LinkedIn Changes April 14, 2014 - Action Required

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Happy Monday! Hope you're enjoying the character building challenges that come your way today. That's not sarcasm. Social media changes, for example, make you agile, depending on your response.

Effective April 14, 2014 - No More Products & Services

Take this major LinkedIn change to Company Pages, for example. Over the years you've built your following, developed your product / services tabs, and received many recommendations. Suddenly, perhaps based on feedback from one industry, LinkedIn decides "we don't like tabs anymore", et voila - no more product / service tabs.

You can: Get upset OR Go with it. I mean, "Yay! You found out about it before you lost the information". Okay! Here comes the work.

No More LinkedIn Product-Service Tabs

1.0 Create Your Showcase Pages

I hear the sigh, but it's worth it. Try using the same images on your product / service tabs. You need:

  • Banner (974px x 330px)
  • Standard logo - your company's logo, unless your products have unique logos
  • Square logo (~402px x 321px)
  • Description and website or URL - description is 200 characters.

Choose your best performing products and services. Remember, follow yourself!

2.0 Promote Your Showcase Pages

Promote your showcase pages across the board - newsletter, social media - where relevant. In the spirit of adding value to your social media community, pay it forward. Let your followers know about this deadline. Noteworthy positive: they'll truly 'showcase' your best products / services. Read more on Linkedin about Showcase Pages.

3.0 Salvage Your Recommendations

Thank followers, individually where possible, for their recommendations and explaining why, request that they do so again on your Showcase pages. If you miss the deadline (April 14th), LinkedIn gives you until May 30 to contact them to request a copy of your recommendations. Make recommendation requests part of the general notice on your Company Page.

Free Hootsuite.com Package?

Never fear. The free package allows up to five (5) unique channels, including your one (1) and only LinkedIn Company Page. "What now?!" In the interim:

  • Using Hootsuite, promote your showcase pages on your company page, and other social media channels, until you get enough followers again.
  • In promoting your showcase pages via Hootsuite, request recommendations.
  • Sadly, manually, post to your Showcase pages. Minimal work if you have a social media strategy and a content strategy in place. Update as needed.

Sooner Than Later

Act now. Your showcase page URL's, will be shorter, clearer, than the original complex links that first came with Company Pages. That will change as more people offering similar products / services create showcase pages. That means more numbers at the end of your URL to ensure it's a unique link. If you "get there first", you get a simpler, cleaner link.

Have Fun. Stay Agile

Don't let changes take the joy out of social media, for you. The process of developing your showcase pages may help you find new opportunities and ideas for your products and services. It happens!