Some business owners think LinkedIn is a job board for job seekers. Others who recognise its value want to know how to make LinkedIn work for their business. So in this article, we shall look at how to make LinkedIn work for your business.
According to this article, businesses marketing on LinkedIn generate 277% more leads on average than those engaged in Facebook marketing alone. Surveyed B2B marketers also say that LinkedIn handles 80% of their social media leads.
Social selling leaders have more sales opportunities per quarter. Maximising your LinkedIn connections can save you time and connect you with the right prospects for your business. That’s why B2B marketers rely on LinkedIn for content more than any other channel, with 94% distributing content on the network.
Some questions business owners ask me about LinkedIn include the following:
- How can I use LinkedIn to promote my business?
- How do I get my business noticed on LinkedIn?
- How can I promote my business on LinkedIn for free?
- How can you make a LinkedIn account for a business?
In this article, I try to answer these questions and teach you how to make LinkedIn work for your business.
But first, let’s talk about the importance of LinkedIn marketing and how to set up your company page. If you own a B2B company, LinkedIn should be a part of your business’s social media marketing mix. LinkedIn is the biggest social network for professionals. It is an excellent place for networking and growing your business. Using LinkedIn for your company allows you to build credibility, create a meaningful network, and gain access to insider expertise from established experts in your industry. It’s a fantastic B2B marketing tool.
A business owner’s LinkedIn page is as important as having a company website to reach your target audience.
Have a Comprehensive Personal Profile
Your LinkedIn personal profile is the most significant way to sell yourself on the network.
Have a comprehensive profile with a good cover photo and keep it updated with relevant text and images. The more extensive your profile is, the better. Highlight your unique selling points, specialities, work history, education and contact details. Use keywords related to your specialisation. Repeat these keywords often without being spammy. Highlight whatever makes you unique. Make your profile look professional and easy to share by customising your LinkedIn public profile URL. Instead of a URL with random numbers at the end, it will have your name. Customise your profile URL using your name to make it more user-friendly. Also, ensure you include a headshot cover photo of yourself. This will make it look nice and clean.
Connect your profile on LinkedIn to your business website, LinkedIn company page, and other social networks.
A comprehensive LinkedIn profile helps potential customers and partners search for you.
Keep your profile fresh. Update it regularly with relevant blog posts and images to ensure that people in your network have a clearer vision of your place in your business or your career. Keep your profile updated as it shows you’re active on the network, and that’s to your advantage.
Some business owners think LinkedIn is a job board for job seekers. They are wrong! Click To TweetMake your LinkedIn profile comprehensive and exciting to get the most out of LinkedIn. Your profile will be your online address where people can find you. It’s the place to show off your most significant achievements and personality. Your profile is your chance to put your best foot forward. A complete LinkedIn profile can serve as excellent social proof to help you connect with opportunities.
LinkedIn also has its publishing platform. So if you have the time and resources, you can create and publish content only on this social platform. This will help to boost your marketing efforts.
If you have the means, you could also go for one of the paid membership tiers on the platform. Depending on your membership type, you could access additional tools and features such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, LinkedIn’s Content Marketing Score & Trending Content.
Create a LinkedIn Company Page
Before your business can start LinkedIn marketing, it needs a LinkedIn Company Page. Click here and follow the steps. Complete all the steps. Adding more detail, you can take your LinkedIn Page from basic to the next level.
Once your LinkedIn Page is up and running, please share it with your network and add it to all your marketing collaterals. Add LinkedIn buttons and social media icons to your website’s header, footer, or newsletter to enable people and search engines to discover your company page. This makes it easy for people to find your LinkedIn Page and acts as social proof to help attract potential clients.
Now that your page is running, you need to create a LinkedIn marketing strategy. To help you create your LinkedIn marketing strategy, you need to ponder and provide answers to such questions: what goals can my company accomplish on LinkedIn? Will I use LinkedIn for business hiring, social selling, connecting with customers, or all of the above? Should my LinkedIn marketing budget include ads?
Please ensure you keep your company profile up to date by posting relevant content and status updates. Depending on your company size, you can choose one or more persons to be admins of your company page. They should post relevant content, topics, images and job opportunities on the page. Through your employee’s LinkedIn network, they can also discover potential clients and invite them to like your company page.
