Why Waiting Out Wasted LinkedIn Licences Is A Bad Idea. (And What To Do Instead).

In 2020, the pandemic and the lockdowns made companies purchase a tremendous amount of LinkedIn Sales Navigator licenses and now they’re all coming up for renewal. We’ve recently been speaking to a lot of companies that are waiting impatiently for the day they can say goodbye to unused LinkedIn Sales Navigator licences. 

And while we’re firm advocates of not wasting LinkedIn Sales Navigator licences, the problem with cutting them down too early is this: 

How do you know which ones are wasted on the individual or wasted due to not having a proper programme in place?  

Before you hit the renewal date there are steps you can take to maximise your LinkedIn licences - without blowing your future optimisation budget.  

Train The Masses Properly (And Cost-Effectively)  

One of the biggest causes of wasted LinkedIn licences is that employees haven’t been given the right training for their specific needs. However, while scaling down unused licences can free up the budget, it won't fundamentally fix the core problem - bulding a strong foundation of training at the outset. 

We always propose a training model of Train the Masses, Train the Many, Train the Few: 

• Train the Masses: Get employees up to speed with the latest social media knowledge - and how to put this into practice. This doesn’t need to be a one-size-fits all, either. It can include training modules specific to roles e.g. social selling. 

• Best delivery method: eLearning 

• Train the Many: Build on the initial training with more advanced and targeted training. 

• Best delivery method: workshops and webinars 

• Train the Few: Highly targeted training for specific high-performing individuals or key employees i.e. executives 

• Best delivery method: 121 coaching 

Once you get to Train the Many and Train the Few that’s when your training budget will increase to become more specific to each role e.g. there’s a big difference between what a Business Development Manager and a Key Account Manager require for social selling training. 

But before you do so, have you really done all that you can to Train the Masses? You will need to do this anyway to build the foundations for any program you put in place post-renewal. 

And for now, with eLearning costing just £13 per person, this is a quick win.  

Reinvigorate Excitement 

This is another quick and cost-effective mix. Most broken employee advocacy or social selling programmes fail for the very simple reason that they’ve failed to communicate the value of their program.  

Start By Matching The Benefits Your Employees Will Receive To Their Values 

You will often find similarities between different roles that you can use as a starting point. We’ve covered common motivations for executives in our blog: How to overcome objections to social media training for executives for Subject Matter Experts, Commercial/Sales Roles and Divisional Leaders.  

Those lower down the ladder may be more motivated by increased career prospects, exceeding targets or learning & development opportunities. 

You could also use anonymous surveys to help you segment motivations for the following steps. 

Share Colleague Success Stories 

Employees are generally most motivated by what others like them have achieved, not those in other companies, so share colleague success stories and encourage your team to recognise the 'little wins'.

Set A Challenge 

Once you’ve provided more training, set a challenge (or a series of challenges) with prizes to help people get into the habit of social media practices you want to instill. This will help them see for themselves the benefits it can bring and spur them on to continue. 

Look Past The Superficial Data  

A common mistake when companies cut LinkedIn licences is that they only look at the superficial data that shows who’s performing well currently - those with the high engagements and clicks per share.  

This ignores the future potential performance of certain employees who, with the right training, could become your new social champions.  

For example, you may have overzealous sharers who receive no engagement because they’re failing to appreciate LinkedIn etiquette. With eLearning and go-to Tipsheets they could quickly turn this around. They have the enthusiasm and this is the vital first starting point.  

Or you may have subject matter experts who are too busy and have failed to make it part of their routine. If they’re thought leaders internally or externally offline then this is a big wasted opportunity. They could quickly be turned around by encouraging the use of your mobile app, push  notification reminders, or even a Coffee Cup Routine cheat sheet. 

You should capitalise on even the smallest increase in enthusiasm from subject matter experts before you cut them from your future scaled-down program.  

That’s why when we work with companies one of the first things we do is a full assessment of where their employees fall on the Social Media Maturity Matrix based on their existing social media usage and where they could be with the right training.  

So, if you’re sitting on unused LinkedIn licences, why not make the most of the opportunity you have before renewal? As we’ve said, you’ll often find that licences sit idle due to a lack of a formal program, instead of employee unsuitability. And you would have to take many of these steps regardless of how many licences you have post-renewal. 

Why not start your optimisation efforts now, building the foundations to begin again in earnest? In fact, make it a challenge - let’s see if you can discover 10 more social champions in the next few months! 

Of course, optimising any employee advocacy or social selling program can be tough. After all, if it’s not working as best as you hoped, something has gone wrong along the way.  

At Tribal we’ve helped deliver and optimise social selling programs for over 3000 employees across the world. We’re a global agency that can fully customise our services to your specific company needs, so that you may see real ROI from your social selling programmes. 

Why not call our Tribal Chief, Sarah Goodall, for a free 30 minute initial consultation to discover where your program may have faltered and which steps would work best to improve its success in your company?