I’ve seen a lot of people discussing this possibility recently. Sorry. I don’t have any links to which to refer. But this idea is just sticking in my brain.
Fascinating. Drawing a social map via the connections that are found on LinkedIn.com. Sure. It makes sense.
Let’s say you’re examining your competitor and find that the key marketing person has an account on LinkedIn, with several hundred connections. The nature of a company is nothing less than a collection of its employees. And its employees determine in which direction, and how efficiently, a company will turn. Start examining those connections.
What kind of skills are possessed within those connections? What skills are not possessed? For example, if this marketing person has more connections in PR field, perhaps that means that this marketer would lean more heavily on PR as a marketing tactic than advertising. Do any of those connections contain skills in social media? If so, or not, that tells you something right there about whether this marketer would lean on social media as a tactic. But don’t stop there. Look at the connections of the connections. Where do those skill sets lie?
Another thing to look at on LinkedIn is the Answers section. Now, if you’ve ever been in the Answers section, and participated, you’ll know it takes lot of time and effort. Check your targeted marketer out in this area. Are there a lot of answers posted by this this person? If so, that can tell you that this guy has way too much free time. So what’s that say about your competitor’s marketing program? You might wish to examine the questions and answers themselves to get an idea as to the level of your target’s expertise.
LinkedIn is just a veritable treasure trove of competitive intelligence. Check it out.
