Let’s start with a quite simply mind-blowing statistic: according to an Oktopost study, 80.33% of B2B leads are now generated by LinkedIn, far ahead of Twitter (12.73%) and Facebook (6.73%). But to hope to take advantage of this huge professional database, you will have to exploit the full potential of the platform.
In this practical guide, Leadin explores the different Premium offers proposed by LinkedIn (Sales Navigator, Career, Business, Recruiter Lite…) in order to boost your recruitment and B2B prospecting strategies. Discover the features, advantages and prices of each LinkedIn Premium subscription.
The article in brief
For your company, going through a paid LinkedIn subscription can be worthwhile. You then have advanced features in recruitment and B2B prospecting, in particular targeted search tools and content creation. But what is LinkedIn Premium really for? Focus on the advantages and prices of the different plans:
- There are in total 9 types of LinkedIn accounts: free account, Premium Career, Premium Business, Sales Navigator Core, Sales Navigator Advanced, Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, Recruiter Lite, Recruiter Advanced, Learning;
- LinkedIn Premium Career is dedicated to users looking for a job (29,74 € per month);
- LinkedIn Premium Business is designed for professionals who want to develop their network (52,06 € per month);
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator is intended for salespeople and entrepreneurs in B2B (from 123,96 € per month);
- LinkedIn Recruiter Lite is intended for recruiters (168,59 € per month).
Need to know more about these tools and build your commercial strategy? Optimize your B2B prospecting on LinkedIn.
The LinkedIn Premium Career subscription
According to a Jobvite study, 72% of recruiters are now active on LinkedIn, and 67% of them consider that LinkedIn is the channel that provides the best candidates to companies.
Doing without Microsoft’s social network when you are actively looking for a job means starting with a serious handicap. If a free account can sometimes be enough to find a job in line with your profile, your expectations and your aspirations, the LinkedIn Premium Career subscription (formerly LinkedIn Job Seeker) is a formidable employability accelerator.
What are the advantages of the LinkedIn Premium Career plan?
According to LinkedIn, candidates with Premium Career get hired twice as fast on average. The platform helps you build a convincing LinkedIn profile.
#1 A LinkedIn Premium profile
This results in a badge on your profile picture and in the social network’s search results. Premium members can activate the badge feature in their LinkedIn account settings. Its two goals? Set you apart from the crowd of candidates, but also and above all show recruiters that you take your career and/or your job search seriously.
#2 A “premium” candidate status
Applications from Premium Career members have priority over those from other LinkedIn members. In short, you are sure that your application will be clearly visible to recruiters. Attention: this privilege is only granted to members with Premium Career if they apply via the “Jobs You Might Be Interested In” feature (JYMBII). This status can be compared to sponsored searches on search engines.
#3 The complete list of users who viewed your profile
Members who use LinkedIn for free can only see the last five people who viewed their profile. With a LinkedIn Premium Career subscription, you will have a complete view of the people who viewed your profile over the last 90 days. Better still: you will receive interesting information telling you how these people landed on your profile. You will thus be able to personalize your first contact in order to adopt a proactive approach in your job search.
#4 “InMail” credits to contact potential recruiters
InMail is LinkedIn’s personal messaging system that allows you to communicate with people who are not part of your network. This communication channel can be particularly useful during a job search. According to LinkedIn, InMail is 2.6 times more effective than email alone. With a LinkedIn Premium Career account, you can send five InMail messages per month, and you will have the possibility of purchasing additional InMail credits.
#5 Other advantages of the LinkedIn Premium Career plan
Having a LinkedIn Premium Career account also means enjoying the following advantages:
- The advanced search filter allows you to refine your searches to find the right job and the recruiters most likely to be interested in your profile;
- You have information about other candidates, in order to analyze their level of experience, skills and degrees before applying;
- An open profile, allowing anyone to contact you without necessarily being connected to you;
- Online course videos to master the most sought-after skills.
What is the price of the LinkedIn Premium Career offer?
