What are LinkedIn Influencers and What is LinkedIn Creator Mode?

What does it mean to be a “LinkedIn Creator”?

LinkedIn creators can be members, organizations, and companies who regularly share content with their professional community to build their reputation, grow their business, and/or empower and educate others with their experiences. It’s important to understand that LinkedIn distinguishes the terms “Creators” and “Influencers.”

Difference Between a LinkedIn Creator and a LinkedIn Influencer

LinkedIn Influencer is an invite-only program run by LinkedIn’s editorial team. It is focused on executives who run large organizations — CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, large startups, or well-known brands — as well as recognizable leaders and industry experts. LinkedIn Influencers are the people who are shaping the business conversation from the highest levels. The LinkedIn Influencer Program is an invite-only process and the editorial team is always looking for unique professional voices that meet these standards. However, LinkedIn Creators are basically anyone who creates their own, original content on LinkedIn. It is very likely that you may already qualify as a creator, which according to LinkedIn, are “any members, organizations, and companies who regularly share content with their professional community to build their reputation, grow their business, and/or empower and educate others with their experiences.”

What is Creator Mode?

Creator Mode is a new feature set out by LinkedIn to help creators more prominently display their content while encouraging others to follow. LinkedIn wants to encourage more users to post original content on the platform so Creator Mode makes it easier for people to create and post new content. 

Once you turn on Creator Mode:
– The Connect button on your profile will change to Follow.
– The number of followers you have will display in your profile intro.
– You can choose to display the topics you post about in your profile intro.
– Your Featured and Activity sections will show first.
– Your Activity section will be expanded to showcase more of your recent content and will no longer show your likes, comments, and other activity.

These new additions create amazing opportunities for brand marketers and creators alike. Whether you care about vanity metrics or not, having your total following on display can show the world how influential your opinions are to the business community. With the added ability to display topics you’re interested in on your profile using hashtags, LinkedIn members with similar interests can easily find your page and join your following. Your reordered and expanded profile will focus on showcasing your content to the world, so people who may be interested can easily find you and tune in. These changes mark a transition from LinkedIn’s original relationship-building goals to something more oriented for content creation and distribution.    

Conclusion

With the development of both LinkedIn Influencers and Creators, influencer marketing in the professional networking environment may be on the rise. If you enjoyed part 1 of our 5 part series on LinkedIn Influencer Marketing, make sure to check out the next post regarding the top LinkedIn features and tools to leverage. Have questions? Want to learn more? Visit Captiv8.io for more info!