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Whether you’re a new startup or a global enterprise, LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for creating quality leads and increasing your brand awareness.
A huge networking platform with over 800 million members worldwide, LinkedIn offers an unparalleled social-marketing opportunity. When done correctly, an intelligent LinkedIn marketing strategy allows businesses to take advantage of anything from professional connections and business groups to high-quality content and mandatory brand-outreach initiatives, recognition, revenue and even engagement for long-term growth in the process.
But despite its promise as a brand-building, business networking and client-cultivation tool, LinkedIn remains a widely used marketing platform among small-business leaders. Although more than 50 million businesses are currently listed on the site, we’ve found that many fall far short of hitting their LinkedIn marketing potential, even with many options at their disposal.
With that in mind, here are some tips to maximize your LinkedIn visibility and unlock growth and awareness opportunities across the world’s largest professional network.
1. Connect the target in your unique niche
For small-to-medium-sized businesses, LinkedIn marketing efforts should always begin with zero LinkedIn users buying from your company. LinkedIn offers one-of-a-kind opportunities to target brands by ad size, industry and even specific job roles, allowing you to shape your ad campaigns to quickly reach business and motivated customers.
Related: How B2B brands can identify their target audience
Even if you’re completely new to LinkedIn for Business or have no on-site presence to talk to, this hyper-targeting capability can help (at least temporarily) speed-track branding efforts when deciding your message, brand and products. – Builders across the platform fast. Taking advantage of this opportunity early can help establish a LinkedIn footprint, build brand awareness and help your business grow as your organic marketing efforts continue.
2. Stay active on LinkedIn. Make it work on your social-media-marketing strategy.
Much like branding on many other social-media networks, LinkedIn adopts a consistently active method of creating contacts for your brand or business name. Providing new content, updating your feed, and engaging with followers on a regular basis is going to be one of the best ways to keep your brand afloat and in front of customers, including LinkedIn in your social-media-marketing schedule Shake when appropriate.
Of course, any attempt to stay on the LinkedIn user’s radar should not be made arbitrarily or without a plan customized for your target audience. After all, LinkedIn is a professional networking site, and using content updates and lead-generation and engagement strategies to reach customers should always be kept in mind.
But once you understand what LinkedIn members are looking for and connecting to the platform, you can better shape your time and approach to suit that need and build connections that translate into something more down the line.
3. Post content that pays ৷
Posting value-added content is an integral part of an effective LinkedIn content-marketing strategy. Not only does it provide useful information to specific targeted members that address the real pain points, but it also gives your industry authorities a shocker, providing users with engaging content that frames you and your business as a thoughtful leader in your space. With each new high-quality Linkedin post, you offer professionals a free but valuable asset that strengthens brand trust and reminds you when it comes to shopping.
LinkedIn’s blog posting feature provides an excellent opportunity to reach out to decision makers and make an invincible impression on future customers. Posting new how-tos from your business page or even a senior leader’s LinkedIn profile can help improve the brand’s visibility, which is not possible in any other way. .
And if a post starts an inspirational engagement and gains some traction, it may be classified by LinkedIn and further strengthened in the spotlight. Once viral, that basic How-To or Pro-to-Pro career advice is likely to impress thousands or more readers and potential clients across Screed’s platform.
Related: Underwritten power to create LinkedIn content
4. Your LinkedIn page is important. Make it a priority.
Where do leads, followers and job seekers go when they want to know more about your business? If they’re on LinkedIn, members are most likely going to your brand’s LinkedIn page. And if that company’s page is usually out of shape or your company description is loaded inconsistently, it not only has a negative impact on those users, but it also seriously damages your impact and credibility, leading to lead production and growth. The process makes it absolutely essential to trend your company’s LinkedIn homepage.
Regularly updating your LinkedIn Company page and aligning that page with colors, content (mission statements, values, etc.) and logos ensures consistent brand messaging and coordination, strengthening the trust that comes with it. Small business owners who regularly update their company page also show that their brand is active and involved in the platform. This helps to avoid the presence of latent profiles, which in itself can cast doubt on the legitimacy of the brand and intimidate potential leads and quality hiring.
Good LinkedIn page hygiene should be firmly baked in any digital-marketing endeavor. Those who do not polish their LinkedIn pages or display their best qualities using LinkedIn are missing out on relatively easy branding opportunities.
5. Join the LinkedIn group, and create your own
Plugging your business into a LinkedIn group or two gives you multiple opportunities to connect with your target audience and build strong connections. Intelligently done, joining a LinkedIn group relevant to your potential creates a valuable way to listen to customer conversations, provide useful tips and advice, and build relationships that build future sales leads and clients.
As part of a LinkedIn group, your business can gain important insights into customer trends and industry messaging, essential to changing your own outreach approach before it’s too late. And even if you’re not connected to co-group members, you can still send messages to users when LinkedIn is close to the cost of mail, allowing you to interact with your target demo and maximize your LinkedIn budget.
Related: Why LinkedIn Direct Messaging is your best new sales tool
Taking it a step further, you can also create your own LinkedIn group, a great marketing tool for identifying and collecting high-quality leads in an easy-to-manage location. Once established through your business page, you can score other groups you belong to and invite them to that group for members who match your ideal customer profile. You can tap on your own page followers and other LinkedIn links for new members.
As your group grows, you have more opportunities to pick and target well-received leads and to share content and raise awareness among your best LinkedIn prospects.
