Is LinkedIn Premium worth paying for?
What are your LinkedIn goals?
Firstly I would say that depending on what your goals are, depends on whether an upgrade is worth investing in.
LinkedIn is great for business development, job seekers, networking and building brands.
For example, if you’re looking for a new job or hiring a new staff member it may well be worth upgrading your account to Premium for a short spell to enhance your job / candidate search.
It will give your search a boost as it allows you to carry out more searches and you can send InMail messages to people outside of your network - that you can't do with a regular profile.
If you are a business owner and you’re using LinkedIn to build your brand and generate leads, then getting an upgrade can be a great way to oil the wheels of your LinkedIn strategy.
It will help you find more people to connect with to grow your audience, and to research potential clients and businesses using anonymous browsing. Plus it shows you who has viewed your profile - the best feature on LinkedIn IMHO. You will also gain access to LinkedIn Learning, which may be worth the subscription fee if you're looking add to your skills.
Free Trial
You can opt for a month long free trial, so definitely take advantage of this offer. BUT don’t forget to set yourself a reminder to cancel the subscription as LinkedIn will take payment once the month has passed.
Subscription packages
There are quite a few different premium options available so have a think about your goals if you are considering an upgrade. Here is a brief snapshot of each option ascending in price order:
Premium Career £29.99 per month - Get hired and get ahead
Key features - See who viewed your profile - 90 days, anonymous browsing, limited searches, 5 InMails per month
Premium Business £59.99 per month - Grow and nurture your business
Key features - See who viewed your profile - 365 days, anonymous browsing, unlimited people searches, 15 Inmails per month
Premium Sales Navigator Core £99.99 per month - Unlock sales opportunities
Key features - See who viewed your profile - 365 days, anonymous browsing, unlimited people searches, 50 InMails per month, Advanced search filter functionality, lead recommendations and saved leads
Recruiter Lite £170 per month - Find and hire talent
Key features - special recruiter lite platform, 30 InMails per month, See who viewed your profile - 365 days, Unlimited people searches, anonymous browsing, 20+ advanced search filters, Daily candidate recommendations
Pros to investing in premium upgrade
Inmails allow you to contact members directly
The insights are better if you’re tracking your analytics if you have specific goals in mind
You can see who is viewing your profile
You can cancel your subscription easily should you need to
Cons to investing in LinkedIn premium
It is rather expensive, even for the basic Career subscription
The free features are pretty similar to paid upgrade
You can still browse anonymously on the free package, but you can’t see who is viewing your profile
My Recommendation
My advice to anyone thinking about upgrading their subscription is to try the month-long free trial.
I have used the Business subscription but I felt like it wasn’t worth the monthly fee (sorry LinkedIn) so I downgraded it to the Career package and it is more than adequate for what I need it for - research and browsing profile. I use LinkedIn all day everyday!
In my humble opinion, it is rather expensive and I advise most of my clients to not bother upgrading as I do a lot of the searching for them as part of my service offering.
I hope this helps!
If you are reading this, thinking ‘I need to leverage LinkedIn but I’m not sure how to’ and you don’t know where to start with your content, engagement, and audience growth then please do get in touch.
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