LinkedIn is the most ‘professional’ of the major social networking Websites, used by over 135 million professionals worldwide. It is largely focused on B-to-B connections. If this is your market demographic, then LinkedIn should be an integral part of your social media marketing strategy. You can use it to connect with industry professionals, network, attract talent, establish thought leadership, or generate prospects and leads. The LinkedIn ad platform is even more powerful considering the demographic is made up of decision makers.
LinkedIn is much more than a social site. It’s a community of professionals – in a business mindset – waiting to hear from you. Here are just a few ways of interacting with users and building out your brand on this social media network.
Build your brand with a LinkedIn Company Page. Increasingly, people turn to LinkedIn to learn more about a business. Put your best foot forward with a free Company Page that builds your credibility, provides key information, and gets your business discovered. In addition to giving you extra credibility, Company Pages also rank high in search. Creating yours means you’ll have one more property that appears in the top search results for your company – making it even easier for professionals to find you.
LinkedIn has the world’s largest group of professionals, all in one place. You can easily target just the right people to build a community of brand advocates and grow your follower base. The more people know about your brand, the more business you can drive through word of mouth and referrals. You can also use LinkedIn to engage your employees into becoming brand advocates. Having them link their current position at the company to your page will help to drive continuous traffic to it.
Promote your brand using LinkedIn Groups, LinkedIn Ads, or Sponsored Updates. Find Groups talking about your brand or industry, join them, and take part in the conversation. If you decide to use Ads or Sponsored Updates, you can use targeted criteria like seniority, function, geography, and industry to get in front of exactly the right people.
As with all social media outlets, make sure to post relevant, useful content and post frequently (but not ALL THE TIME). On average, companies that post 20 times per month reach at least 60 percent of their audience. Share a mix of content and formats in order to keep followers engaged and interested in your offering. Don’t make it all about your brand and company. LinkedIn is a great social marketing outlet that is often overlooked in the content marketing strategy. You can take advantage of this by following the steps above and getting entrenched in it before your competitors.
