Promoting a business on LinkedIn can require far different tactics than those used on other social media sites. Similarly, promotion on LinkedIn can be more beneficial and influential than that on other sites. This is not to degrade the vast opportunity within other social avenues, however LinkedIn provides something more readily than other sites: credibility. Functioning as a business professional site, content that is shared and commented within LinkedIn is often of a different nature.
All of this considered, here is a list of five ways LinkedIn can have a positive impact on your business’s marketing strategy:
- Reliability.
The credibility of profiles and published information on LinkedIn is more highly regarded than most other social media profiles. These followers may find a comfort in understanding that information posted is a reflection of a brand or business, thus has been carefully considered and published. The “professional” opinion that is provided makes LinkedIn the perfect platform for flaunting the services your business is best at, and advising others how you can help them do the same.In addition to posting frequent and informative articles, it may be beneficial to explore the advertising opportunities that LinkedIn provides. While some of these options may be more expensive than competing alternatives, it is important to note the credibility of advertising on LinkedIn as opposed to that of other sites. Advertising with LinkedIn promotes to a more sophisticated following. Although the cost may be higher, many of your impressions can be more impactful, as the site is designed for professional and business related assistance and insight. - Employee participation.
Employees are active participants in the success of any business. One way to use LinkedIn as a positive marketing strategy for a business is to encourage employees to post about the brand. This is free and positive promotion for the brand, but also benefits the individuals who are posting. Giving individuals the opportunity to see that employees are having a positive experience with a company builds a brand. Further, this allows for followers to associate faces with the brand. Functioning from a business account can give an incognito perspective, but seeing other active individuals on LinkedIn promoting positive experiences allows for a more personable perspective in addition to your business profile page. - Promote awareness within the Network.
Many businesses use LinkedIn to remain connected with current clients. This is a great opportunity to promote all of the services a business offers. Clients may only be investing in one product but could read about another service that they think would be beneficial to expanding the relationship. Often times a client may only be in contact with a few people that work for the business; including employee content or information can give clients a better understanding of a business’s identity and give them exposure to who works behind the scenes. For any prospects that may be watching a business and contemplating whether to invest, frequent posts authored by those within the organization give them insight to all the brand has to offer. - Use actionable content.
Incorporating questions within the text of posts encourages engagement among followers. They can then comment and open a dialogue; this considered, it is increasingly important to take time to respond to any questions or comments. Investing time in connecting with followers will show initiative from the business and strengthen a current relationship or a relationship in the making.Incorporating video is also a beneficial and actionable approach to promoting content on LinkedIn. LinkedIn offers two video options: to link to a YouTube video or a live video. Using a live video, such as a Q&A, would allow for followers to ask questions and witness an immediate response. This also assists in associating faces with a brand and building credibility. Reading tactics or practices gives the reader an opportunity to imagine the action, while video is visually telling. While appealing to followers that prefer visual representation, it also eliminates any misunderstanding the follower may experience upon reading about a process.
LinkedIn has several other ways to enhance any marketing strategy such as multi-language tools, showcase pages, and SEO. Establishing a brand as reliable can pave the way for potential partnerships with other businesses, as well as providing an open forum for current clients. All of these concepts can help enhance authenticity in brands and strengthen B2B relationships.
