LinkedIn puts all of its data to good use with targeted updates for companies

Popular companies who have set up a page on professional networking site LinkedIn know how powerful it is to be able to share updates to all of its followers, which is very similar to Twitter and Facebook functionality. If you have some interesting news to share about a new product, you can simply blast it out to everyone that’s following you.

That “blasting out” is the process that most of us are used to when we’re using social tools like this, but LinkedIn has made some tweaks that allow you to target your audience with specific messages that should result in better interaction.

This is actually a genius feature, especially when you think about how little people engage with messages that they know weren’t meant for them. The best example is when a company sends out an email blast that isn’t tailored to your tastes at all. You know it’s meant for everyone, so you kind of glaze over the message, if you open it at all.

Since LinkedIn has access to a ton of data points, the company is putting its massive database to good use with this new update targeting feature. Here’s a video explanation of what a company could do with targeting:

The byproduct of this is that companies can now send out more updates without worrying about flooding all of its followers with content.

If Google were to want to attract a specific audience, or build a better relationship with graphic designers, it could post an update about its latest Google Doodle and pick all of the targeting criteria it wants to make sure that the update gets to the right people, and doesn’t bother the rest of us.

The feature is available now for everyone who administrates a company page on LinkedIn, and this is something that I’d love to be able to use on Facebook or Google+. Setting up a list without being able to access variables of information, like location, makes the manual process a pain in the ass.