Grow Your LinkedIn Network
The next step is to grow your LinkedIn network by connecting with your friends, former schoolmates, past workmates, etc., to grow your network. I would suggest you connect with people you know or have interacted with within your career. Or persons with whom you have a shared connection. Be careful with how you send messages to people on the platform. So you don’t find yourself in trouble for breaking any of LinkedIn’s rules. You could be called a spammer and lose your invitation privileges.
In the past, I used to avoid sending or accepting invitations from people I didn’t know personally. And this slowed the growth of my network on the platform. But my stance on that has changed in recent times.
LinkedIn is about making business connections, from individuals you know personally to those you wish you knew. Invite co-workers from past and present companies. Invite classmates from present and past educational institutions. You can find customers, employees and partners alike on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the best social media platform to help you grow your professional network.
The platform has excellent search features that you can use to network with your existing and prospective clients.
A couple of weeks after you have connected with the person, you can consider sending them an invitation to follow your company page on LinkedIn.
Connect your profile on LinkedIn to your business website, LinkedIn company page, and other social networks. Click To TweetIf you are an admin of several company pages, please be strategic in sending out invitations so that you don’t overwhelm the same persons with invitations to join different company pages.
Avoid hard sells on LinkedIn. Instead of interrupting other users with your marketing messages, strive to be discovered by posting relevant content. Please get familiar with inbound marketing techniques and apply them to this network. It will help you stay on customers’ radar.
Join Industry Related Groups
LinkedIn Groups provide a place for those in the same industry or with similar interests to share experiences, ask for help, and build valuable connections. You can find groups to join by searching at the top of your homepage or viewing the groups you’ve already joined.
LinkedIn is useful in helping you stay abreast of the newest industry trends and practices. The best way to achieve this is by joining and participating in industry-related groups.
When joining groups, please don’t start promoting your own business. Instead, take part in relevant discussions and answer questions posed by others. By so doing, you will position yourself as an experienced professional and not just a spammer.
Learn to help others in the group and not only seek for others to help you. The more you help, the more others will help, recommend, and endorse you. So it’s a win-win situation for you. Regular group participation should be part of your marketing strategy on LinkedIn.
Follow Companies and Influencers
The next step is to follow as many companies, brands and influencers on LinkedIn as you admire. There’s no limit to the number of companies and individuals you can follow. The more companies and influencers you follow on LinkedIn, the better. Please follow Mauco Enterprises LinkedIn Page too. I’d appreciate it.
LinkedIn is an excellent social media platform to network with business leaders and influential people to help your career and business. So make meaningful connections and follow CEOs, CMOS, CFOs, and LinkedIn influencers.
Give Recommendations and Endorsements
According to this article, LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations are not the same. An endorsement is a specific skill that a colleague or friend can back you on. A recommendation is a brief note from a professional who recommends you for a job or project based on their experience with you. So, a recommendation is a written statement of endorsement received from a connection. The more recommendations and endorsements you have, the better because it acts as social proof of your competence. It will also boost your reputation on the platform.
To get the most out of LinkedIn, make your LinkedIn profile comprehensive and exciting. Click To TweetGive recommendations and endorsements. This recommendation is a great way to show support for people whose work and skills you value. Do this, expecting nothing in return. Recommend and endorse people whose work and skills you can vouch for.
Develop a Hybrid Strategy to Increase Conversions
Because of their different flavours, it isn’t easy to perceive the harmony between organic and paid social media. Nevertheless, new LinkedIn research suggests blending the two can produce healthier and more effective marketing results.
LinkedIn’s new guidebook states that professional communities are essential to your integrated organic and paid media marketing strategy. The new LinkedIn research recommends developing an integrated organic and paid media strategy to build your brand. The guidebook shows you many suggestions for leveraging a mix of organic and paid opportunities to build your brand.
You can download the free guide to get started if you’re interested in finding the perfect blend of organic and paid media.
Conclusion
These tips can help you make LinkedIn work for your business. Which of these tips have you tried, and what was the result? Follow our Mauco Enterprises company page on LinkedIn and share your experience. Do you have any LinkedIn tips that I’ve left out? Follow me and let me know. Catch you later.
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