CPL One’s Anna Cruickshank shares top tips on how to use LinkedIn for your company’s advantage.
Once upon a time, LinkedIn was seen as just a professional database or a place for online CVs. Not any more.
With user numbers growing in the past five years from 810 million to 1.3 billion, and with Gen-Z users increasing by 30% year-on-year, it’s clearly become THE social media tool for promoting and growing your business – but it’s only effective if you know how to use it correctly.
Among those 1.3 billion users is a vast untapped potential customer base for YOUR business, so how do you reach them and engage them? Our digital marketing experts know exactly the best way to maximise that potential – here are their five top tips to get you started:
1. Put humans first
It’s not just your company page that matters. People invest in other people and trust them three times more than brands. That means your individual employees’ posts will reach significantly more people than your company posts – so make sure your people are representing your business appropriately, and encourage them to engage with clients or customers wherever possible. We can help you and your employees learn how to make human connections that really work.
2. Content formats matter
The LinkedIn algorithm measures how much time users spend on a page, and exactly what is engaging them. Again, there are numerous ways to maximise this, if you know how. One example is to use document carousels (eight-10 slide PDFs, which keep users on your post longer and signify ‘high value’ to the algorithm) and another is use of ‘talking heads’ videos. It’s quite a science, but knowing when to use short or long-term posts, what to put in them, and understanding how to get the best out of videos, are also vital in shaping that algorithm to show the very best of your business to as many relevant users as possible.
3. Follow the 80/20 rule
People are most engaged by helpful advice or insight – so 80% of your content should provide this, with only 20% being a direct call to action or offer. Unsure what advice your visitors are looking for? Use interactive polls, which are great for engaging people to stay on your profile longer, and also gain you insight into what your customers are thinking. There are other ways to interact with existing or potential customers, such as building a whole strategy around posting comments on their profiles. Understanding when, where and what to say as well as how often to comment can put your name or company right at the front of their entire network.
4. Explore paid advertising
LinkedIn advertising is a fantastic way to boost your business profile – but to get real value for money, you need a strategy that gets clearly targeted messages to the right customers. This could include, say, using your company’s ad budget to boost a post from a personal profile, which makes the message more authentic. Effective company page advertising includes conversation ads, promoting an event or highlighting a webinar or document. The trick again is to understand how the design, words and timing of these ads make them most effective and most likely to win customers.
5. Spread the news
LinkedIn newsletters are a great way to reach your intended audience directly. Unlike regular posts that disappear in the feed, they send a direct notification to subscribers. With smart and powerful messaging, you can build up that core of subscribers, ensuring you’re always directly in touch with the people you want to reach.
What next?
Making the most of your LinkedIn presence can have a huge positive impact on your company and its growth. The key is to stand out, with content that’s timely, relevant and will ultimately win you business. Our digital marketing experts can help you maximise that potential. To find out what we can do for you, please get in touch by completing the content form below.
