(Photo above courtesy of socialmonsters.org)
Regalix’s State of B2B Social Media Marketing for 2015 found that 91 percent of B2B marketers choose LinkedIn as the most used social media platform. Another 64 percent of marketers polled favored LinkedIn for customer engagement during the presale state of the buying cycle. But how often do you need to engage and connect with your LinkedIn followers? According to Buffer’s Social Media Frequency Guide, you should post to Twitter at least five to 20 times per day, Facebook up to 10 times per week and LinkedIn just once per day over 20 days to reach your audience.
Connecting with users on LinkedIn can be a highly effective way to grow your business, engage with customers and recruit potential employees. But LinkedIn does more than give a platform for a great company page or personal profile. Here’s how to make LinkedIn work for your company:
Create Valuable Content Marketing Pieces
Blog where your customers, employees and investors are already hanging out. Post media rich updates on LinkedIn’s update feature that link back to your company blog for more engagement. Take it a step further and use LinkedIn’s publishing platform to create blog posts that reach your connections. Content marketers have taken notice, and LinkedIn recently named Harvard Business Review as one of its top influencers on LinkedIn employing content marketing strategies to reach its audience.
According to HubSpot, LinkedIn’s publishing platform can help drive greater click-throughs than on Facebook. But know who you’re writing for. Consumer oriented content may fare better on Facebook or Twitter, and use LinkedIn to publish business-focused articles that speak to your company’s services, core values and innovations.
Educate Customers and Employees
Instead of filling out a static About page and moving on, use LinkedIn as a tool to educate customers and potential employees. For example, Amway uses LinkedIn to network with potential representatives to educate them on its rapidly growing brand and sales of $9.5 billion. The brand also features articles on how its employees support local communities by building new playgrounds for preschoolers. Meanwhile, the company’s careers page gives insights to direct selling and the potential of the industry. To stand-out in your niche, use LinkedIn’s SlidehShare feature to create visually compelling slideshows to add style and engagement to your content.
Personalize Your Brand
Executives can personalize themselves and their brand, by putting a name with a face and building their LinkedIn profile. Choose a dynamic headline for your job title that goes beyond CEO and says something about what you do for the company. Build up your connections carefully and spread out updates and posts about your company to help bring a personal touch to your brand. Using photos, videos and engaging employees through your company’s LinkedIn page can also help turn a faceless corporation into a thriving presence.
Create a Company Group
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s Group feature to create your own company gathering spot on LinkedIn. Keep your group closed to employees or open it up for potential candidates who want to ask questions about your brand. Publish your content directly to your group as part of your content marketing strategy to engage, educate and personalize your company with your audience. LinkedIn also allows its group owners to email a weekly announcement to its members. The Content Marketing Institute uses LinkedIn Groups to send promotions and remind members about valuable articles they may have missed. And groups can do more than just effectively communicate. According to Content Marketing Institute, you’ll find more qualified leads within targeted LinkedIn Groups without having to pay for them.