Count 29,74 € per month with monthly payment and 24,78 € per month with annual payment to benefit from a LinkedIn Premium Career account. It is the cheapest Premium account in LinkedIn’s offer.
Who is the LinkedIn Premium Career plan for?
The LinkedIn Premium Career subscription is intended for people looking for a job. It offers specific features to highlight them and find job offers in line with their expectations.
The LinkedIn Premium Business subscription
The Premium Business offer is focused on the needs of B2B sales professionals. The Premium Business account helps you identify and engage the key decision-makers of target companies to feed your pipeline, launch Account-Based Marketing (ABM) programs and boost your commercial performance.
What are the advantages of the LinkedIn Premium Business plan?
The goal of LinkedIn Premium Business is simple: give sales professionals the means to strengthen their B2B commercial prospecting, but also to work on their networking. Overall, we remain on an intermediate plan between the free account and Sales Navigator, which is LinkedIn’s real prospecting machine. According to LinkedIn, Premium Business members’ profiles are viewed 6 times more than basic profiles. Let’s review the price and the different features of the subscription to help you decide.
#1 A credit of 15 InMails per month
You can contact all LinkedIn members, even if they are not part of your network. We advise you to use this technique sparingly so as not to waste your shots, especially if you operate in a niche industry with few major accounts.
#2 A complete and unlimited view of profiles
With a basic free account, LinkedIn hides certain information about members who are not part of your network. This includes their name, position held, location, etc. With a LinkedIn Premium Business account, you have a complete and unlimited view of all LinkedIn members (up to 3rd level connections). This is a significant asset to streamline your networking efforts and more quickly identify members of your extended circle likely to share common interests with you.
#3 Business Insights
LinkedIn has integrated a “Business Insights” feature into its Premium Business plan. In short, the social network provides you with relevant information on a company’s growth, the trends of its activity, the evolution of its workforce, etc. It is an excellent way to identify your prospects, qualify them and possibly rank them (Lead Scoring).
#4 Who viewed your profile?
This is a feature common to all LinkedIn premium accounts. With a Premium Business plan, you will have access to the complete list of members who visited your profile over the last 90 days. LinkedIn also informs you how they found your profile.
#5 Online course videos
LinkedIn offers Premium Business members unlimited access to e-learning videos in the key topics of their profession, in particular in business development, technology applied to Sales and Marketing, creativity, etc.
What is the price of a LinkedIn Premium Business subscription?
To subscribe to a LinkedIn Premium Business subscription, count 54,54 € per month with monthly payment, and 44,62 € per month with annual payment (535,42 € per year).
Need advice for B2B prospecting? Create smart sequences for better engagement with Leadin.
The LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription
This is by far the most formidable weapon for salespeople who do Social Selling, especially in a context where B2B buyers increasingly rely on LinkedIn to make purchasing decisions. Because it is a relatively expensive tool, you must absolutely train on it and leverage its various features to make your investment profitable.
What are the advantages of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator?
Sales Navigator allows you to establish and filter lists of contacts and accounts from the world’s largest professional database. The tool also allows you to set up real-time alerts when certain members perform certain actions on the platform: publishing an article, changing position or employer, etc. As you will see, Sales Navigator has been specifically designed to identify, engage and sign new clients.
#1 The “Core” version of Sales Navigator
This is the basic plan of the tool, but it will offer great advantages to very small businesses (TPE):
- Unlimited search to explore LinkedIn members. You can also save your searches;
- Unlimited access to the list of members who viewed your profile over the last 90 days;
- A credit of 50 InMails per month;
- Advanced search filters, and the possibility of using Sales Spotlights to find relevant prospects according to a wide range of variables;
- Recommendations to qualify prospects;
- Integration with different tools, in particular Outlook and the mobile app of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator (no SNAP integration with the “Core” version);
- The possibility of saving identified leads and accounts;
- The possibility of setting up alerts on prospects and companies.
