Why LinkedIn Needs to Loosen Up (and Maybe Have a Drink): A Case for a Stronger Third-Party Partnership Program

I had one of those “oh-my-God-it’s-so-obvious” moments the other morning, mid-sip of coffee, staring at a LinkedIn dashboard. And not the cute kind of dashboard either — the kind that makes you question all your career choices and your Wi-Fi speed.

Here’s what hit me: LinkedIn is sitting on a gold mine it refuses to dig up.

If you’re like me, a freelance marketer, ghostwriter, fractional CMO, and full-time attention addict, you live on LinkedIn. You know how to finesse Premium, flirt with Sales Navigator, and politely ghost Recruiter.

But here’s the problem: the tools that actually make LinkedIn usable, lovable, and lucrative? They’re mostly not made by LinkedIn. And the platform treats them like your ex treats your new partner — with suspicious silence and an occasional threat.

So here’s the thesis: LinkedIn should stop pretending to be a one-stop-shop for everything and start acting like a cool parent, the kind that lets other kids come over and play, but still makes sure nobody sets the house on fire.

LinkedIn, darling, you’re not good at everything — and that’s okay

This isn’t shade. This is love.

Governments hire contractors. Fortune 500s hire agencies. Even Beyoncé has a lighting designer. Because being powerful doesn’t mean doing everything yourself.

LinkedIn has incredible strengths: its network, its trust, its monopoly on professional self-importance. But when it comes to content tools, automation frameworks, and creator-side analytics, there are smaller, faster, hungrier players out there.

And what does LinkedIn do? Instead of partnering, it plays gatekeeper, as if protecting the world from too much efficiency.

Let’s be honest: every LinkedIn update takes 18 months and a prayer circle to roll out. Meanwhile, companies like Buffer , Hootsuite , and more are out here building elegant, ethical, API-compliant scheduling tools before lunch.

The state of the union (and it’s… awkward)

LinkedIn makes money three ways:

1. Premium subscriptions.
2. Sales Navigator and Recruiter.
3. Ads.

All fine, all profitable. But if you look closely, the real long-term money is in premium users. That’s the product with the highest lifetime value and lowest churn: if, and only if, users keep finding more value.

Now, technically, LinkedIn has APIs and official partnership routes, but most of the ecosystem either:

• doesn’t qualify,
• doesn’t get approved, or
• doesn’t want to risk Microsoft’s version of divine wrath.

So what happens? The best tools get pushed underground like bootleg whiskey in Prohibition. Tools like Taplio, Scripe , HeyReach.io , MagicPost , or Kondo: Superhuman for LinkedIn DMs , clever, useful, slightly rebellious, live in the gray area.

And that terrifies professionals who actually follow the rules. Because nobody wants to be that marketer who wakes up to find their client’s account “temporarily restricted.”

The business case (and no, this isn’t just my TED Talk fantasy)

Let’s talk numbers and common sense.

If LinkedIn partners with more third-party tools:

• Users win. Safer tools. More creativity. Less guesswork.
• LinkedIn wins. Happier users = lower churn = higher Premium adoption.
• Developers win. Predictable approval processes. Clear rules. Fewer “please don’t sue us” nightmares.

Everybody makes money, and LinkedIn gets to look like the benevolent genius instead of the hall monitor of social media.

What a smart partnership program would look like

Picture it — “LinkedIn Ecosystem 2.0”:

1. Tiers for tools.
2. Badges and transparency.
3. Revenue sharing.
4. Automation guardrails.
5. Community visibility.

Objections? Sure. But let’s be adults.

“Wouldn’t people spend less time on LinkedIn?” Maybe. But they’d spend better time. Less doom-scrolling. More creating. Higher-quality ads. You’ll thank yourself when your CPM goes up.

“Data privacy?” That’s literally why you have a compliance team . Use it.

“We already have partners.” Yes, but only for giant enterprise accounts. The rest of us are out here playing “API roulette,” praying our favorite Chrome extension doesn’t vanish overnight.

For everyone using LinkedIn to feed themselves

Here’s your PSA, straight from the Joan Rivers of Marketing: If you’re managing someone’s account, don’t use gray-area tools and then act surprised when LinkedIn ghosts you harder than a Bumble match.

Be transparent with clients. Ask if tools have official API access. Avoid the ones that say “we’re compliant*” with an asterisk the size of Texas.

Strategy first, automation second. Otherwise, you’re just turning bad outreach into bad outreach at scale.

Closing thoughts (and a gentle roast)

LinkedIn, you are brilliant. You are powerful. You are, let’s face it, the corporate dating app none of us can quit even after we're married and divorced multiple times in a row. But you’re also exhausting: almost as much as my ex-boyfriends were.

You don’t have to do everything yourself nor should you even try. You just have to know how to share the stage.

A real partnership ecosystem would make users happier, clients safer, and your revenue fatter. And yes, you could probably get away with charging more, because you’d finally be worth it.

So loosen the tie. Open the gate. Take a hit of my blunt and pass it to legal. Let the smart kids play in your sandbox. You’ll still own the playground, you’ll just have more people paying for a seat at the table.

Sources

1. LinkedIn Marketing API overview → https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/overview?view=li-lms-2025-04
2. LinkedIn “Get Access to APIs” → https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/shared/authentication/getting-access
3. LinkedIn Marketing Partner directory → https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/marketing-partners
4. Buffer LinkedIn integration → https://support.buffer.com/article/560-using-linkedin-with-buffer
5. Taplio → https://taplio.com
6. HeyReach → https://www.heyreach.io
7. Kondo (LinkedIn inbox management) → https://www.trykondo.com/solution/linkedin-inbox-management
8. LinkedIn Compliance FAQ → https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/compliance/compliance-api/compliance-faq