Did you receive an email this week with that very subject line? You’re not alone – LinkedIn has sent these emails to millions of members over the last few days, essentially congratulating them on their popularity. We were a bit skeptical; what was the reasoning for this random pat on the back?
While you may have been thrilled to learn that you’re in the top 10% of most viewed profiles on LinkedIn, remember that percentages are relative. The email also noted that LinkedIn has just reached 200 million users – meaning if you’re in the top 10%, you’re one in 20 million. Congrats!
BIGfish President David Gerzof Richard appeared on Fox 25 Boston this morning to explain the clever marketing purpose behind LinkedIn’s email outreach (click here to watch the video). By congratulating 20 million users for their professional prominence – and offering these Internet savvy users tools within the email to immediately share the news on Facebook and Twitter – LinkedIn got themselves thousands of @mentions and a decent amount of media attention, all free of charge.

In all, the email marketing campaign was pretty harmless and pretty effective. By making users feel important, LinkedIn drove many to post a “humblebrag” about their popularity (check out this post for more on “The Age of Braggarts”), which in turn drove conversation about the brand. The emails also created an excuse to share the news that LinkedIn now has 200 million users, and even included an aesthetic infographic detailing those members.
At least in the short-term, the strategy was effective: it created some buzz, made millions of LinkedIn users feel important, and generated a few media hits, all from what was essentially non-news. And in the end, isn’t that what publicity stunts are for?