social media ads (20% of budget)Google web banners (limited costs, only pay when people click on your ad) (30% of budget)Creative team expenses and salaries (20% of budget)TimelineMarch: Begin ad campaign during late winter and early spring to attract college students beginning to search the career market or find a summer job. May-August: Concentration in summer months to help motivate people to be active in the professional world during the yearSeptember: Also run campaign prior to the winter for seasonal positions such as extra needed help during holidays

11. RationaleWhy will this campaign work?There will be teams of creative minds developed to focus on specific areas who will ultimately collaborate as a whole to spread awareness, gain membership, and encourage use of LinkedIn. Each team will have a goal that they will solely focus on (i.e. to write an SEO blog, or perfect LinkedIn’s facebook pages) A strong slogan and a unifying theme are keys to success for any campaign. As long as people are quick to recognize the LinkedIn logo and as long as the ads from this campaign are featured in as many online outlets as possible, we know we have successfully done our job.