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LinkedIn Suggests Writing Ideas, And The Future of Software

Recently, I logged into LinkedIn's publishing tool to draft an article and I noticed something different. Instead of the usual list of my previous articles on the left, I was greeted three "Writing Ideas" (see screen grab below). Once again, LinkedIn proves to be an incredible platform for B2B content marketing by innovating in a way that helps the marketer and the prospect.

I am fascinated by the addition of this feature and how it got here. The suggested writing topics, seen in the photo above, are pretty relevant based on my historic work. They are much broader than anything I have touched on before, but they got my thinking going. Sometimes that is all it takes to inspire and drive action.

I wonder: Did a person at LinkedIn set these? A smart algorithm? Both? A little Google searching came up blank: No press releases about the feature, no posts from other users, and there is no other explanation above. But who cares? It's brilliant!

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Welcome to the Future of Marketing Software

I have been moaning for years about the fact that the vast majority of sales and marketing software allows you to do lots of things, but does very little to help you decide what to do. We dutifully log every client interaction, create post after post, and generate virtual piles of reports. But we are on our own to figure out what worked, what didn't, why and what's next. If you're lucky, the social work flow tool you use has a generic content calendar — but just because Arbor Day is coming up doesn't mean your brand has a relevant tie to it.

With this basic but solid start, LinkedIn is addressing the biggest barrier to creating more content: Writer's block and a blank sheet of paper. By nudging marketers to create more, useful content on its platform, LinkedIn will help drive action. More action means more ROI results from both earned and paid activity. More useful content also makes LinkedIn a better place for users to visit and linger.

We've taken this approach for years. We share industry-specific trend analysis, recommend pins to promote from your account, and suggest words for pin descriptions that tend to perform well. Sure, you can use our software to download reports and build pins from scratch, but we know that the number one issue creators have is deciding where to start and how to optimize. Our product development motto is, "make it easier to get better results."

I hope this approach inspires software developers across all categories. Imagine a world where you log into Salesforce and it suggests a task list, e.g. "Here are five people you should reach out to today because their fiscal planning is coming up and they took a meeting with you in the past year." Imagine if your Apple iCal app reminded you to book your airline tickets in August to save money because you usually visit your in-laws in Oregon over Christmas.

These insights and information are available today. All it takes is a new mentality of helpfully nudging your users to take action. They will love you for it.

Google, too, is planning to make our lives easier by recommending actions. This week it announced a new Gmail feature called Smart Reply, which will use artificial intelligence to suggest multiple responses to emails that land in your inbox. “The (neural) network will tailor both the tone and content of the responses to the email you’re reading,” says Google product management director Alex Gawley.

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