As the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 830 million users, there’s no questioning the opportunities for your brand on Linkedin. Let’s take a closer look at Linkedin as a platform, the marketing tools available, and why you may want to consider marketing on Linkedin.
What is Linkedin and How is it Different?
Since its launch on May 5, 2003, Linkedin has become the largest professional networking site in over 200 countries. The platform provides opportunities to connect and converse with colleagues, employers, competitors, new and future employees, customers, and so on.
Have you ever been to a networking event? You know, where you speak with other professionals, discuss what you both do, and maybe exchange a business card or an email address. Well, you can similarly think of Linkedin. Linkedin’s mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
Compared to other social networking platforms, Linkedin is specifically designed for businesses and professionals. You can connect with colleagues and friends, join groups of like-minded individuals, follow businesses, and even find career opportunities or possible employees. It’s the perfect site for users to strengthen professional relationships by connecting, sharing, and learning from one another.
What Can Linkedin Be Used For?
Making Connections
Believe it or not, each person you meet could be an important factor in your professional life. Rather than meeting someone and going your separate ways, Linkedin allows you to virtually connect with anyone you choose. You can strengthen and maintain professional relationships with old colleagues, professors, former classmates, and many others.
Linkedin Groups
Whether you have a large circle or not, Linkedin Groups serve as a way to expand your network.
But what is a Linkedin Group, you may be wondering? As a Linkedin user, you can join private groups alongside other professionals who share similar interests or work within the same industry.
It’s the perfect place to exchange experiences and insights, work alongside one another, and expand your connections.
Job Searching
As a personal account, it can be helpful to think of your Linkedin profile as a business card or resume. When creating your profile, you input your strengths, interests, past and present employment, education, and other career-relevant information. Users can search and apply for jobs directly on the Linkedin platform. The application and the user’s Linkedin profile will often be sent directly to the employer.
Not only are users able to apply for jobs directly on Linkedin, but brands and companies can also search for potential employees based on skills and career experiences. If you’re a brand looking for new employees, Linkedin is likely the place to go.
Setting Up Linkedin For Businesses
Arguably the most challenging part of starting on Linkedin is setting up your business page, but you are guided through it. If you struggle with any of the setups, Linkedin Help is there to, well- help!
- Step 1: Select Your Business Type
- Assuming you are planning to showcase your business, select “Company.”
- Step 2: Add Information About Your Business
- You will be prompted to answer relevant information about your business.
- Step 3: Cover and Profile Photos
- As a brand, it’s important (or at least a very good idea) to use your logo as the profile photo. That way, anyone who stumbles across the page can recognize the brand.
- If you have a slogan, that may be a good cover photo or tagline to include in the profile.
- Step 4: Get Out There
- Now that your account has been successfully set up, it is important to get your brand recognized.
One way get your brand out there is by joining relevant Linkedin Groups. As said earlier, Linkedin Groups lets you connect with other professionals who share similar interests or work within the same industry. This is a great place to gain insights into what is going on within your industry right now. Share your thoughts, hear feedback, and be sure to listen to others in the group. You never know what information could be beneficial to your brand. Be sure to share knowledgeable information as this could be an place where users see you as a leader.
You can also create your own Linkedin Groups. By doing so, you have the ability to set the rules!
Another great way to get your brand out on Linkedin is by creating a career page. We all know how challenging it can be to find the perfect employee. That process is made easier with Linkedin Career Pages. This is a place for you to share your brand’s story, reach your targeted audience, and showcase your job availabilities.
Linkedin Ads
Linkedin Marketing Solutions makes running ads easy! First, you’ll need to set up a Campaign Manager account. From there, it’s five easy steps:
Step 1: Choose Your Objective
As a brand, you will determine what goals you hope to achieve with the advertisement. You will set goals in three categories: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversions.
Step 2: Select Your Targeting Goals
One of the unique features of Linkedin Ads is the ability to select a general audience you wish to target. You can choose between 20 different categories of audience attributes. Be sure to select the ones you feel best match your brand, as this will affect the campaign’s success.
