LinkedIn Marketing
LinkedIn is an important social networking site for business professionals. It is a great place to build relationships and trust, and stay top of mind with your network. When thinking about using LinkedIn, first you need to do some research to learn if the people you want to connect with are there. Think about your ideal client. Are they active on LinkedIn? It’s used by many people who want to connect with other professionals. It helps them stay connected with old friends and make new contacts. Marketing on LinkedIn is also a great tool for companies who want to use it for social media marketing, build an online community and connect with potential customers.
How to use LinkedIn for Business
You may want to do everything from your personal account, or you may want to set up a company page. First, you need to make sure you have a personal account. This will be the administrator account for your business. You can add other administrators later. It will be easier for you to create engagement from your personal account because people would rather connect with a person than a company. If you are using a company page, you should look for ways to humanize your brand. I like to think of this as a competitive advantage because most companies get it wrong. That provides an opportunity for those willing to do the work. Let’s start by creating a personal account.
Step 1: Create a Personal User Account
You need to sign up for a personal account on LinkedIn. To create a company page, I’d recommend using your work email address as your username but be careful because if you are planning to change jobs, you could lose access to that email account. In that case, you may want to use a personal email address that you won’t lose access to or remember to change your account email before you change jobs. So, choose which email address you use wisely.
Step 2: Create a LinkedIn Company Page
To set up a LinkedIn Company page, make sure you are logged into your personal account.
- Click on the work icon in the upper right of the LinkedIn home page.
- At the bottom of that menu, find the “Create a company page”
- Choose the type of page you would like to create. The options are:
- Small Business
- Medium to large business
- Showcase page – this is for companies that want a page for a separate division, but want to link it back to the corporate page.
- Educational institution
- Fill out the requested information such as page identity and profile details
- Check the box to verify that you have the right to act on behalf of that company
- Click create page
- Finally, click ‘start building your page’ to build your page
Optimize Your Page
Now that you have a page, it’s time to make it work for you. Filling out this information will help you show up when someone is searching on LinkedIn. Companies that take the time to optimize their page get better results. Make sure you write a good tagline. This will be the first thing people see when visiting the page. Don’t try to be too clever. A clear message beats a clever message. A clear message is the key to getting more business.
A few LinkedIn Page Optimization Tips
Add keywords in your company description. Your LinkedIn Page is indexed in Google, so work in appropriate keywords where you can in the first paragraph of your company profile. Keep it to 3 – 4 paragraphs maximum about your vision, values, products, and services. Maximize your page for a global audience. If your company is global, you don’t need to create a page for each language. LinkedIn will allow you to add translations. You can have up to 20 different languages on your page.
How Often Should You Post?
LinkedIn would like you to post every day. While this might be a good goal, it probably isn’t possible. This is difficult because it’s not just about posting. It is about posting valuable information. You also don’t want to overwhelm your connections. So, it is ok to start small, and as you gain followers and views, you can increase your post frequency. Start by posting once a week. I like to write my posts in advance because then I am not staring at a blank page on a Monday at 9 am with ten other things calling for my attention.
When Should You Post?
There is no magic time to post. My recommendation for my clients is that they start posting at 9 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There is no magic to the 9 a.m. posting time. I recommend starting at 9 a.m. and then testing some other times to see what gives you the best results. It is more important to post three times a week at the same time than not to post at any time. If three times a week is too much for you, just post once a week. However, the more you want to grow, the more you are going to need to post.
How Do You Get LinkedIn to See You as a Thought Leader?
Thought leadership is a great way to tell your buyers why you are different and why they should buy from you without being overly salesy. It’s all about showing up and providing valuable content. This builds awareness and credibility. Make sure you activate creator mode to help you gain traction and attract viewers. This also gives you extra tools and helps you gain eligibility to be featured as a suggested creator by LinkedIn. Top thought leaders use video to build a better connection with followers.
What Should You Post?
According to some, thought leadership has become oversaturated and the content is poor. This is a great opportunity for you to shine by marketing excellent content that cuts through the noise. Start by making a list of the problems you solve and create a post, whether they be text or video, to talk about those things. Make sure you are original and not too salesy. Share a behind-the-scenes look at what is happening at your office.
Tips for Video Posts
Here are some tips our Orange County video production company uses when creating videos for our clients on LinkedIn. Keep them short when you are starting out. Don’t start your post with a logo or by telling people your name. Start off with a statement to draw them into the video. Get to the point quickly, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to have fun.
Collaborate with Your Network
You can collaborate with others in your company, referral partners, or clients. The best way to do this is to create a video together. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it needs to be watchable. Do something better than a standard Zoom call. Then you post the video to your page and tag the other person. Have them share your post on their page.
Use the LinkedIn Happy Birthday Feature
The LinkedIn birthday feature is a great excuse to stay in front of people by remembering their birthday. It only takes a few minutes and is a good reason to log in to LinkedIn every day.
How to Grow Your Following
Invite friends and others in your network to connect with you. I make it a habit to add anyone I network with or have gotten a business card from. Make sure you interact with others’ posts. People who are successful on LinkedIn are active on LinkedIn. Not only do they post, but they are an active part of the LinkedIn community. This means you need to be active on the site and go to other people’s posts, like, and comment on their posts. Make sure you post thoughtfully to show you are engaged. Use hashtags to help your content get seen.
Final Thoughts
Try to stay away from political topics on LinkedIn that don’t relate to your business. This is hard because it seems like everything is political and even LinkedIn is posting political content that doesn’t relate to business.
Does your profile differentiate you from competitors? If you need help standing out on LinkedIn, use this link to set up a call with one of our social media experts.
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