#2 The “Advanced” version of Sales Navigator
This is the intermediate plan of Sales Navigator. It is mainly aimed at SMEs and large companies that do Social Selling and Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Here are its additional options:
- Advanced integration of Sales Navigator with your tools (including SNAP);
- Possibility to engage prospects and clients via TeamLink;
- Access to Smart Links, a feature that allows you to group and easily share content from a Sales Navigator workflow, track users’ online behavior and receive actionable insights on prospects’ and clients’ behavior;
- Advanced reporting tools;
- The possibility of centralizing billing for contracts signed via LinkedIn;
- Access to LinkedIn’s “Enterprise” tools.
#3 The “Advanced Plus” version of LinkedIn Sales Navigator
This is the most advanced version of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator. It complements the features of the “Advanced” version with complete synchronization with the CRM and advanced integrations with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.
What is the price of LinkedIn Sales Navigator?
The “Core” plan of LinkedIn Sales Navigator costs 99,99 € per month with monthly payment, and 79,99 € per month with annual payment. The “Advanced” plan of LinkedIn Sales Navigator costs 149,99 € per month, while the “Advanced Plus” version is on quotation, depending on the number of planned accounts, the desired InMail credits…
LinkedIn offers a 30-day trial period to test the tool and familiarize yourself with its features. To go further, you can consult our practical guide on LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator.
Which Sales Navigator plan to choose according to your company?
In general, Sales Navigator is used to target prospects. The paid Sales Navigator subscription saves salespeople time, but which offer should you choose to boost your B2B prospecting on LinkedIn? In view of the prices and features, we consider that:
- Core is rather dedicated to very small businesses and solo entrepreneurs;
- Advanced to SME sales teams;
- Advanced Plus to large companies.
The LinkedIn Recruiter Lite subscription
As its name clearly suggests, the LinkedIn Recruiter Lite plan is designed for company recruiters and recruitment agencies who want to harness the power of LinkedIn to source and engage the best talent.
The advantages of the LinkedIn Recruiter Lite plan
Does your company have recurring human resources needs? LinkedIn Recruiter Lite can support you.
- A credit of 30 InMails per month to contact candidates and save time by using pre-established templates;
- An advanced search feature to target the best talent, even in complex professions (more than 20 search filters available);
- The plan allows you to create a real candidate pipeline thanks to the saving of searches and InMail templates;
- Dynamic suggestions, with profiles likely to interest you according to your need;
- The complete list of potential candidates who viewed your profile over the last 90 days;
- Unlimited profile views (up to 3rd level);
- Automatic tracking of candidates and open positions with the “Projects” option;
- A design and user experience centered around recruitment and talent search.
What is the price of LinkedIn Recruiter Lite?
After your first free trial month, the LinkedIn Recruiter Lite plan will cost you 123,96 € per month if you choose annual payment, and around 150 € if you choose monthly payment. If your company recruits more than 10 profiles per year, it may be wiser to opt for LinkedIn Recruiter (rather than Recruiter Lite). The tool is indeed better dimensioned, with a price on quotation.
What is the real return on investment of LinkedIn Premium offers?
Looking at the price of paid solutions as such makes no sense. The important thing is to analyze the real return on investment for your company.
If your prospecting needs are limited or if you are just starting out, the Premium Career subscription may be enough to establish first contacts and develop a network. However, for more advanced commercial efforts, the Business and Sales Navigator subscriptions offer crucial features that fully justify their cost. Switch to a Premium account during a career transition period for example, and monitor profitability using the KPIs provided by the tool.
Choose the right subscription level according to your specific needs and the budget you can allocate to online B2B prospecting.
Prices of LinkedIn Premium subscriptions: what you need to remember
Need to accelerate B2B prospecting and recruitment on professional social networks? The different LinkedIn subscriptions provide you with very practical features to target, qualify and engage your prospects, clients and candidates. Choose the Premium offer according to its advantages, its price and the size of your company.
And to make your task easier, discover Leadin. It is the first intelligent LinkedIn and Email automation software, 100% unlimited and Cloud-based. No need to break the bank to combine sales and marketing tools, try to integrate them and waste time training yourself. We already have everything you need to put your commercial performance into orbit. Go from prospecting to selling on LinkedIn. Book your demo!