LinkedIn has made it much easier for authors who use the LinkedIn publishing platform to view readership statistics in the LinkedIn Mobile App.
I’m someone who publishes regularly on LinkedIn and who uses the LinkedIn Mobile App more than the desktop version of LinkedIn. One thing that always bothered me about the LinkedIn Mobile App was not being able to see readership statistics directly in my LinkedIn article. Honestly, the initial lack of readily available analytics functionality annoyed me almost as much as the inability of the app to support publishing long-form articles. Well, at least the analytics issue has been resolved!
Now LinkedIn makes it much easier for authors who use the LinkedIn publishing platform to view readership statistics in the LinkedIn Mobile App. Yes, analytics data on your long-form posts have been available in the app for some time, but now it’s easier than ever for authors to access this information. After all, understanding your readers better is key to creating and publishing content for maximum impact!
In fact, you don’t even have to look for readership statistics for your articles in the mobile app. Every time you open one of your long-form articles, the app automatically displays an analytics bar at the bottom of the screen with the number of likes, comments, and clicks your article received. It can’t get any easier than that. So, the only major difference between the initial statistics view in the mobile app and the desktop version of LinkedIn is that in the desktop version, you can also see the number of times your article was shared in the initial statistics view.
Figure 1: Basic analytics information is now displayed at the bottom of the screen when you open one of your articles in the app.
Figure 2: One of the four pages with more detailed demographics data for an article.
Going Beyond the Basic Statistics
As in the desktop version, the LinkedIn Mobile App provides authors who are interested in more detailed information about their readership with just that: geolocation and demographics information for each article! Getting to the more detailed article analytics in the app is also simple.
- For more information on who liked and commented on your article, tab the “Likes” and “Comments” icons in the left corner of the analytics bar. (See Figure 1.) When you tab the “Comment” icon (top right), you can see who commented on your article and like and respond to the comments your contacts left. You can also tab the photo of these contacts and send them a thank-you message from within the app.
- For more information on the demographics and geolocation of your readers, tab the “Clicks” icon in the right corner of the analytics bar. Now you have access to four pages that provide the following readership information for the selected article:
- The top four organizations that viewed your article
- The top four job titles readers of the article carried
- The top four cities/regions where your article was viewed
- The top four sources through which the article was found
To move from one statistics page to another, simply swipe left or right. (See Figure 2.)
Analytics Data is Available for Articles and Posts
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re just starting out on the LinkedIn publishing platform. It’s important to understand the major differences between articles and posts:
- Articles: No character limit, basic character and paragraph formatting.
- Posts: 1,300 character limit, no text formatting other than (automatic) highlighting of links and contacts.
LinkedIn now makes accessing analytics data for posts just as easy as for articles. You can find the number of likes, comments, and views your post received at the bottom of each of your posts. (See Figure 3.) If you want to dig deeper into your post analytics, you can use the same procedure for accessing more detailed information as for article statistics: simply tab the respective section in the analytics bar.
The only difference between the analytics data LinkedIn makes available for articles and posts is that for articles you get to see how your article was found (e.g., LinkedIn Pulse, Google search, etc).
Figure 3: For posts, the same basic analytics information is available as for articles.
Figure 4: An example of demographics data for a LinkedIn post.
Automatic Access to Analytics for Writers on the Go
Readership analytics have been available in the LinkedIn Mobile App for some time, but now an analytics bar gives writers easy access to basic analytics data every time they open one of their articles in the app. While more detailed readership information is still somewhat buried, it’s there for writers on the go who want to better understand their audience without having to use an external service. Good job, LinkedIn! Oh, and one more thing. Can you please enable writing articles in the mobile app? Please LinkedIn, please!
Uwe Muegge is the global language manager at Arthrex. He has more than 15 years of experience in translation and localization, having worked in leadership functions on both the vendor and buyer sides of the industry. He has published numerous articles on translation tools and processes and taught computer-assisted translation and terminology management courses at the college level in both the U.S. and Europe. You can find him on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/uwemuegge) and Twitter (twitter.com/uwemuegge). Contact: info@muegge.cc.