LinkedIn has made life even easier for creators to build a presence on the platform by adding audio events, an URL in your header and improved discovery of creators.

After launching just over a year ago, LinkedIn has more than 10 million members using Creator Mode and the platform is keen to offer more to keep old users engaged and new ones coming in.

Live Audio events

LinkedIn has been testing audio events since January. According to the platform, trials were a massive success as creators hosted networking events, conversations with industry leaders and office hours.

And that’s one way businesses or marketers could make use of the new feature – by proving your expertise in a specific field, you could show users why they should purchase your product or engage your services.

Devin Skolnick, Senior Product Manager, LinkedIn

“Creators in the beta immediately saw the advantage of having their professional profile connected with the event which increased their credibility, encouraged more attendees, and helped us surface the most relevant events to our members.”

Anyone who has Creator Mode turned on and meets the community policy of being a trustworthy, safe and professional provider of content can access Audio Events.

Good for the brand

LinkedIn says Audio Events is easy to set up:

• • Easy event creation. Click the Event+ icon on the left navigation bar, then click the Event Format dropdown bar and click ‘Audio Event.’ Put in all the details and invite your connections to join!
  • Event notifications. Once you’ve created your event, LinkedIn will automatically notify attendees so they don’t miss a thing.

Auto captioning will make your events accessible and inclusive, and can be turned on by navigating to the three dots in the upper-right corner of the Audio Event window, then click ‘turn on captions.’

Audio Events will also be featured in the My Network tab, which means people outside your RSVP list can discover them organically.

According to LinkedIn, Audio Events has shown promising community building and business enriching results. For example, Cory Connors (a sustainable packaging consultant) hosts a weekly Audio Event to discuss the latest news from his area – which helps keep him at the forefront of the conversation.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Joshua B Lee (a well-known LinkedIn creator) have said Audio Events has helped them build a brand and a business by promoting their knowledge and skill.

URL in your profile

Another new feature that can help those with Creator Mode turned on is the ability to highlight a URL in your profile header.

Devin Skolnick, Senior Product Manager, LinkedIn

“We heard from many creators that increasing visibility for a personal website, event, or portfolio is a priority. With creator mode, you can now add a link to the top of your profile so that audiences can learn more about you and your brand.”

The move could help drive referral traffic to your website from LinkedIn, which will be good for people and brands who set themselves up as experts and who have a service, or perhaps their expertise, to sell.

Improve discovery

Discovery has also been boosted. LinkedIn will now make it easier for you to gain followers from outside of LinkedIn, as well as improve ways to get people to follow you from their Feed.

Devin Skolnick, Senior Product Manager, LinkedIn

“Creator Mode will provide a link/button that you can share or embed on other websites, emails, and blogs. With just one click, users on other platforms can follow you on LinkedIn.

“To ensure folks will continue to see your content, we’ve made it even easier to follow you right from the Feed without needing to visit your profile.”

Search discovery has also been improved. Only 18% of all followers on LinkedIn come from search, and to increase that number, users can now carry out a one-click follow from search, and find people who discuss subjects that they’ve searched for.

Furthermore, if you have Creator Mode turned on and your profile visibility is set to public when someone sends you a connection request they’ll be automatically added as a follower.

All of which could be useful to creators looking to improve their following – and it will also boost the profiles of those who are trying to establish (or have established) themselves as thought leaders in their sector.