Step 3: Formatting
Choose between the four formats within Linkedin: Sponsored Content, Message Ads, Dynamic Ads, Text Ads, or a mixture of them all.
Take a second to play around with the different formats and determine which will most effectively convey your message.
Step 4: Set Your Budget & Schedule
Once you have the advertisement ready, you will set the budget and the schedule for the campaign. It’s a good idea to look over your brand’s insights to see the best posting times.
Step 5: Measure Your Ad Campaign
Once you’ve completed all of the previous steps, be sure to monitor your campaign. You can access all the analytics using the Linkedin Campaign Manager. Make sure to look into each ad campaign and evaluate what worked and didn’t. That way, you can adjust future ads and optimize your brand’s Linkedin Ad potential.
Other Linkedin Marketing Tips
Hashtags
Hashtags are commonly seen on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms but are easily overlooked. Even though this is a professional platform, hashtags are just as important on Linkedin. Including hashtags in your Linkedin marketing strategy can easily introduce your brand to new audience members.
Like every other piece in a marketing strategy, hashtags require some thought. Including too many or using irrelevant hashtags can land your brand in the wrong place. What’s the use of expanding your reach if it’s to the wrong audience? That said, you also want to ensure the hashtags are used. No use in adding hashtags that no one will see!
Not to worry! There’s an easy solution. Use the search bar on Linkedin and look up relevant hashtags. It will say how many people follow that hashtag and how much it has been used.
When determining which ones to include in your marketing strategy, make sure there is some variance in numbers. If a hashtag is used 1,000,000 times, your post may disappear within the load of posts that hashtag has. On the flip side, if a hashtag has only been used 100 times, it risks not being discovered at all. Do the research and identify five to ten hashtags that vary in usage and relate to your brand.
Consistency is Key
Whether you plan to post once weekly or twice daily, Linkedin is all about building professional relationships. Once you get the hang of things, maintain a consistent posting schedule. As your brand gains more followers, they will become accustomed to seeing your posts. Keep the trust and loyalty strong by maintaining a proper schedule.
Vary Post Length
Despite the post length, they should almost always have an attention grabber. WHY should the reader read a long post? WHY should they pay attention to what your brand has to say? Make sure to grab the viewer’s attention and keep them intrigued.
While we frequently see lengthy posts on Linkedin, it may be a good idea to vary the length. In-depth posts may be a great way to educate your followers on your brand or industry, but sometimes users only have a second to glance over their feed. You don’t want to spend the time writing a lengthy post only for users to scroll passed.
In comparison, Linkedin is a professional platform, users DO go on to learn more about brands. Posts with longer text are completely fine. Just make sure to have an even balance of long and short posts.
Common Mistakes on Linkedin
While Linkedin is a great place to broaden connections, it can also impact your brand’s reputation. Make sure to avoid any of these simple mistakes:
Bad Profile Photo
As a brand on a professional networking platform, there is one thing you really want to avoid, looking unprofessional. Often, this mistake is avoided with the proper profile and cover images.
Make sure that your cover and profile photos are relevant to your brand. I can’t recommend it enough, make your profile photo the brand’s logo. Other users should easily be able to identify your brand whenever it appears in their feed. By seeing your logo in their feed, brand recognition grows.
The formatting is also crucial. No one looks at a blurry photo and enjoys it. Make sure it’s clean, professional, and represents your brand well.
Likewise, Having a Bad Cover Photo
Consider your branding when determining what cover photo would be best for your brand. What colors and fonts make up your brand? What’s the slogan, and could it be incorporated into your cover photo? Without going overboard, determine a way to make your entire profile cohesive.
What’s just as harmful as bad photos? None, or lack of photos. You never want to damage your brand’s reputation, don’t cut corners.
Boring Language
Another common mistake is using language that, for lack of a better term, is boring.
No one enjoys looking through content that has no personality. While this may be a professional platform, Linkedin is a space to show off your brand. Make sure you don’t forget to put your brand personality on display too!
Still Need Help?
We understand this is a lot of information to take in. That’s exactly why we’re here to help!
Here at SH1FT, we love taking on new tasks and challenges. Don’t hesitate, reach out to us here.
