LinkedIn Names a New Category

“B2B selling is in trouble. Traditional sales methods are failing. Only 5% of the buyer’s journey is spent with a salesperson.”

That’s the intro of a new article in Harvard Business Review, sponsored by LinkedIn.

Two things that stand out here:

1. When I first saw this article, I didn’t realize it was sponsored. I saw the HBR name and assumed “this must be legit.” Clever use of a sponsored article in a well-respected publication to gain credibility.
2. It looks like LinkedIn is trying to create a new category, calling Sales Navigator the world’s first “Deep Sales" platform.

Taking a page from Category Pirates — LinkedIn is trying to name the category, frame it, and claim it.

Will be interesting to see if Deep Sales has sticking power.

Check out the HBR article here