August 2nd, 2023, Mike Woods
Since being launched in 2003, LinkedIn has changed the landscape of professional networking and global job search. Over the last few years, the platform has also grown to become an integral part of many brands' overall marketing strategies and continues to evolve, with recently introduced features including B2B tools like generative AI ad copy features and in-stream video ads. But, as a mature company and platform, who exactly is using LinkedIn in the UK?
A look at data from YouGov Profiles can give us a deep insight into the platform's current users, what they use the site for, how much time they spend on it and how they choose to access it.
Before we delve into who British LinkedIn users are and what they do, it can be helpful to understand the popularity of LinkedIn as a social media platform in the UK. While Facebook easily tops the list of the top five social media platforms amongst Britons by membership – 70% of UK adults say they are currently a member - Instagram comes in a distant second (46%). One in four Britons say they are currently members of LinkedIn (25%), making it the fifth most popular platform.
Who are these LinkedIn members?
Given that LinkedIn is a business, employment and networking focussed social media platform, it is perhaps unsurprising that it is yet to find many takers in the youngest generation - fewer than one in ten Gen Z-ers say they are members (9%). While Millennials represent nearly two-fifths of users (37%), Gen X-ers follow closely behind at 34%.
A look at the gender demographics reveals that men (54%) make up a slightly larger share of LinkedIn members in the UK than women (46%).
What is the working situation of British LinkedIn members?
Understanding the employment status, company classification and job function of LinkedIn user can be extremely insightful for marketers looking to target and engage with professionals at different stages of the employment cycle across industries.
Looking at their working situations, more than three-fifths of LinkedIn users say they are currently working full time (62%), while an eighth say they work part time (12%), and a tenth are retired (10%).
A closer look at the type of company they work for reveals that half of LinkedIn members in the UK work for business-to-business companies (50%), followed by just a fifth who work for micro businesses (21%). Britons working for small businesses make up the smallest share of LinkedIn membership (14%).
Among those Britons who are employed and currently use LinkedIn, around one in eight work in management (14%) and a tenth in the IT industry (10%). Significantly fewer than one in 20 work in the manufacturing, procurement and distribution industries (2% for all).
How often do Britons use LinkedIn?
Data from YouGov Profiles can also be studied to understand how frequently Britons access the social media platform and how often they make posts on it.
While two out of five LinkedIn members say they never post on the platform (40%), only 6% say the same about accessing their account (6%), indicating a high level of passive use amongst Britons.
About an eighth of the audience (16%) say they access LinkedIn more than once a day, and a quarter say they do so at least once a week (25%). When it comes to frequency of posting however, one in four of our respondents say that they post on LinkedIn less than once a month (26%) and only a twentieth who do the same more than once a day (5%).
What do Britons use LinkedIn for?
It’s no surprise that LinkedIn users primarily use the platform to apply for jobs (54%). However, nearly half of users also log in to build a network (48%), while a third like to use the platform to follow interesting people or industry experts (31%).
LinkedIn is expectedly not a very popular platform to keep in touch with friends, with just 11% of Britons using it for that purpose. Sharing interesting articles, videos and more (9%), sharing opinions (8%), and keeping up to date with brands (6%) are some of the other reasons our respondents use the site.
Where do Britons access LinkedIn?
Tailoring online advertisements for viewing on different devices is a big part of optimal advertising. It might then be useful for marketers to get further insight into the devices used by members to access the platform.
More than four out of five of our respondents say they use a mobile phone (86%) to access LinkedIn followed by a third (32%) who use a laptop and a quarter (23%) who use a tablet computer.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for Great Britain is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash