LinkedIn's future is hard to measure. The exponential growth rates of the
website in terms of usage, revenue and product expansion in the last four years
(see more on LinkedIn's business history here) suggest that the exact
measurable growth of an new product seemingly at the forefront of social media
is inestimable due to it's dependence on multiple factors such as competition,
usage, and public reception of it's products. This is where we see LinkedIn focusing its growth in the near and distant future:
Growth
LinkedIn's usage has grown significantly in the last few years and with expansion into new international areas such as China. However, suggestions have been made that LinkedIn needs to expand its membership base to all levels of professionals. At present, LinkedIn's average user is over 40 years old and earns at least USD60 000 a year. In order to truly capture the professional social media market, they need to find a way to attract workers from all industries: an estimated 3 billion people.
New Products
LinkedIn's commitment to adding products and services to its repertoire is
evident its brief history. The company is committed to focusing
its next massive growth area around mobile apps and mobile users. According to CEO Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn's "future is mobile". They have a variety of current apps such as LinkedIn Intro, Mobile Work With Us and Recruiter Mobile. LinkedIn
Acquisitions
LinkedIn has a history of acquiring company's whose strengths match those of LinkedIn's expansion plans. One such acquisition was Bright, a company that provides job search functions for users- a clear match for LinkedIn. Another one was Bizo, a B2B marketing platform. LinkedIn reportedly plans to integrate some of Bizo's existing products into their own advertising stream. The continuation of this trend will stand only to increase LinkedIn's ability to stay ahead of professional networking game.
Economic Graph
Source: Opening Slide from Jeff Weiner's Presentaion available here:
LinkedIn's plan is to eventually be able to plot the world's economy through the usage of it's services. The company' has spoken about how the 'end-goal' for LinkedIn is to represent the entire global work force. They plan to map the economy and all the skills, job histories, education and connections between the $3.3bn odd professionals around the world. The value of this graph would be in being able to spot economic trends and opportunities as they occur. The scope of data knowledge LinkedIn would gain from its users would be a unique economic force both online and offline. See Jeff Weiner's presentation on the economic graph here.