LinkedIn is Turning Into the Next Instagram

LinkedIn's mobile revenue app has been on an up-and-to-the-right journey for several years now, growing as much as 5x since 2020.

I wrote about LinkedIn's growth a few times in the last year, but its continued revenue growth which I don't see making the news, is nothing short of amazing considering what it's up against.

It's hard to think of LinkedIn as social media, but that's really what it is. Although it started as a network for professionals, LinkedIn today looks and feels a lot like every other social media platform out there.

And much like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, LinkedIn is in a league of its own that can't easily be duplicated.

But back to revenue for a moment so you see what I mean.

In April of 2020, right as covid took over, LinkedIn's iOS app brought in $5M in net revenue from the App Store, according to our estimates. It was earning a bit more in January, but not enough to significantly change my conclusion.

Revenue was growing but not by much throughout 2020 and 2021, but in 2022, growth moved faster and the trend was steeper.

Working from home changed things for many employees and also changed how employers hire. Both benefit LinkedIn, which has been owned by Microsoft since 2016.

According to our estimates, LinkedIn's net revenue from the App Store rose from a little over $10M in January of 2022 to more than $27M in January of 2023.

2.7x growth in a single year, and that's net, meaning what Microsoft gets to keep after giving Apple its share.

And now that we've established LinkedIn as another social media platform, I have to say it's the best at monetizing. Compare these numbers to Twitter Blue and Snapchat+, the latest attempts at monetizing a social network, and you see they pale in comparison.

Before you tell me that's because Twitter Blue and Snapchat+ don't give nearly as much value as LinkedIn's Premium subscription, I'll pause you and say, I know.