The right way to use LinkedIn for your business

LinkedIn has been the most preferred channel by businesses to connect with other professionals and top value clients. In a world of social media driving business communications and brand perception, LinkedIn plays a vital role in your marketing mix strategy. With over 810 million active members, LinkedIn has a focused group audience that is worth investing in. But are you doing the right things to effectively market your business on LinkedIn?

I’ve noticed, that many businesses do not realize the potential of this member network and end up either using LinkedIn as other social media platforms like Facebook or doing very minimal activities that do not even attract their own employees.

No wonder after 19 years businesses are still struggling to find the right way to use LinkedIn. In this article, I’ve penned down everything you need to know about marketing your business on LinkedIn.

1. Create and manage your company page

Does your business already have a LinkedIn company page? If not, start with creating a company page.

1. Click on Work icon and select Create a Company Page

2. Select the type of page you are creating. Considering if you do not have an existing company page, select Company. “Showcase page” are used by companies that have multiple divisions serving different business needs but want to tie them back to the main organization page.

3. Now that you’ve made the choice that best meets your requirement, it is time to give your page identity. Add your company name, short details, and logo to create a visual identity of your business.

Many companies stop here. But are you really done? Creating the company page is just the beginning.

4. Add a detailed company description – this helps your audience connect with your brand.

Adding a custom CTA button on the profile page makes a huge difference. If your goal is to drive users to your website, add a visit website button and add your website URL if have not already. Make sure you add your LinkedIn profile on your website as well. Once your profile edits are complete, it will look something like this:

2. LinkedIn marketing strategy – the right way to use LinkedIn for business growth

Creating a company page was the easy part. 😮‍💨

Do you have a social media marketing strategy in place? More specifically do you have a strategy for your LinkedIn outreach? Here are a few things you need to focus on:

• Why do you have a LinkedIn page? Do you want to connect with professionals? Recruiting or Lead Generation? or is it for content sharing?
• Do you want to stay organic or do you have plans to advertise on LinkedIn?
• If you are planning for ads on LinkedIn, what type of ads? Lead Gen or Follower ads?
• What are other competitors doing on LinkedIn? How can you create a differentiator?
• What topics are you going to cover? Who is your audience?
• What is your post strategy? How often will you post? Do you prepare your own content?

Sometimes, companies focus too much on creating and posting their own content and forget to engage with others.

Remember: LinkedIn is a professional social networking channel. The more you engage with other professionals and other content that are very specific to your profile, the better chance you have in success.

Maintaining a content calendar and activation plan is the first step. It helps you stay organized and maintain pace in a controlled manner. You can start with a simple excel and as you grow, you can explore paid and free tools.

A well-optimized content strategy is the first right step toward using LinkedIn in the right way. Here are some popular tools to get started with your content planning and scheduled posting:

1. HootSuite
2. Buffer
3. SocialPilot
4. Zoho Social
5. CoSchedule
6. eClincher
7. Socialbakers
8. Agorapulse
9. Statusbrew

3. LinkedIn success mantra 🧘‍♀️

There is only one key mantra to success in marketing – “Stay Relevant”.

Like any other platform, LinkedIn’s algorithm is designed to serve the most relevant content and ads to the audience. This keeps the users focused and helps brands connect with the right buyers.

Writing original posts, staying consistent (posting and engaging with other content), and keeping your old posts alive (by resharing and encouraging continued engagements) help create credibility and improve your brand reach.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Keep your posts short and simple.
• Use images and creatives to engage the audience.
• Run polls and surveys to improve engagements.
• Add a clear call to action.
• Use relevant #hashtags.
• Use catchy and strong headlines.

Use inbuild LinkedIn analytics to measure performance and find direction. This helps you identify what is working for you and your business and enables you to focus your resources and efforts on the right path.

Conclusion

Every business is unique and so is the target audience. But these above-mentioned tips will help you stay focused on the core components and will guide you to stay relevant. Time and again LinkedIn has proved to be the most valuable tool for businesses. Be it for recruiting, networking, lead generation, or lead nurturing, using the right strategy on LinkedIn improves the quality of the outcome.