LinkedIn is a social media site meant to connect people through their business interests and skills. People use LinkedIn to find jobs, share resumes, get leads, and build partnerships, making LinkedIn an important marketing tool, especially for B2B (business to business) companies looking to generate leads.
Like all social media sites, LinkedIn users have a profile. When people search for others on LinkedIn, the profile they will find looks like a resume. In addition to a list of positions and skills, LinkedIn also shows mutual connections between users and endorsements.
Users of LinkedIn can endorse each other. LinkedIn provides a list of skills and characteristics that users can add to a "connections'" page acting as a reference for that user.
While LinkedIn started off as and is known as a job networking site, it has also become a marketing site. A person’s profile is their brand. It communicates who they are, what they do, who they connect with and what they provide. LinkedIn profiles often serve as first impressions.
And it is a focused platform. There are no dog videos or political rants or hilarious memes to distract users from your mission and their goals.
Company Pages
Like other social media sites, on LinkedIn users can have a personal page and a company page. It is important to have a company page and a complete company page.
A company page should be SEO friendly by including keywords, links and relevant and new content.
Use keywords pertaining to services and products relevant to company that other users will likely use during their searches.
Create links on company website and blog to company LinkedIn page
Have employees link their personal LinkedIn account to Company LinkedIn profile.
Add content to company page frequently. This will automatically post to personal profile as well. Good content is blog posts, how-tos, quick tips and industry news.
A complete company page
About Us:There is an About Us section. The About Us section should include information about the company like its mission and values. This section does a word limit much like meta descriptions. Going over the limited is allowable, but not advisable.
Website link
Industry information
Location
Featured Groups
Follow Me
Again, like all other social media sites, the idea is to get followers. When users follow a company page on LinkedIn, they get updates in their feed. The low hanging fruit for all companies is to have their employees be the first followers. Employees are wonderful ambassadors of a company. Having employees follow the company page acts as an endorsement to their followers and professional networks.
Like employees, partners and customers are also wonderful ambassadors. Use other social accounts and newsletters or email campaigns as a way to ask them to follow the company page. Producing helpful and interesting content will encourage these people to want to follow you.
Content is King
LinkedIn is not a place for direct sales pitches. This is a networking site where people come to learn and grow. So even though companies use LinkedIn as a way to attract customers, the approach is different.
LinkedIn is a great place for companies to share original content as well as republished content. The idea is to provide followers with information they want and need to be better in their field. Because our brains process pictures quicker than words, it is also a good idea to include Youtube videos and slideshows to company pages.
According to LinkedIn, on average a person reads 10 pieces of content before making a decision. And LinkedIn is filled with content. LinkedIn also states that 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn.
This means a company should post content regularly to LinkedIn, but that content has to be engaging and relevant.
Analytics
LinkedIn provides analytics for company pages so companies can see which posts are doing well and get the most engagement. Companies can use this data to inform decisions regarding future content.
LinkedIn is like many social media platforms in many ways, but the who and the why are different. LinkedIn is a great place for B2B companies to market themselves and grow their network.
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