LinkedIn Premium: Worth It for B2B Sales and Career Growth

Long story short: if you're in sales/consulting, get Business Profile or Sales Nav Core. That's my recommendation as a LinkedIn aficionado, consultant/trainer, and B2B founder who has grown a seven figure business from my LinkedIn profile more than once.

If you're a job hunter and going after hiring managers, consider investing in premium job seeker temporarily. (But cancel once you find a job.)

The jury is still out, however, on the Business Page plan. Remains to be see whether pages can get any real engagement and reach that can make building those followings worth it. Unless of course you're managing a huge corporate page, and you don't mind spending a few bucks to get more followers for the sake of it.

Our recommendation: LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator can definitely be worth it (with caveats!)

LinkedIn's flagship product is "Premium". Because LinkedIn is more of a professional network than a social network; and, importantly, is much less of a 'publishing platform' than something like Youtube; it relies mostly on selling you its upgraded version, whether the Job Seeker version or the Business version.

Why this difference? Well, people come to LinkedIn both for business development (selling to corporate buyers), as well as for career growth (finding new roles). LinkedIn's offering and positioning (as a job database and digital resume) helps with both.

Summary of What You Can Do With LinkedIn Premium vs Free

1. Accessibility: You can access many more profiles with Premium than you can with Free, and you can also build lists of profiles much more easily too
2. Networking Capabilities: LinkedIn Premium lets you use far more InMails (which are basically outreach messages to non-connections) than Free, which gives you a limited small trial set - this helps if you're doing marketing OR job hunting
3. Insights: With Premium, you can see who has viewed your profile in the last 365 days, letting you see who's coming to your profile and reaching back out to them if they're interesting. On the job seeking side, Premium users get a detailed analysis of job postings, including how they compare to other applicants. This is somewhat valuable but can also be distracting.
4. Learning Opportunities: LinkedIn Learning, accessible only to Premium users, is brimming with courses on a huge variety of disciplines, from soft skills like leadership to technical courses on software and tools. These can be valuable, and are looked upon somewhat positively compared to other online courses.
5. Enhanced Search & Visibility: Premium users can have an open profile option, allowing anyone on LinkedIn to view their full profile and reach out, which is good if you're building a personal brand.

If you can afford it, and your ideal employer or client uses LinkedIn actively (in other words, they're desk workers), then Linkedin premium is worth having while you're hunting for jobs or clients.

What about the business side of things?

Get LinkedIn Premium for Business/B2B Sales? Yep.

We love this use case. In fact, I've been a customer of LinkedIn Premium (of Sales Navigator, specifically) for a decade!

The strongest thing you can do with the business plans are:

1. See who's viewed your profile, which is huge if you're wanting to reach out to interested leads or hiring managers, and
2. Build unlimited filtered search lists of people by certain criteria. Holy heck, THIS IS USEFUL for prospecting!

Now, there's a lot of overlap between Business and Sales Navigator, since - as you can see from the below screenshot, while the benefits are unlisted, Sales Navigator encompasses a lot of the Business plan features:

Ok... so, you get Search and Inmails on both?

Those are the most valuable features.

If you have something specific to Sales Nav that you must have, great - otherwise, Premium Business rocks.

P.S. Sales Navigator Advanced is mostly about having Teamlink and CRM stuff. Useful if you're a B2B sales organization, not so much if you're a solo consultant or small founder. Because wow that is expensive.

Notable LinkedIn Premium Features

InMail Credits Lets you directly message anyone on LinkedIn, even if you aren't connected.

This is invaluable for reaching out to potential employers, business partners, or industry influencers, making networking more expansive and targeted.

Who Has Viewed Your Profile gives you great data for sales and networking opportunities

Curiosity piqued about who's checking out your profile? This feature tells you exactly who has viewed your page over the last 365 days.

Linked Learning Courses are fun and educational if you have time to go through them

Professional development is an ongoing journey. Whether to improve a specific skill, explore a new area, or delve into leadership training, there's likely a course tailored for you.

Unlimited Filtered Person Searches are the biggest benefit (🔥!!)

The search limitations on the basic version of LinkedIn can be restrictive for heavy users.

Huge Variety Of Pricing Options: How much should you pay?

You should be relatively mid to high income, to comfortably afford LinkedIn Premium of any variety, over the long term (unless it's just temporary while you're looking for a job and then you cancel).

While Sales Navigator Advanced is the priciest, the plans range as follows:

Expensive, but the investment pays back if you're using it to find leads you wouldn't otherwise have found.

FAQs About LI Premium

And don't we know it... this stuff is CONFUSING. There's Premium, Page, Recruiter, Sales Nav... dang. Let me disambiguate any questions.

Does LinkedIn Premium Show Who Searched For You?

Yes, with LinkedIn Premium, you gain access to a more detailed list of who has viewed your profile in the last 365 days. Unlike the standard version where you might see only a limited set of viewers, Premium allows you to see everyone, including their job title and the company they work for. It's a valuable insight for those keen on understanding their professional reach and impact.

Can I Use LinkedIn Premium Without Paying?

LinkedIn occasionally offers a one-month free trial for its Premium features. However, to continue using Premium beyond this trial, a subscription fee is required. It's worth noting that if you decide not to continue with Premium after the trial, you should cancel before the trial ends to avoid any charges.

Will LinkedIn Premium Help Me Get a Job?

LinkedIn Premium can significantly enhance a job seeker's visibility and provide valuable insights, such as how one ranks among other applicants for a specific position. It offers the ability to directly message recruiters or hiring managers via InMail, even if they aren't in your connections. However, while LinkedIn Premium provides tools and insights to aid in the job search, it doesn't guarantee a job. Success in job hunting also depends on factors like the strength of your profile, your professional background, and how you leverage the platform.

Can LinkedIn Premium Increase My Digital / Content / Influencer / Social Media Marketing Impact?

Absolutely. For digital marketers, content creators, influencers, and those in the social media domain, LinkedIn Premium can offer insights into post performance, detailed analytics, and more visibility through the "Who's Viewed Your Profile" feature. It can also allow for direct outreach to potential collaborators, clients, or even sponsors, giving an edge in networking. Moreover, with LinkedIn Learning, professionals can continuously upgrade their skills in digital marketing, content creation, and more.

Does LinkedIn Premium Come With CRM Integration?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Teams edition offers a very minimal, lightweight integration. You can push Notes and InMails to Salesforce. Unfortunately, those two activity types are not what comprises most social selling activities. Instead, consider using the Hubspot or Salesforce sync with Aware, to sync Messages, Connections, Comments, and Reactions.