Is LinkedIn Right For You?

linkedin

Many business owners recognize the power of social media and the ways that maintaining an active presence online can benefit their business. From developing and promoting your company’s brand, to the ROI opportunities social media presents for lead-generation, most businesses are taking steps to develop a solid social media marketing strategy.

LinkedIn was built to be a professional online networking tool, intentionally designed to connect professionals with one another and companies. But LinkedIn seems to be one of the trickier social media tools for businesses to use effectively. That may stem from a misunderstanding of what LinkedIn actually offers to businesses in the first place.

What does LinkedIn offer to businesses?

From LinkedIn: “The mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”

Whereas most online networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, etc.) offer businesses the opportunity to make connections with individuals as consumers, LinkedIn was designed to facilitate connections between professionals. This does not make these connections any less valuable to businesses, but should change the way your company chooses to interact with the connections made on LinkedIn, especially as compared to other platforms.

Making and Engaging with Connections on LinkedIn

While your primary motivation on any social media platform is to connect with and engage your contacts and cultivate an image and a community around your business, on a LinkedIn Company Page you have a greater opportunity to diversify the types of contacts you make:

  • Potential Customers: Of course, lead generation is one goal of any social media campaign. Having a LinkedIn page for your business makes your business both more credible and more searchable, resulting in organic lead generation. If you set up your company page well and use it effectively, you can successfully direct those leads to your website. You can also utilize LinkedIn’s ad format, Sponsored Content, to gain new followers by targeting ads to a very specific audience.
  • Current Customers: LinkedIn Company Pages provide your business an opportunity to present your company brand in a professional light. LinkedIn is a great platform for sharing business related news, product or service releases, special promotions or updates. You can encourage your current customers to follow your LinkedIn Company Page by linking to it from your emails, newsletters, blogs or other social marketing pages, and engage with your followers by sharing valuable content, all while nurturing referrals and recommendations on your page.
  • Potential Employees: LinkedIn is known as the place candidates go when seeking out job openings in their field. Career Pages are a subset of your LinkedIn Company Page where you can post details on any current job openings, but you should also highlight what makes your business such a fantastic place to do business right on your Company Page so potential candidates can find you.
  • Current Employees: Networking online is beneficial for both a business and employees, but employees may feel uncomfortable connecting with their place of business and employers via other social media platforms. Many find it beneficial for any number of reasons to maintain a separation between their professional life and personal life online. LinkedIn, however, provides companies and employees the opportunity to connect in a professional setting online.
  • Business Partners: An active LinkedIn Company Page can attract suppliers, vendors, and other partnerships, and generally makes your business available for new opportunities to find you. LinkedIn Groups are forums where you can establish your business as an expert on a given topic, find like-minded professionals, and build relationships. Finding and joining Groups that match your professional interests and the interests of your target audience and then engaging in conversations establishes your business as a key voice in that field.
  • Industry Expertise: Sharing content that is beneficial to your followers, especially original content, can establish your company as an expert in your field. On LinkedIn, the platform for professional networking, that becomes especially significant. LinkedIn is also where businesses go to connect with others in their industry to stay up to date on changes and innovations in the industry.

Should your business have a LinkedIn Company Page?

Absolutely! LinkedIn Company Pages offer your business opportunities no other social media platform, or even a LinkedIn page for you as an individual, do:

– Garner recommendations on your company page for your products or services.
– Create detailed product and service listings, including videos, images and descriptions.
– Grow a network of followers who will receive notifications of your posts, news, and updates.
– Receive alerts whenever someone mentions your page.
– Use LinkedIn tracking tools to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

The most visible people in your company – sales reps, executives, customer service specialists, etc. – should also have a current LinkedIn profile, linked to the main company page. As opposed to other social media platforms that often are kept private, LinkedIn is the place for the employees of a company to make themselves accessible online to customers.

The more quality connections in your network, the more opportunities you’ll have to make contacts, generate quality leads, and grow your business.

Manage Your LinkedIn Business Page With Help from EmoryDay

Looking for help managing your business presence on social media? Want to optimize your LinkedIn page to get the most from your business? We can help! Contact the professionals at EmoryDay for a free consultation.

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  • 1.
    Create a Free Account
  • 2.
    FREE Custom Marketing Plan
    (no obligation)
  • 3.
    Select only the services you want.