Tags – Using LinkedIn as a Small Business
As LinkedIn is for motivated professionals, it has the most marketing potential if you know how to use it properly.
So if you haven’t incorporated LinkedIn into your social media strategy – you probably should.
Especially because there are over 750 million users on there as we speak.
In particular, LinkedIn works well for B2B businesses, but with such a huge user base, there’s plenty of room for B2C businesses to get the most out of too.
Briefly speaking, the key benefits of LinkedIn for a small business include:
- Networking; build your professional network with industry contacts
- Increased Exposure; announce new products/services, share blogs etc.
- Lead Generation; new business prospects through targeted search
- Build Relationships; strengthen client and customer relationships by simply staying in touch
- Thought Leadership; comment your thoughts on industry news
- Recruitment; headhunt or advertise for new talent
- Competition; see what competitors are doing
Sounds good right?
Let’s discuss this in more detail.
1. Create a Company Page
First things first, you’ll want to create a business profile on LinkedIn – referred to as your Company Page, and it’s where LinkedIn users can come and find out everything they need to know about your business.
Moreover, this is the place for you to share company news and job opportunities, as well as link to any staff members who have listed down they are working for you.
It’s worth noting here, all of the required fields must be filled in for more effective results; pages with all the information filled out get 30% more weekly profile views.
For instance, include the URL for your website, About Us section, industry and more – not forgetting the all important profile and banner picture.
Once you’re all set up, you’ll be able to keep track of your success through the analytics section, which will give you insights into the performance of your page and demographics of your followers.
2. Showcase Pages
Showcase pages are extensions of your existing company page and show as affiliated pages on your main profile.
What’s great is that you can use these to highlight certain initiatives that you’re working on, showcase sub-brands or miscellaneous content that doesn’t fit on your main page.
Furthermore, you can use these showcase pages in the same way as your main page – with the difference being, employees cannot list themselves as working for the showcase page.
To make things easier, the process of setting these up works in the same way as setting a company page.
3. Post Regular Company Updates
At the end of the day, LinkedIn is a social media network, so you can use it how you would use other sites, such as Facebook.
As such, you should post regular company updates that will appear on your followers’ feeds as well as keeping your company page on LinkedIn fresh and current.
Moreover, as is the same with other sites, your followers can engage with your content by liking, commenting and sharing; interactions that will all help your company’s visibility.
Simply, posting stories relevant to your industry, behind the scenes pictures (what does your team get up to on a daily basis) and using images and videos will all contribute to engagement.
4. Join In On Conversations
Without even spending a dime on advertising, you can reach a lot of potential new customers or clients.
As we mentioned in the previous point, LinkedIn is a networking platform, and your business should be making the most out of it by joining in on conversations around your industry.
To do so, you can join LinkedIn groups where people are already discussing issues relevant to your business – you may even be their solution – and get involved in the debate.
Doing so will demonstrate your expertise and help build brand credibility and authority of your business as a whole.
In addition, you can even start your own groups and discussions, keeping up with industry news.
5. Market Research
When your following begins to build, you can utilise LinkedIn for free market research.
For instance, let’s say you’ve launched a new product – you can ask your followers for feedback; e.g. what would they change about it.
As a result, you can refine your new product in response to this feedback, as well as understanding if the demand is even there at all.
In the same way, LinkedIn groups can be used.
For example, find groups relevant to your business, start a conversation and ask for opinions.
Alternatively, research into what challenges people are facing and how your product or service could help them.
Overall, doing this will give you a better understanding of your target audience, giving you valuable insights to develop your own offering.
Final Word
LinkedIn is a great resource for small businesses – there’s no doubt about it!
Don’t worry, it can be a little overwhelming at first.
But make it simple. Just start off by using these methods above and your efforts will thank you in the near future!
For more information contact us today.
In the meantime, check our LinkedIn management services.
Don’t forget to also check out:
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Training – Going up that Advanced Level
- LinkedIn Marketing – A Detailed Future-Proof Look
- From Digital to Physical Connections – The LinkedIn Example
- LinkedIn Training – Setting Your Stage for Business Strategy
- The Pro Fishing for Self-Worth – LinkedIn Humblebragging
- The Advanced State of Fake Followers on LinkedIn
- How To Use LinkedIn For Networking? Using Social Media Sensibly
