Is Linked In Premium Worth the Money for Small Businesses?

My last article was about whether LinkedIn Premium was worth the money to job seekers.

My conclusion was that it was not.

However, I did say I would evaluate LinkedIn Premium for small businesses next and that’s the purpose of this article.

There are two LinkedIn Premium plans available that I consider suitable for small businesses.

These are:

1. Business Plus 
2. Sales Navigator Professional 

Naturally, there’s a price difference as of this date:

1. Business Plus costs $59.99 per month or $575.88 for an annual purchase with a 20% discount
2. Sales Navigator Professional costs $79.99 per month or $779.88 for an annual purchase with a 20% discount

Let’s talk about the benefits of both plans.

For Business Plus these are:

1. 15 InMails per month to which I say so what?  I know Premium users who refuse to answer these.
2. Who’s viewed your profile for the last 90 days can be a useful feature for small businesses unlike for job seekers.  I’ve met people who have gotten billable work by using this feature.
3. Unlimited profile search can be a useful feature if you have the volume.  (Although, it wasn’t all that long ago that this used to be free!)
4. Advanced search with advanced search filters can be useful if you have the volume.

For Sales Navigator Professional these are:

1. There’s those 15 InMails per month again!  Have you ever received any?  I sure haven’t!
2. Enhanced who’s viewed your profile for the last 90 days but it’s still only for 90 days and how much more can they enhance it?
3. Unlimited profile search, again a useful feature if you have the volume.
4. Real-time sales intelligence whatever that means.
5. Advanced search with Lead Builder sounds useful.
6. Lead recommendation and saved leads could be useful as well.

One point before I make my recommendation.

I’ve approached this article as a prospective customer not as an official application reviewer.

I base my observations on what LinkedIn’s pages say and what I’ve learned from other social media professionals.

Truthfully, LinkedIn could be more information onto their web pages.

I didn’t mean to be flip with some of my comments above but I didn’t get too much to go on.

Even a cursory Google search didn’t give me a lot more.

If anyone from LinkedIn reads this review (Hope springs eternal!) I recommend more substance on your website.

Now to my recommendation!

Despite my comments above concerning LinkedIn’s website and my negative recommendation for job seekers, LinkedIn Premium accounts for small businesses can be worthwhile under the right conditions.

What are those right conditions?

Glad you asked, here they are:

1. You have the requisite volumes, in other words, you’ve maxed out your free account.
2. You’ll use the Premium account religiously on a daily basis.  (Like those gym memberships you all have?)
3. You’ll monitor your use and ensure that you’re at least breaking even after a set period of time.

Here’s a few suggestions on how to go about starting with Premium accounts:

1. Start with the LinkedIn free account and only consider going Premium when the former’s limitations are slowing you down.  (I still use a free account and will for a while longer.)
2. Business Plus should be your next step after a free account.
3. Only go to Sales Navigator Professional when you’ve exhausted all that Business Plus has to offer.
4. Make optimal use of the free 30 day trial periods to ensure the cost is worth it.  (In other words, approach the trial period with a plan to use all the features.)
5. Check with other users who have worked with these plans.  Two good Twitter Chats where you can meet such people are:
   1. #linkedinchat hosted by Viveka von Rosen every Tuesday night at 8:00PM EST
   2. #socialsales hosted by Brynne Tillman every Monday night at 8:00pM EST
6. Make sure you have a good social media program in place for your business.

Good luck with Premium if you go that way and please drop back to share your experiences if you do!

That’s it for now!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have.  I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

Remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me.  Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.

I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.

My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.

Stay well!