LinkedIn may not be the first social platform you think of when you start putting together a marketing campaign, but its value has steadily grown over the past few years, especially during the pandemic. With over 300 million active users, LinkedIn has earned its place in the upper echelon of online marketing platforms. This is especially true if you're in the Business to Business (B2B) market. According to 99Firms, LinkedIn provides 80% of B2B leads from across all social media platforms. While LinkedIn does offer the standard fare when it comes to paid advertising, organic marketing techniques can also be incredibly effective on this business-focused platform. Other platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are much more focused on the personal lives of people, so organically marketing your products or services can be difficult. On LinkedIn, your user profile itself is a form of organic marketing when properly prepared. Of course, pages for businesses also serve as a first impression for many users, so taking advantage of that for marketing purposes is a no-brainer. If this opportunity intrigues you, we have 4 ways to improve your organic marketing strategy on LinkedIn.
1. Network Effectively
Networking is the essence of LinkedIn, so if you’re not using this core functionality to market your business, you’re really missing out. There’s several good ways to leverage your network on LinkedIn, but we’ll highlight three to get you started:
Industry Groups:
Groups on LinkedIn are similar to groups on Facebook but the difference is that instead of being organized according to interests or hobbies like Facebook, LinkedIn groups are divided by industry. Being active in these groups exposes other professionals in your field to your business. By commenting on posts or weighing in on issues regularly, you can make a name for yourself and position your business as an industry leader.
Article Contributors:
If you publish blogs or articles for your business, you have a unique opportunity to reach a new audience. Chances are you’ll often have additional contributors, perhaps an interview with a professional in your field or a guest blogger writing a post for your site. When you share these pieces on LinkedIn, you can mention these contributors, allowing you to reach everyone in their network in addition to your own. You can also do this if you simply include quotes from industry leaders or other people on LinkedIn in your piece.
Employees:
Employees liking and sharing your business’s posts encourages the algorithm to show it to more people. You could even have them add their own flair or thoughts when they share to add more personality to the post.
2. Utilize Rich Media
Text is far and away the most common way to present content on any platform, and LinkedIn is no exception. Written communication isn’t always the most engaging medium, however, especially in the digital world. That’s why we recommend using rich media to encourage more engagement with your posts. While you have options as simple as emojis, we have found that video based content does particularly well. Regularly uploading polished, professional videos exhibits a certain level of effort and refinement that many businesses lack on LinkedIn. If long form videos aren’t a good fit for your business, the newer stories feature may be up your alley. On mobile devices, you can upload 20-second clips that appear at the top of users’ feeds. This allows you to still include rich media in your strategy without having to produce long form content regularly.
3. Encourage Audience Interaction
The simplest way to encourage your audience to interact with you on LinkedIn is to make them feel heard. Nobody wants to waste their time leaving a comment or asking a question only to be ignored. It can be as easy as replying to comments on your posts. Seeing that you’re actively engaging with members of your audience will encourage others to engage in the future. If you want to go a step further, you could post a poll directly asking users what they’d like to see from you in the future. People are more likely to interact with your posts if they feel like they had a part in making them happen.
4. Be Personal
In recent years, LinkedIn users have begun using a more personal approach to filling out their profile and making posts. While in the past they may have made a video talking about their hard and soft skills or their job experience, now they’re talking about their values or their core beliefs that affect how and why they work. This shift was hastened by the pandemic and being forced to quarantine. People yearned for more personal connections, and began using every avenue, including LinkedIn, to seek them out. While this shift can be seen as either a good or a bad thing depending on how you think LinkedIn should be used, it can’t be ignored.
Businesses that don’t adapt their strategy to this more personal approach to professional issues may struggle to keep up engagement with users, but how do you go about it? It’s a fine line to walk, because on the one hand you want to connect with your audience, but on the other, you want to appear professional. The key is to remember your audience is human. Studies have shown time and time again that people respond better to emotional appeals than informational appeals. While it’s important to showcase what it is your business does and sells on your page, it's equally as important to discuss your values and company culture.
If you’re not using LinkedIn to passively market your business, you’re giving up a great opportunity that doesn’t cost a dime of your advertising budget. Networking is the core of LinkedIn, and it’s not difficult to leverage your network for free marketing. Using rich media immerses users in your content and helps them connect better with your messages. By making the first move to interact with audiences and making them feel heard, you foster loyalty and appreciation that positively impacts your image. Finally, by striving to be more personal and appealing to the humanity of your audience, you’re more likely to showcase the values of your company more effectively. For help crafting your strategy on LinkedIn or other platforms, reach out to The Profit Link and we’ll be happy to assist you!