In this episode of Actionable Marketing In Minutes we give 7 best practices to follow while using LinkedIn.
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Problem
As we’ve discussed in previous Actionable Marketing in Minutes podcasts, a social media presence is a vital component of your marketing strategy. But, there are so many social media platform options, it may be challenging to determine which to join. Since consistent participation is key to social media marketing success, whatever platform you go with, you will need to spend dedicated time. Time to build relationships and interact with followers. Time to plan, develop, distribute and curate content.
So…why join LinkedIn? How can it benefit you?
LinkedIn is a basically a professional networking site – kind of a mix of water cooler chat, a networking event, a business card holder, and a Rolodex. All rolled into one. For businesses, it offers a number of very good opportunities, such as building customer advocates, establishing thought leadership and generating leads. In fact, 80% plus of all B2B leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn, according to Oktopost, and 50% of members that connect with a company on LinkedIn are more likely to buy from that company.
Solution
Before we get into the details about some of the tactics to deliver marketing success on LinkedIn, I’d like to point out: Social media marketing is important for all businesses. This is a reality these days. While this podcast will touch on just one aspect of this subject, I encourage you to download our Social Media Marketing Best Practices Guide for more insights and tips on how to effectively execute social media marketing programs. This ebook gives general guidelines as well as best practices by platform. Click the link in the podcast description to download this actionable guide to social media marketing.
Ok, now let’s get back to best practices for LinkedIn. If you think LinkedIn might be a fit for you, consider these 7 tips for LinkedIn marketing success.
1. Include a link in your email signature: Have all employees add a link to your company’s LinkedIn page in their email signatures.
2. Place a ‘Follow’ button on your website: This helps to grow your community and it encourages them to visit your LinkedIn page, which in turn provides a great way for prospective clients get a sense of your personality and strengths, inferred by your tone, your style, and your content.
3. Post content your audience cares about: So what type of content should you post? According to LinkedIn, ‘Industry Insights’ are the number one demanded content by over 60% of LinkedIn users, and company updates comes in second. In terms of volume, companies that post about 20 posts per month (or at least one every business day) do best in reaching their unique audiences.
4. Post at the best time: Our Best Practice guide has more details, but typically updates posted in the morning garner the highest engagement, with a slight bump occurring again after business hours. However, more B2B leads are generated from 1-4 pm than any other time… So you’ll need to test to determine what works best for you.
5. Include links in your posts: Company updates containing links can have up to 45 percent higher follower engagement than updates without links. And, believe it or not, links to YouTube videos are twice as likely to spark action. All the better if you produce your own videos!
6. Limit your targets: Limit yourself to one or two targeting criteria per update to ensure that your content receives many high-value impressions. But be aware that targeting too narrowly limits your reach.
7. Cultivate relationships: Interaction with your followers is key. You can accomplish this in a myriad of ways. For instance,
a. Solicit feedback: on average, status updates that contain questions receive almost 50 percent more comments.
b. Be responsive: answering questions in a timely manner and thanking followers who share insightful, are useful comments are both valuable ways to build relationships and have meaningful interaction with your followers.
c. Join and participate in groups: it is reported that a whopping 85%+ of B2B leads come from discussion groups, and just over 10% come from company pages.
Benefits
Increased sales and an admirable ROI are your ultimate goals. Granted, there are many ways to get there… and if used properly, LinkedIn has the potential to help you build your business through professional social networking. LinkedIn can also be instrumental to you in a few other ways, such as:
1. Increasing your referral base.
2. Attracting new business, exposing your audience to your products and services.
3. Attracting quality employees.
4. Increasing your familiarity, credibility and authority with prospects and clients alike.
5. Building your brand and communicating your ‘why’ in a tangible way.
We hope you’ve found this information helpful. Please connect with us on Twitter @DirectiveGroup or on LinkedIn. Let us know what you think and what you’d like to hear about next. And if you like our podcasts, please share with your networks using hashtag #actionablemarketing. Join us next time for more actionable marketing in minutes.
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