Many clients have ask me: Is it worth it to have a premium account on LinkedIn?

The main people I recommend pay for a premium account are job seekers and people who do a lot of business development activities on LinkedIn.

For many users, especially those relatively new to using LinkedIn, I generally discourage them from paying for LinkedIn. There’s plenty you can do with a basic (free) account.

 

What You Get with a Basic Account

With a basic account, you can create your profile, company pages, groups, and events. Similar to other social sites, you can share posts, engage with others, send messages to connections, get notifications and more.

Additionally, with a basic account you can:

  • Find and reconnect with colleagues
  • Search for and view profiles of other LinkedIn members
  • Request and provide recommendations
  • Receive unlimited InMail messages
  • Save up to three searches and get weekly alerts on those searches.

 

Different Types of Premium Accounts

LinkedIn offers different types of premium accounts that members can select based on their needs. You can pay annually, which provides about a 25% discount, or you can pay monthly.

These types include:

  • Premium Career ($30 per month) – helps you get hired.
  • Premium Business ($60 per month) – helps you get detailed business insights and further expand your business.
  • Sales Navigator ($80 per month) – helps you generate leads and build your clientele.
  • Recruiter Lite ($120 per month) – helps you find and hire talent.

For all four options, you can see who has viewed your profile over the past 90 days. If you are a job seeker, it could be useful to know if hiring authorities or recruiters are viewing your profile. If you are a business owner, you might want someone viewing your profile to become a client or a referral partner. Or if past clients or referral partners view your profile, that provides you a good reason to reconnect with them. This feature is the main reason that I choose to pay for a premium account.

For all four options, you also get to send a certain number of what LinkedIn calls InMails each month. These are messages you send to people on LinkedIn with whom you are not connected. The more money you pay, the more Inmails you can send. There are other features specific to each level.

If you are interested in a premium account, each option has a free 30-day trial. Learn more about the differences between basic and premium LinkedIn accounts at https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a545596

I also recommend the article “Is LinkedIn Worth Paying For? 3 Things to Consider” by Emma Roth. She goes into considerable detail about the various premium plans and the values they provide.

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 55 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook. She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.