LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, hosts more than 300 million users in numerous countries. As the largest B2B network in the world, the site provides a platform for job seekers and recruiters, but it also offers fabulous marketing opportunities for companies. On LinkedIn, business owners can connect with other professionals in their target market, and share info on their products and services with their connections. Therefore, as much as it helps individual users, LinkedIn is also very useful for companies. Let us see how you can use it as an effective marketing tool for your company.
CREATE A LARGE NETWORK
LinkedIn attracts a constant stream of new professionals, including executives, publishers, and journalists. To get started on LinkedIn, it is important to build a network of businesses and potential partners in the same or related fields. What you should do is reach out to people who can join your network as influencers or potential partners. Do this by focusing on companies that offer similar services or complimentary products while keeping an eye open for individuals and firms that could become customers.
As you build your network, you might find almost limitless opportunities that can help you build your business. When looking for partners, you can form mutually beneficial relationships that refer clients to one another or offer products and services that complement each other. When searching LinkedIn, also look for your employees who identify you as their employer in their profiles. When you want to get media attention, you can search for journalists. Research shows that 85 percent of journalists have LinkedIn accounts.
LinkedIn features that you can use to build your network include Advanced People Search, introduction requests, and InMail. You can also either start or join groups that relate to your target market, so you can share your expertise and perspective in ways that contribute to discussions, answer questions, and build the value and authority of your brand. Also, you can view available jobs and post your job openings to the site to interact with people who can contribute positively to your company, as well as with people who can use your skills.
LinkedIn Answers gives you another way to gain momentum for building your network. The forum gives business people like you a chance to share business knowledge and connect with like-minded colleagues. Set accumulating contacts as your overall goal for your LinkedIn marketing, and you will build a network of people with whom you can exchange knowledge and promote your business. As you engage your target audience of decision makers who can benefit from your goods and services, you can distribute your marketing messages to them.
BUILD UP THE COMPANY´S PROFILE
When you send connection requests, people will first see your company’s LinkedIn profile. Therefore, so you should craft it to grab the attention of your audience and inspire them to join your network. Make sure you complete the profile with relevant, exciting, and updated information. You should also include your company logo, add a professional photo and clearly state what your company does, and how it can contribute to the audience.
While constructing the profile, you should include both your company’s primary physical and website addresses, and keywords related to your business. Use bold headlines to describe your expertise in the format of an interesting story. You should also include links to published articles, complete projects and case studies that you’ve created in order to reinforce your qualifications. You can use Google Docs, SlideShare, and other platforms to give people access to your events, reading lists, polls, videos, images, and other content. Finally, make sure that the profile includes links to your website and blog. Don’t forget to also put a LinkedIn sharing button on your websites and blogs, so your visitors can join your professional network.
REQUEST AND SHOW RECOMMENDATIONS
Think of LinkedIn as a place where you can showcase your company. List the products and services you provide, so you can become a recommended company that others can review. Recommendations make excellent tools for marketers because they attract prospective customers who will share your information with their network. Additionally, people can ask your connections for recommendations, contributing to the information displayed on your profile.
When your customers leave testimonials about you and your firm, you gain an invaluable boost to your marketing efforts because they come from real people who have LinkedIn profiles. However, never forget the following – before you can get recommended, you must motivate your customers by providing them with outstanding products and services, as well as with exceptional customer service. With these preconditions met, LinkedIn will enhance your marketing goals even further.
SHARE CONTENT
Never overlook the value of content creation as part of your marketing strategy. By providing additional value to your customers, you establish yourself as a team player and an authoritative source of products, services, and information. When you add content to your business profile page, you increase the likelihood of reaching your audience more than if you added it on other social networks – most LinkedIn users have a business mindset, so they are more likely to respond to your contributions.
You can share content on LinkedIn through status updates. Try posting links to helpful articles, actionable tips and in-depth analyses to position your firm as an industry leader. Present a broader, collaborative presence on LinkedIn by sharing content from other companies as well as your own. When you do that, you can add your thoughts and contribute to an online discussion that will ultimately send business your way.
While using LinkedIn, you want to cooperate with other enterprises and prospects, but you should also prioritize your interests by displaying the capabilities and personality of your company. For example, you can readily share the core attributes of your business by leveraging the LinkedIn feature that displays your blog posts on your profile. The function connects to blogging platforms such as WordPress and TypePad and automatically pulls your updates into LinkedIn. Additionally, you can cross-post your published articles from other sites to capitalize on LinkedIn’s network effect. LinkedIn editors can expand the reach of your message if they notice your content and give it featured status.
USING LINKEDIN ADS
Finally, using adds will also contribute to your marketing efforts. For example, LinkedIn Display Advertising gives you another way to reach your audience. You can use its built-in tools to target the right audience, drive traffic to your site, and measure your results. Moreover, LinkedIn Self-Service Advertising gives you another effective way to increase the visibility of your company and share information. When using the system, you pay by clicks and define your audience by job title, function, and other metrics.
When you use LinkedIn as a marketing tool, it becomes a valuable asset to your company. As a social network for professionals, LinkedIn delivers quality leads and opportunities for people who want to network and do business. Your company’s profile, network, recommendations, content, and advertising represent marketing opportunities you should begin exploiting today.
About the Author
Natalie Smith, a freelance writer from Seattle, ardently follows topics related to entrepreneurship, small businesses, social media, and customer service. For more information, reach her @Natalie Smith