The digital age of B2B marketing provides businesses the opportunity to reach wider audiences more efficiently and in a (mostly) more cost-effective way. And there is no better platform than LinkedIn for growing your business in front of the world’s largest professional network.
LinkedIn boasts over 500 million users and is no longer known as a job-hunting-only platform. Yes, you can still find jobs and network on LinkedIn, but the social platform has become an important lead generation tool for marketers and sales teams. But how can you grow your business by using LinkedIn? Here are our four tips to get you started.
1. Discover highly-targeted connections and customers.
LinkedIn targeting is unparalleled in the world of B2B social advertising, as businesses of all sizes can hone in on the exact niche, industry, company size, and job roles of their target audience. The platform offers a powerful advertising tool that offers these niches through sponsored updates and InMail messages, which allow you to put dollars behind your ads and reach the people you want.
Look at it like this: if you’re selling customer support software to mid-sized businesses in the United States, you can set advertising campaigns to just that—only showing to companies with 100-250 employees based in the country and only to company executives with a customer support title. You can also target users by the certain skills listed on their profile.
2. Utilize “top-down” efforts.
Key employees of any business hold influence with potential customers and B2B connections. If you’re a business owner, strive to share informational posts that highlight the expertise found throughout your organization. It’s important that there’s a “top-down” approach when using LinkedIn. CEOS, CFOs, and other C-suite members can use LinkedIn to not only build their personal brand but provide transparency about the business and help to pull up that proverbial curtain to see the (wo)man pulling the levels.
All that being said, remember—people buy from people, not businesses. This is important because LinkedIn is an excellent platform for effective employee advocacy programs. Employee advocacy helps companies build trust with authenticity directly from the people who work there. Employees can write their own posts about the company, services, or products or help to share the posts that your social team has already crafted. But what’s in it for the employee? Well, they get to build their personal connections, grow their professional network, and, depending on your program, earn incentives like days off, gift cards, or company swag.
3. Optimize your business page.
Just like a fully fleshed-out website, ensuring your business page is optimized and completed with all pertinent information will help you stand out from the competition and provide insights for potential customers.
From writing a compelling “About Us” section to adding the appropriate hashtags, an optimized business page will help people learn more about your organization. Examples of optimization include the use of clear images of your logo and cover banner, adding a Lead Generation form, and double-checking that the basics, such as the phone number and website, are input correctly.
4. Post high-quality content.
This probably goes without saying, but high-quality content makes all the difference. The content should be relevant and make people want to read more, learn more, or take an action. Go behind the scenes. Use monthly employee spotlights or share relevant posts and blog articles. If your business has a social media team, push for unique and helpful thought leadership content to establish yourself as an industry authority.
Businesses and individuals use LinkedIn in a professional manner, so all of the content your organization posts should be of the same advanced and impressive stature. Good content that offers viewers information they didn’t have before demonstrates your professionalism and attention to detail. Providing real value brings in real business.
To wrap up…
Great content, an optimized page, personalized targeting, engaging with connections, and promoting all of the amazing aspects of your company and its employees will make all the difference.
Growing your business through LinkedIn isn’t easy, but Clearbridge Branding can help you put a strategy in place to get you started. Are you ready to begin? Let’s do this! Contact us here.
