Using LinkedIn for Business Marketing

With more businesses than ever using social channels to reach their audience and attract new customers, it is evident that social media marketing is here to stay. While almost any social platform can be utilized for commercial purposes, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most-used and specialized platform for all things B2B. So, how can businesses use this professional platform to generate quality leads and maximize their return on investment?

Here are our top tips for using LinkedIn for business:

1. Create a LinkedIn Company Page

As obvious as this step may seem, we’ve seen many business owners use their personal profile to promote their business (or even set up their business page as a personal account).

While this is no doubt a convenient approach, it isn’t necessarily the most beneficial for meeting your enterprise goals. Creating a formal LinkedIn company page shows credibility and allows employees to add your business as their employer on their professional profiles.

LinkedIn company pages also provide measuring capabilities and analytical data that a personal profile page does not. This means your company marketing efforts won’t be as quantifiable if you use your personal profile. There are also a ton of other premium business features, like showcase pages and SEO capabilities, that are only available if you have established a company page.

In a nutshell, Linkedin company pages were created specifically for businesses and they really are the best tool for the job!

2. Experiment with LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn has invested heavily in perfecting the online advertising options it offers to businesses. Whether it’s the introduction of lead generation forms in sponsored content ads, or an even smoother user experience with A/B split testing, LinkedIn for Business has come a long way in recent months. But perhaps one of the most enticing and effective marketing tools LinkedIn now offers is sponsored InMail.

What is sponsored InMail? It’s a marketing feature that allows business owners to send personalized, private messages to people within a defined target audience. Within these messages, entrepreneurs are able to include a photo banner (a great opportunity to improve brand recognition), and a clickable call-to-action.

With an average minimum open rate of 20 percent, sponsored InMail is definitely one of LinkedIn’s most lucrative advertising features, and one every business should explore.

3. Never Overlook Your Organic Strategy

Even if your company is experiencing great success with LinkedIn advertising, forgetting your editorial plan for organic content can be highly detrimental. LinkedIn users still value informative, relevant content and often engage with companies that are sharing it.

Some of the top performing content on LinkedIn includes:

• How-to lists
• Videos
• SlideShares
• Tips/best practice guidelines
• Job postings
• Thought leadership posts

Remember, the top reason that LinkedIn users share posts is because the content is educational or informative. So, if you’re looking to generate maximum engagement, focus on sharing content that includes valuable statistics or tips. These types of posts inspire business professionals and give them actionable advice that they can use.

4. Take Advantage of LinkedIn Pulse & Other Tools

The best part about marketing in today’s world is that technology is always advancing, meaning there are always new and improved tools to help you do your job. Tools like JetBuzz and LeadFuze offer features that are specific to LinkedIn, such as automated list building and contact management. These types of services make using LinkedIn for business even more seamless, giving you more time to focus on the other day-to-day responsibilities of entrepreneurship.

Another tool worth investigating is LinkedIn Pulse, LinkedIn’s own news aggregation app. It eliminates the need to scour the web for relevant content to share on your company page by sending you notifications when news arises that is relevant to businesses in your industry. LinkedIn Pulse will even send notifications when your connections are mentioned in the media! A fantastic and helpful application for any business owner.

5. Keep an Eye on Your Competition

If you aren’t checking the LinkedIn company pages of your competitors, now is the time to start! Continuously monitoring what others in your industry are doing to connect with their audience is always an intelligent way to identify gaps that aren’t being filled.

If it’s in the budget, you may also want to consider investing in a competition analysis tool like SEMRush or Rival IQ to keep an eye on your competition’s social media marketing presence.

The more you know about how your competitors are reaching and converting their customers, the more you can position yourself ahead of the eight ball. And as we all know, being the first to strike is often the key to a successful marketing campaign.

Social Media Marketing for Your Business

If your company is new to social media marketing, or you’ve been in the game for a while now but need some help boosting engagement, followers, and leads, contact Bluetrain to see how we can help.