“There is no sale without the story; no knockout without the setup.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful lead generation tools that any business can take advantage of when used correctly. In the United States alone, LinkedIn has over 128 million users. In fact, according to a recent study from LinkedIn, a “whopping 80 percent of members want to connect with companies because those connections provide them opportunities to enhance their professional decision-making.” With these facts in mind, imagine what your company could be missing out by not taking advantage of LinkedIn’s complete capabilities.
Today, we offer some powerful social media marketing tips that will take your LinkedIn business page to the next level.
1. Tailor Your Content to a Specific Audience: Think about this for a minute. What type of content would resonate more with your followers? Content must speak to them and be customized to their specific professional interests. With LinkedIn’s Targeted updates, you can directly hit your intended audience every time your share something on your business page.Let’s say you just wrote a blog about how the cosmetic healthcare industry can benefit from digital marketing, now you have the opportunity to just show that post to your connections within the healthcare industry. How wonderful would that be for them? By doing this, you’ll be nurturing their feeds with some powerful content tailored to their needs. Pure gold. In case you are sharing a more generic update, remember not to hypertarget it, otherwise you’ll be missing potential audiences.
2. Drive Leads With Your Banner: Your profile image should tell your organization’s story and reflect the essence of your business. A picture of your company’s building won’t do your LinkedIn page any good. This is your moment to shine and to impress that user that decided to give your company a chance. One of the companies that is already taking advantage of this feature is Adobe. With just a glance, users are able to notice the unique elements in their image, what’s in it for them, and what to do to follow their updates, all thanks to their strong and visible call to action (CTA). Brilliant, right?
3. Optimize Your Profile: As important as it is to have your LinkedIn business page profile completed with the main key points of your company, optimizing this information will help your SEO efforts. Including your main keywords throughout your profile and content will increase the chances of your company being found under those main terms.
4. Use The Advanced Search Option: Find your perfect potential customer and connections by taking advantage of the Linkedin Advanced Search People feature. Select the location, company size, industry, and voila! Oh, and don’t forget that not having that person in your close circles should never be an impediment; take advantage of these tips to learn how to introduce or be introduced to another LinkedIn member and start expanding your connections.
5. Be the Pulse of LinkedIn: Pulse is LinkedIn’s publishing platform where any user can post their content just as you would in your blog, with an added advantage. Your followers will get notified as soon as you post it, so chances are that your content will get more impressions on LinkedIn than on your website. Don’t forget to take advantage of the tags when posting your content. Using the right tags for your content might determine the success of your blog and its reach.
6. Create a Showcase Page: LinkedIn Showcase pages offer your company the option to feature some specific products or services on a separate page under the umbrella of your main company LinkedIn page. Check how IBM is using this feature.
7. Participate in LinkedIn Groups: By joining groups related to your industry or where your target demographic is and interacting on them on a daily basis, you will be establishing a relationship with potential leads. What’s more, by actively participating in the group, you’ll position your company as an industry leader. Ask thoughtful questions to engage your audience, and don’t forget to monitor these conversations on a daily basis to keep the conversation going.
Consistency is key with LinkedIn, but don’t expect to conquer this platform in a month; it will take time and effort, but it will pay off. Post things that are relevant to your audience, and include videos and images with your updates to make them more visual. Oh, and please visit your page’s Analytics tab on a weekly basis. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your content to see what works best by paying attention to the time of the day and frequency that drive the most interaction. Now, breathe, and start building relationships. Tell your employees that now there’s a reason to follow your company on LinkedIn. Start linking your company to the business world!
