Recently updated on August 28th, 2024 at 10:03 am
LinkedIn is not a typical social media service. Some argue that LinkedIn isn’t social media at all. What is agreed upon is that LinkedIn is a social network. But it does operate very differently than Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, primarily because it is professionally oriented. Since this is their unique selling proposition it makes sense for many businesses (particularly B2B operations) to have a presence on this platform.
It can be daunting to approach this prospect without any prior experience, however, LinkedIn offers free training for those interested to learn more about how their platform works and how it can be leveraged to improve business growth. If you don’t have the time to take the course, or only require an overview, we’re here to tell you the basics about LinkedIn.
Building an organic presence with LinkedIn pages
What is an organic presence? Basically it is the long-term brand awareness activities that your business undertakes. Organic activities in the world of social media are those that do not have paid promotion behind them. This content is only seen by people who follow the company page. The frequency with which a page posts organic content can have wider effects on the page’s reach.
Why have a LinkedIn page?
The basis of interactions on LinkedIn are to create stronger relationships within your professional community. It offers users an environment where businesses can connect with professionals in an authentic and scalable way. The LinkedIn page is the digital persona that connects community members to your business and each other. The more your content is engaged with, the wider its reach becomes. Posting regularly and responding to others’ posts (Community Management) is the foundation for growing reach without paid promotion. Keeping the page active is key to achieving desirable results.
What can you do with a LinkedIn page?
You can join conversations that matter and add valuable contributions. This typically involves sharing content from your LinkedIn page (articles, polls, images, videos, etc.). Another simple way to use your page is to react and comment on the posts of other members. As you increase your engagement with others, the engagement with your page will increase. Simple ways to improve your presence include the use of hashtags and engagement with relevant community posts.
With a LinkedIn page you can know and grow your professional community. This includes current and prospective employees, customers, investors, etc. You can also follow trending industry topics to drive engagement with your audience, driving them toward specific actions using custom Calls To Action (CTA). As with other digital media platforms, LinkedIn allows you to monitor activity with visual analytics.
A significant value of having a LinkedIn page is the ability to engage your people. The following are a few ways:
- You could reshare your employees’ best content.
- Notify employees of important page posts to share on their pages to extend organic reach.
- Recognise excellence with personal employee posts on the business page.
- Develop internal engagement through an employee-only community.
Goals for a LinkedIn page
There are three main goals for a LinkedIn page:
- Increase brand awareness.
- Build community.
- Generate leads.
In order for your activity on LinkedIn to be as meaningful as possible it is important to define your goals so as to make informed decisions regarding:
- What to post.
- How often to post.
- Visual identity and tone.
- How to measure success.
Is your organisation ready for two-way market communication? Not many are and rely on professionals to help them navigate the digital space. But here are some points that may help improve your success:
- Know your community’s demographics and interests.
- Choose relevant content that resonates with the audience.
- Generate employee excitement (engagement) or create an employee advocacy program.
- Align internal resources – identify page admins, make sure they’re trained and sync with the rest of the team regularly.
Tools available on LinkedIn and their purpose
Your LinkedIn page is the centre of your operations on LinkedIn and acts as your voice in the conversation. It is also linked to an ecosystem of tools that help you connect to the community and grow your audience.
- Showcase pages. These pages are different from regular LinkedIn pages in that they address specific segments of your audience to highlight initiatives within the company. Be careful not to over fragment your audience as this will have negative effects on engagement and reach.
- My company tab. With this you can make employees feel a part of your organisation. It is a space that caters for connection and advocacy. The goal is to increase brand reach organically. Recommended uses:
- Product launches.
- Press coverage.
- Customer success stories and testimonials.
- Important announcements.
- Corporate social responsibility initiatives and updates.
- Open roles, recruitment.
- Product pages. These offer the opportunity to communicate the value of your products, gather reliable reviews and generate high quality leads. Tips to using product pages:
- Add a CTA button for your audience to take specific action that moves them down the marketing funnel.
- Share an overview in the About tab.
- Use images and videos.
- Speak to the functional roles that are most likely to use the product.
- Feature reliable recommendations from LinkedIn members.
- Feature customers to build trust.
- Articles for pages. These are long-form, blog-style pieces of content. Articles support the ability to share various forms of rich media including image, video and hyperlinks. Tips for creating articles:
- Use a compelling headline and cover image.
- Use various multimedia.
- Keep it concise: 500-1000 words.
- Use bullet points or short lists.
- Offer value.
- End with a Call To Action (CTA). A question for comments or a ‘Learn more’ or ‘Register today’ button linked to a specific location works better than other generic options. The best one to use will depend on the objectives of your marketing strategy.
- Share the article on other channels of communication.
Key metrics for LinkedIn pages
You may have a handle on how to use a LinkedIn page but how do you know if your efforts have led to any positive outcomes? LinkedIn offers two key metrics to monitor your page performance:
- Page activity. This feature provides insights into what people say about you. A simple kind of social media monitoring.
- Page analytics. You can use this feature to better understand your audience and align it to your overarching goals. Compare the performance of past posts to fine tune design, production processes, posting frequency and content pillars.
This is a basic introduction to LinkedIn. It is a tool that can offer huge potential to companies who are capable of using it well. Although it may be tempting to insource the upkeep of this resource, external expertise often helps increase the pace and fluidity of the entire process. At Digital Doorway we help guide businesses through the many facets of digital transformation with ease. Contact us today and find out how we can assist your business.
