Josh Graff’s Post

Couldn't say it better myself.... "Users are more engaged than ever, ad revenues are rising, and creators are inking deals on the platform. And LinkedIn's appeal among both B2B and B2C marketers is growing." Our number one focus within LinkedIn's advertising business has always been to create value and drive growth for our clients. It's great to see that focus being recognised by marketer's around the world in Hootsuite's 2024 Social Trends Report. https://lnkd.in/eCS-PS8D

Aam Hijri Mubarak to all those celebrating the Islamic New Year!

There's only 1881 people that have ever done a solo swim across The English Channel, and it's just about to be 1882! Wishing the very best of luck to my long-time, lovely and slightly crazy friend Benjamin who is soon going to cover himself in grease, jump in, and embark on the 32km+ swim from England to France, raising money for a wonderful cause, Brain Tumour Research, in memory of his dad, Ray. I've dropped a link in the comments below if you want to learn more/donate.

Just because you watched every episode of Mad Men does not make you a marketer. The role of the CMO is one of the most complex and challenging in a business. I'm unsure why but it's the one role in a company where everyone has an opinion. A CMO recently told me they were approached with 'feedback' on a piece of creative from a peer. That peer felt confident about sharing the feedback due to their experience 'making videos' on their phone. As they rightly said, it's like giving feedback to the CFO because you own a calculator. A job that often spans communications, pricing, positioning, brand, creative, analytics, research, consumer insights, media, competitive intelligence, sales pipeline and lots more, is complex and requires deep domain expertise. But over the past few years, the CMO has had to constantly prove their worth and the value of marketing to CEOs, Boards and other executives – notably during a time of significant change and uncertainty. And they’ve risen to the challenge and built financial fluency to secure their seat at the table. LinkedIn's data finds that 84% of CMOs have strengthened skills to demonstrate B2B marketing impact, and 3 in 4 say their relationship with the CFO is stronger than ever before. But is there is a larger perception issue that the CMO continues to battle? The Drum's ‘Great Marketing Makeover’ initiative that launched at Cannes Lions put a spotlight on the under valuation of the CMO role – with only 20% of marketers believing the CMO is viewed equally influential as other C-suite executives. Besides upskilling their teams to speak the language of the business and show marketing’s impact on the bottom line, what else can CMOs do to wield influence amongst other stakeholders? And how can other C-suite executives be better educated about the value of marketing and the expertise of the CMO? Luis, Dean, Amanda, Benjamin, Katie, Emily, Lisa, Rebecca, Nicole, Tracy.

Today marks #WorldRefugeeDay, reminding us that more than 117 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, and 37.6 million of those refugees are seeking to build a new life in a country that is not their own, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. For refugees, finding employment is essential, but they face many challenges along the way – from language barriers and lack of a professional network to a misalignment of their qualifications and skills for jobs. LinkedIn is committed to connecting refugees to economic opportunity because we know that economic integration brings immense benefit to the individuals, employers and the societies in which we live. Take the story of the UK hospital, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Faced with an industry-wide shortage of nurses, the Trust used a skills-based hiring approach and the nonprofit programme Talent Beyond Boundaries, which helps connect employers and refugees, to hire ten nurses since March 2022. They are now integral parts of The Royal Marsden’s medical team — bringing technical expertise, empathy, and a wealth of cultural knowledge, helping to deliver a better patient experience. Adopting a skills-based hiring approach helped Royal Marsden: * Look beyond resume experience to understand where each nurse could best apply their skills. * Adapt the interview process to put refugees more at ease when applying. * Monitor the professional development of nurses and help them grow skills whilst in the job. Ready to learn more about how your organisation can hire qualified talent faster and create a more diverse and inclusive workforce? Don’t miss this new LinkedIn Learning path about skills-based hiring, which is freely available until 4th October. https://lnkd.in/ex7fJ_Am #WorldRefugeeDay

If you're a contrarian, like to challenge conventional wisdom, and eager to help define the future of B2B Marketing, this job is for you. NYC based, leading a global team of incredibly smart people, and reporting into the brilliant Melissa (Mel) Furze. If Carlsberg did jobs..... #b2b #job

Given it's #Pride month, I'm resharing a post I wrote in 2017 about the process of coming out. Despite the incredible progress in LGBTQ+ rights over the last 25yrs - as a kid I couldn't have imagined that gay marriage would be legal in my lifetime, let alone in 36 countries - we cannot take those rights for granted. In many countries around the world, people are still terrified of their family, friends and colleagues discovering their 'secret'. Same-sex sexual activity is criminalised in 64 countries, and even in countries that have made great strides like the US, there is often still a great stigma. In the US, LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. What's so horrifying is that there are very well-funded organisations actively lobbying to reverse LGBT+ rights around the world. It's why my husband Jon and I setup the Steinberg-Graff Fund for International LGBTQI+ rights in-conjunction with GiveOut. There are brilliant grassroots organisations around the world fighting hard to progress LGBTQI+ rights who are desperately in need of funding. If you want to learn more about our grant partners, please checkout this link: https://lnkd.in/ein9y9Qb #pride

A great reminder in LinkedIn's Dublin office how Pride is both a moment to celebrate but also a moment to reflect and be grateful for so many in our community who fought for the rights that we have today. #Pride

A good start to the week. If you haven't already, check out LinkedIn's new games. Pinpoint, by LinkedIn is definitely my favourite.