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How to use LinkedIn effectively for business.

LinkedIn

Written by:
Tina Brown

With 55 million companies currently active on LinkedIn, it’s no surprise that this business-focused social network is the platform of choice for most industry professionals. LinkedIn is fast becoming a key element of marketing for many businesses due to its capabilities of enhancing the growth, exposure and credibility of the brand and its people. But, are you using it to its fullest potential? Are you maximising the opportunity to generate new leads, grow a community, or encourage professional networking?

As well as valuable networking, advertising and engagement tools, LinkedIn sets itself apart from other social media platforms by allowing users to develop more authentic and beneficial relationships with prospective customers and other industry professionals. To reap the benefits of using LinkedIn for business, there are a few things you need to know - but don’t worry, we’ve listed these below to help you on your journey to becoming a LinkedIn expert.

Optimise your profile

First and foremost, you need to create your profile. Your business page is your brand’s online identity, so grab the opportunity to make an impact and communicate with your customers and prospects. In the digital world we now live in, brand presence and standing out (for the right reasons!) is everything. People are quick to make judgements from what they see on your platform, so it’s vital to present your business in the best way possible - and this isn’t just having a logo and a tagline.

You need to make sure your page is abundant with information by including as much in-depth content as possible in order to help improve your ranking on LinkedIn and Google search results - not to mention giving your audience access to more details about your business! Ultimately, your profile should give prospects the opportunity to learn more about your brand - not just about what they can buy. What’s your mission? Who are your employees? What’s your USP? First impressions count for a lot, and LinkedIn revealed that complete pages get a whopping 30% more views, so it’s definitely worth putting aside that little bit of extra time to fill out all sections.

Build your following

A strong following will significantly help generate new leads and overall exposure of your brand. You want your business updates to show up on your audience's feed so that they see you, remember you, and interact with you. Sure, you can invite people to follow your page - but there are other ways that you can build your network to create a string of relevant and loyal followers that are worthwhile for you and your business, such as linking a ‘follow’ button on your website and showcasing your page as much as possible.

Whether it’s reaching out directly via email, or highlighting your page within a blog post, developing a following will help to increase awareness of your brand, generate qualified leads and enable you to build business-relevant relationships that could lead to future opportunities. It’s always good to have a variety of followers, but that doesn’t mean you should go on a following-spree! Make sure that your connections are in line with your business’ offerings and its purpose to reap the benefits of your professional network.

Develop your content strategy

Building a following is one thing, but keeping them engaged is another. Content is key, and you need to be aware of what your target audience finds engaging so that you can carefully craft content that will resonate with them and encourage them to interact. Developing a customer persona to identify characteristics of your audience is a great place to start, as well as creating non-sales focused content that will aid in relationship building instead of just commercial value. Utilising a wide range of interactive and static content such as polls, blogs, infographics and video will allow you to identify what works best for your business and what encourages your audience to engage with you, allowing you to shape your marketing strategy accordingly. Make sure that you don’t underestimate visual content either - images receive over six times more engagement than text-only posts, showcasing just how valuable creative content is!

Utilise LinkedIn groups

You can search and request to join endless groups on LinkedIn, and these can be beneficial for business networking for a number of reasons. Finding relevant groups within your industry (e.g. The Health and Wellness Networking Group would be ideal for a self-employed health professional). A relevant business or networking group will present you with a whole new pool of people who could be an asset to your company - as well as unlocking a realm of industry news, topics, discussions and information. Whether it’s finding somebody to collaborate with, generating leads or purely getting yourself seen in the right circles, making use of the ‘Group Search’ function on LinkedIn is a must when trying to utilise the platform to benefit your business.

Seeing results on LinkedIn involves time, patience and effort, but what if you don’t have the desire or resources to build your LinkedIn profile and presence? That’s where we can help. Our team of marketing specialists have a wealth of experience in LinkedIn marketing and can help you to develop a bespoke strategy that’s suited to your business and its audience.

If you need a helping hand with your LinkedIn, get in touch with us today at info@summitcreative.co.uk and we can work together to make your business thrive on LinkedIn.

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