Linkedin the Best B2B Social Media.
With registered over 660 Million Professional, LinkedIn becomes one of the top platforms for developing a trusted network.
Networking plays a large role in the success of business, people buy from people, and having an easy way to meet and contact potential business partners plays a determinant role in the success of a venture. Linkedin comes to make it all easier.
In the beginning, Linkedin was just considered as a place for job seekers and employers, but do you know how valuable this platform is for marketing? It is instrumental in spreading awareness about your brand and establishing credibility.
Today we will walk you through the importance of LinkedIn as a marketing platform to start without any further delay along with some most important areas you should not miss.
The World Marketing Forum prepared a series of social media articles so that you leverage their power and better promote your brand.
Image by ClaudiaWollesen from Pixabay Adapted and Transformed by the World Marketing Forum.
Why care about Linkedin Marketing?
When there are billions of users on a platform like Facebook, Instagram and Tweeter why focus on LinkedIn? Asking this question is obvious you don’t want your efforts to get wasted, and your efforts should deliver the real results.
Here is why to consider LinkedIn;
- With the help of LinkedIn Marketing, 45% of Marketers have made successful customer accusation.
- LinkedIn generates 277% more leads compared to Facebook and Instagram.
- LinkedIn Accounts for 80% of B2B leads.
- LinkedIn accounts for more than 50% of social traffic on B2B Websites.
These are enough reason to why you should also focus on LinkedIn Marketing.
Exposure through Linkedin Marketing.
The best part about LinkedIn is the top-level executives that are associated with it. You can connect, learn, and grow along your way. For your business to reach a peak, connections matter a lot.
Everything that you expect from your LinkedIn marketing strategy will be achieved here, including increased organic traffic generation, lead generation, etc. Also, you are establishing a name for yourself as well as your business.
If you are looking forward to a platform that is worth your time, then Linkedin is the right place. Over time, it is one of the most used marketing platforms for top business owners.
Out of all different platforms, LinkedIn has proved to be the best for Business To Business or B2B interactions. To achieve all the goals that you associate with the strategy, your LinkedIn business page must be optimized. Consistent content can ensure it tops Google Search Results.
If you want to know more about How to Top Rank on Google, the World Marketing Forum wrote a article about it.
Plan your Linkedin Goals.
Firstly, be clear about your LinkedIn marketing goals before you go for putting up content.
What do you expect to achieve through LinkedIn in a given time frame? Your goals can include creating brand awareness, generating better leads, developing credibility, improving engagement, etc. But be specific about your expectations from this platform. If you have a clear vision for the goals you wish to achieve, the path becomes more effortless.
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
Uncle Abe enlightens the importance of planning and preparation to achieve the desired target more efficiently. Follow is advice and success will be closer then further.
Abraham Lincoln the 16th President of the United States of America. | Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
What’s your Target Audience?
Creating content depends upon the people who will be interacting with it. If you go for generalized content, you might come across an audience that has nothing to do with your business. There are various parameters to shortlist the people you want to target. This could include geographic location, interests, etc. Be clear about who you are targeting from the start.
This decision is much easier if you analyze your current audience and their behaviour. Marketing Analytics Software such as Google Analytics plays a functional role here and will help you dive deep into your audience preferences.
Your entire marketing strategy should revolve around the audience you target.
Creating your Company Page in Linkedin.
Your company page on LinkedIn is like your physical business card, it will help people understand what your company is all about, but with much more information, and available to the whole world 24/7. Every important detail regarding your company that you believe your audience will be interested in needs to be mentioned.
Focus on the first impression by uploading your company logo, Don’t avoid adding a profile picture due to the number of visitors you might lose because of not having one at the same time that makes your company seem unprofessional and not to be taken seriously.
The World Marketing Forum Linkedin Page upon the beginning of the project – September 2020
Creating a Compelling Section About Us.
The next important area of focus is the “About Us” section. This section must answer all the queries that visitors could have about your company. Step in the shoes of your audience while writing it to ensure you do not miss out on essential details.
While writing this page, make sure you use relevant keywords. Do not be too formal and write it as if you are conversing with your audience. Give significant emphasis on the goals your company strives to achieve.
More Emphasis on Values and Goals.
People buy from people, companies are just a group of people aligned and working together towards one goal.
Focus on your promoting your values, what you stand for and WHY your company exists, what are the problems that you’re addressing and wish to address, what’s the company ambition, and remember, be specific.
Provide Easy Access to the Website.
Provide all relevant information on your company page since that will increase your visitors. The most crucial area is your website’s URL so that people could reach out to you. Information regarding your headquarter should also be mentioned. The scale of operation is another area you should mention. Complete company pages always attract visitors.
Your company page should not only provide basic facts about your company but also lead to immediate action. The more time you put in creating it, the better leads you generate and more efficiently promote your brand. Do not view at as a basic company page instead use it as a lead generation page. In the end, that is where your primary focus should be.
The World Marketing Forum Linkedin Page upon the beginning of the project – September 2020
Linkedin Showcase Pages.
Your LinkedIn company page is the main page that describes your business. On the other hand, showcase pages give information regarding particular products or services. When you have more than one product, creating showcase pages, help you in posting relevant content accordingly.
