There’s so much information and data on how powerful LinkedIn marketing is for B2B companies, how filtered the targeting can get when you work with LinkedIn Ads and what are the benefits of LinkedIn Premium. But let’s talk about the main things you can do when you’re just starting out and there’s no space for LinkedIn in your marketing budget (even though it would be highly suggested!).
1. Start with a personal profile
Make sure that your team represents your company. On LinkedIn, you want to stay professional and look sophisticated. After all, it is your first digital impression and also an impression of the company you work at.
- Begin with a quality profile picture. Use a high resolution photograph that is not blurry and not a group picture.
- Create one background picture that represents the brand of the company and share it with your teammates. Make sure that it is clear and showcases your company or what it offers.
- Include a sentence or two about the business and put that information into the summary or experience. Example: I help [TARGET AUDIENCE] achieve [THEIR GOALS] by providing [OUR PRODUCT/SERVICE].
- Once you have your profile ready, grow your network. It all starts with adding people that would not only be potential followers, customers or teammates, but also the audience that would benefit from the content you’re about to create or share!
2. Create a company page
Once you have your profile set up, move on to creating a LinkedIn company page. Here you can utilize the same background picture as for the personal profile, to keep the same branding. Don’t forget to ensure that there’s a CTA which leads to your business website. Choose community hashtags that represent your brand, it will allow you to engage as a company with trending posts that have the same hashtag! Assign this company page on personal profile experience. And, of course, with the newest addition by LinkedIn, invite your connections to follow your page! (that’s why you should grow your network in the first place)
3. Publish relevant content on your LinkedIn company page
To begin with, at least once a week post something relevant and valuable and grow from there. Don’t forget that your company page shouldn’t be just about the product or service you provide. Make it interesting, authentic and worthwhile. Remember the 3-2-1 rule: 3 pieces of industry news, 2 pieces of your team accomplishments and only 1 piece to showcase what you have to offer. Include 2-3 hashtags with each post and check out content suggestions if you are out of ideas what to post!
4. Employee engagement is the key to growth!
And here’s the golden rule. Empower your employees and teammates to engage and communicate. LinkedIn says that employees have up to 10 times more connections than your company page has followers. Utilize that! There’s no better way to grow on this social media network than with employee engagement. If your Page has been @mentioned by one of your co-workers, you can re-share those mentions to highlight them. Don’t forget to train employees and share knowledge why is it important to engage.
Don’t forget to start with what are your business goals – whether to have wider visibility, maybe increase sales, or to grow brand awareness, there is so much to achieve by using LinkedIn. These are the first 4 steps you can do that cost no money. The only thing you have to allocate is time. And in case you don’t have that either, contact LINKEDIST and we’ll help you out!
About the author:
Giedrė Pociūtė is a passionate marketer and is always eager to share her international experience with the community. Being an active member of LinkedIn since 2014, Giedrė specializes in advertising campaigns for this social media network, content strategy development, profile optimization, and leading trainings for companies and their employees. Giedre is one of the co-founders of Linkedist, a company that helps people and businesses grow with the power of LinkedIn.