Complaints such as "Sadly, I didn't take a screenshot of the suggestion I apply to work as a SAP consultant in Germany, though I don't speak German or have the word 'SAP' on my profile. "
The thing to keep in mind is that LinkedIn's job, in this area, is to offer great options to advertisers. On Facebook I can put an advert out targeting a specific age, a specific city, and specific interests. Or I can just target... a huge number of people. If I do the latter, do you blame Facebook for not using their data properly?
I've never advertised on LinkedIn. Maybe it's awful, it could well be. But seeing badly targeted adverts means absolutely nothing.
> But seeing badly targeted adverts means absolutely nothing.
You don't think that advertisers are willing to pay more for well-targeted ads? This is a strong sign that LinkedIn is not leveraging their data as well as they could.
- Advertisers who don't understand what they are doing with automated systems [1]
- Advertisers whose specific target is too small, so they widen the net [2]
- Advertisers who would rather waste a bit more money to keep the net wide [3]
Point 1: remember that plenty of advertisers are old-school, they're used to signing off campaigns over lunch or drinks, not to fiddling with settings on a website. Hell, I'm 23, so far from oldschool, and a.) I have often chosen less targeted advertising options (based on performance of KPIs) and b.) I don't like getting involved in specific stuff like Facebook advertising - I hired someone to do that for me, but maybe if I knew even less about it I wouldn't have even thought to do that.
Points 2/3: Some people are going to be your target audience without the data showing it. Just because someone doesn't list SAP as a skill, doesn't mean they don't have it. Just because they aren't in Germany, doesn't mean they wouldn't consider moving for the right opportunity. Just because someone isn't a fan of McDonalds on Facebook it doesn't mean they won't be interested in a KFC advert.
edit: Of course, LinkedIn offering poor features is also a possible explanation. As I said I've never used it (for advertising) and have no interest in exploring it as I only deal with B2C marketing.
I think his/her point was that LinkedIn might have those features, but customers don't _have_ to use them.
So you can pay more for better targeting, which is probably an intelligent way to get the users you want, but there could be companies that just ignore logic and want the cheapest way to blast out a message.
In the authors case I think it means IBM isn't leveraging LinkedIn's data. It could the case that some HR person checked off "programming" and left it at that. I can't imagine someone at LinkedIn going back and fixing all the vague job descriptions that go through their system.
The thing to keep in mind is that LinkedIn's job, in this area, is to offer great options to advertisers. On Facebook I can put an advert out targeting a specific age, a specific city, and specific interests. Or I can just target... a huge number of people. If I do the latter, do you blame Facebook for not using their data properly?
I've never advertised on LinkedIn. Maybe it's awful, it could well be. But seeing badly targeted adverts means absolutely nothing.