LinkedIn is a unique social media platform. As a professional social network, it focuses on career development, industry connections, employment and recruitment. LinkedIn’s professional networking opportunities can be used to grow your business.
Here are six tips to help you get started using LinkedIn for business marketing.
Connect with Your Ideal Audience
LinkedIn offers in-depth targeting options that are unrivaled in most network platforms. Businesses can hone in on the industry, job role and other demographics of people they know would be most likely to buy their product or service. Use this specific information to find and make connections with your profile and to target outreach from your business page.
For instance, if you are a business consultant who specializes in start-up consulting, you can set up a LinkedIn advertising campaign to connect you with start-up businesses with less than 10 employees who live in the US. You can go even further to target a job role within that campaign such as Founder or CEO to reach the appropriate decision makers.
Create Valuable Content to Publish in LinkedIn
The best way to stay top-of-mind and grow is by posting articles and company updates on a consistent basis. In fact, LinkedIn recommends you post at least once per weekday. When creating professionally-focused content for LinkedIn, remember to help it stand out in the news feed visually. LinkedIn numbers show that posts containing images receive 98% more comments than those without imagery. Creating your own, valuable content can help position you as a thought leader in your network and industry.
If you find an article or blog post from an outside source that you think will provide value to your audience, share it. This will help in creating connections with outside sources and shows that you are in touch with what is happening in your industry. When sharing from an external source, don’t just copy and paste the URL. Provide your own context and commentary in the caption.
If you use YouTube, share your videos to LinkedIn. Unlike other social media channels, LinkedIn automatically plays YouTube videos in the news feed.
Use Sponsored Updates
A LinkedIn sponsored update functions much like a boosted Facebook post. With a sponsored update, you will pay for your post to show up on the news feed of your ideal customers. As mentioned above, the ability to use in-depth targeting to connect by industry, job title, skills, company name, etc. allows you to refine where your sponsored content appears. Using sponsored updates can support your growth through promotion of your quality content. If the content is something like a free white paper or guide, it can be a conversion point to build your email list as well.
Utilize LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups connect like-minded professionals and businesses within a field or interest. By being an active participant in a group, you can grow your network and attract views to your company page. You can find groups of interest or create a new group yourself to lead and moderate.
To locate a group that is aligned with your business goals, check out LinkedIn’s suggestions via Groups Discover. You can also search for a topic or keyword relevant to your business and explore groups that appear in the search results.
Don’t Ignore Your Company Page
It’s important to have a company page that is regularly updated and consistently branded with your website and other social profiles. If you haven’t created a company page, do so. Fill it out and give it as much detail as you can. Then don’t ignore it. Keep it up to date. This will help those who come across your page to identify your brand and see that you are active. If they stumble upon a LinkedIn page that hasn’t been branded or maintained, many will assume the business is declining, closed or an illegitimate source of spam.
Pay Attention to Analytics
As with any social media platform, LinkedIn has native analytics that are useful in evaluating your content strategy. Pay attention to what topics, types of media and posting times garner the strongest interactions. This is important for informing your strategies and tactics in the future.
To access your LinkedIn company page analytics, click on the Me icon at the top of your app, choose your company page under the Manage section and click the Analytics tab.
LinkedIn is a professional network that gives you an opportunity to build your network, connect with your ideal client and gain valuable insider knowledge from thought leaders in your industry. It’s an incredibly valuable tool in your business marketing and social marketing strategies.