These pages help you in developing a strong relationship with a specific audience. Through these pages, you can create relevant content for a particular audience that will lead to better engagement.
Are Showcase Pages different from Company Page?
If you are wondering whether or not it is different from the company page then yes it is.
Your company page is a broad lawn that has multiple purposes and is posting for a wide audience. On the other hand, showcase pages are more limited to a certain group of people.
Linkedin Showcase pages are affiliates to your main company page, giving you the opportunity to closely target specific audiences more efficiently.
Get Started in Linkedin Showcase Pages.
The maximum limit of Linkedin showcase pages is 10, thereby meaning you cannot create more than that. You can link a showcase page to only one company page. If you are wondering both of them are the same then no, each and everything that happens on your showcase page is measured separately. It has to do anything with the measurement on your company page. This implies that followers of both pages are different and grow independently.
Another critical area of focus is naming these showcase pages. What name will receive maximum engagement? Let’s go through some essential points regarding this;
- The name that you choose must be unique and must define your company.
- The name must contain relevant keywords that are searched by your audience.
Create a list of potential names and choose the best one possible for your showcase pages. Keep in mind that just like your company page, you need to fill in information for your showcase pages as well as if they were company pages.
Linkedin has created a showcase guide to give you more understanding of this feature and to take the most out of it.
Promote your Brand in Linkedin.
The first step to use LinkedIn for brand promotion is to create your page, the second is to start using the page and all its possibilities. A great way of promoting your brand is using its staff to share the contents that you publish on Linkedin. Remember, People buy from people.
Invite Connections to Follow your Page.
The first of every month, Linkedin Gives 100 invites to the page admins. This allows you to invite other Linkedin Members to get the awareness of your company page and if they identify with the industry or content posted to become followers and more easily get access to the content displayed.
It’s completely free and it’s non-stackable, so all the admins of a Linkedin Page need to share this 100 monthly follow invites.
Always Post Valuable Content.
The fastest and best way to grow the followers and engagement is to post quality content consistently and company updates regularly.
Publishing at least once per week is recommended by LinkedIn. By posting regularly, it not just appears on your company page but also on your follower’s news feed, here the quality content is at most important.
Ask yourself would you read something which doesn’t add value?
Quality content increases engagement and the number of shares, which is one of the best and free forms of brand promotion.
Always Publish it on LinkedIn publishing platform instead of publishing on some other website and sharing it to LinkedIn. as Linkedin own algorithm privileges content without outbound links.
Pro Tip: On Linkedin write a brief excerpt in a way that captivates the reader interest and then redirect him to your website.
Notify your Employees.
Every time you make a company post, Linkedin gives you an option to notify your company employees, by doing so, it’s more likely that they will share your postings without having to directly approach them on it.
The Vetruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci (1490) tried to solve a complex mathematical problem of that time | Image by WikiImages from Pixabay
Advanced Search – Linkedin’s Best Feature
The best part about LinkedIn is that you need not sit and wait for your audience to find you as you can find them.
Yes, you can search the exact people you are looking forward to connecting with using the advanced search. It will help you filter people by location, industry, etc. Always remember that LinkedIn is about making connections, you can make up to 30.000 of them.
Quality over Quality, never forget about this motto and success will surely head your way.
Linkedin Live.
Linkedin has a LIVE broadcasting possibility, that now is highly privileged by its algorithm. When you make a Live Broadcast in Linkedin, many users automatically receive a notification on their feed that you’re live. If what you’re covering our your company appeals to their interest, they have a reminder and incentive to attend your session.
Don’t abuse this feature as you might lose credibility if the content you provide doesn’t meet the expectation of your audience.
Linkedin Live should be used in;
- Topic Expositions.
- Webinars
- Events
Linkedin Stories.
Linkedin Stories are the most recent feature in Linkedin for brand promotion, it was released in October 2020 and like all new features in social media, is being heavily promoted by Linkedin Algorithm.
Come Linkedin Stories characteristics;
- 20 seconds length stories;
- 24H duration
- Videos stack and follow one another;
- You can write on stories;
- You can add Stickers on stories;
The best time to publish stories seems to be around 7AM in the European Market, as they will stick around for the whole day to be seen by your audience as they use Linkedin in their own schedules. More recent stories are a privilege, as everything that’s more recent, the advantage of stories is that they’re going to stick up to the top and attract a lot of viewers by their New Factor and by being more accessible.
Another trend that the World Marketing Forum brings you is that your news feed is going to be less crowded and therefore your posts might have more reach and exposure as before, as you will see some users shifting their content product to try to dominate the Linkedin Stories Feed.
How you should use Linkedin Stories for;
- Generate Leads in 20 seconds with original content;
- Entice your audience for your profile for Events, Lives, Webinars, etc.
- Try to not go above 20 seconds.
Closing Statement.
LinkedIn is one of the best platforms you can use to establish a name for yourself and for brand promotion. It is the best platform for B2B and to describe your company and products or services that you offer to a broad audience. Through all these years, Linkedin promotion strategy has benefitted all sort of businesses in every geography.
