My Linked-In Makeover and the Importance of Targeting Content

Our wonderful intern Sonia has been working with the team to optimize our Linked-In profiles. This is part of an effort to better connect with our target audience and deliver the content we are creating for OpenView Venture Partners as part of our content marketing strategy.

I have to admit that initially I was skeptical of this exercise and was not sure that I wanted to tie in my blog posts, Twitter, SlideShare and additional groups to my personal page. I have become wary of shameless self-promoters in this social media fueled era and I believe it is essential that marketers target their content appropriately. I sat for a long time and debated what content would be relevant to my Linked-In connections and what content would be a bit too much — an exercise we should all perform when broadcasting information to our networks.

It is essential that content is targeted to the appropriate audience and it is equally important for marketers to recognize that audiences differ across platforms. For example, the majority of my followers on Twitter are marketers or those interested in marketing for expansion stage companies. However, my Facebook network consists of my friends, who are largely uninterested in marketing. While my Facebook friends may be interested to know what concert I am attending this weekend, they would not be as excited to read posts relating to expansion capital.

Though some content would apply to both audiences, the majority of it does not…which leads me to this week’s questions:

Where does Linked-In fall for you? What is the appropriate content to distribute on each channel?