LinkedIn has long been known as the home of B2B discussion, and in 2020 the opportunities to engage and grow your business are expanding. Companies of almost any kind can benefit from maintaining a LinkedIn presence, and although it does require a dedicated, platform-specific approach, the numbers speak for themselves:
- LinkedIn has more than 645 million users, across more than 200 countries and territories;
- LinkedIn has added nearly 150 million new members in the past two years;
- 94% of marketers use LinkedIn to publish content;
- Of the LinkedIn users who are engaging with the platform monthly, 40% access it on a daily basis;
LinkedIn is the world’s largest and most active professional networking platform and your company page represents a huge opportunity to establish your brand as an industry thought leader, as well as attract top talent from around the globe. Here’s how to optimize your business page and improve your presence, authority, and recruitment prospects on the platform.
How to create and optimise your page
Step 1
Log in to LinkedIn. Click the work icon on the top right corner of the page. Then click create a company page.
Step 2
Select small business from the list of options.
Step 3
Fill out your company’s name, a public LinkedIn URL, your business’ website and your business’ industry.
Step 4
Check the verification box to confirm you are authorised to represent your company, then click create a page. If you don’t have enough connections, you may not be able to create a community page. If this happens, build your network then try again.
Step 5
To really unlock your business page’s potential, you need to optimize your page – according to LinkedIn, completed pages get 30% more weekly views. Start by identifying keywords and using them throughout your page.
Include relevant keywords at the very beginning of your company tagline as well as in your headline, overview, specialisms and life section. Keyword research will help you understand the actual search terms that people enter into search engines. Use tools such as Moz Keyword Explorer or SEMRush to help you.
Step 6
Using those keywords, write a strong ‘About’ section. Work up an engaging overview of your business, that answer the following questions:
- Origin Story: Where did our idea and passion come from?
- Vision: What future do you want to help create?
- Values: What core values support our vision and decision making processes?
- Positioning: Who are our customers and where do we fit?
- Products/Services: What are our core product & service offerings?
Step 7
Creating backlinks to your company page will help boost your SEO ranking. A good way to do this is to ask your employees to update their LinkedIn profiles so that their page’s a link back to your business.
Step 8
The best way to improve your company’s ranking is to regularly share relevant content. Read on to discover the best type of content to share.
What posts to share
Social media content is all about who you want to reach and if it will drive viewers down your marketing funnel. Here are a few types of content that work especially well on LinkedIn, including a deep-dive into video, our top-tip for 2020.
Publishing how-to blogs or list posts
Writing informative articles is a great way to raise your visibility and start conversations on LinkedIn. It demonstrates your industry expertise and positions you as a thought leader. How-to blogs and list posts receive the most attention on LinkedIn, and given their easily digestible formatting it’s easy to see why.
Sharing Industry-Adjacent Content
The key to LinkedIn articles is to consistently share information that interests your clients. This content gives you the opportunity to showcase other topics you’re familiar with that could be helpful to clients. Customers remember smart people who offer up reliable advice, so sharing industry-adjacent content helps keep you top of their mind in the long run.
PowerPoints and PDFS
LinkedIn owns the service SlideShare, which offers tools to help you make your own presentations. Take advantage of their tools and courses and share original slideshows on your LinkedIn page.
Make Predictions
Prediction posts at the start of the year are a winning tool for boosting your LinkedIn engagement. Making predictions about your industry positions you as a sector leader and encourages people to share their opinions with you.
LinkedIn Video
Video is 5 times more likely than other types of content to start a conversation amongst LinkedIn members, so it’s a great tool for increasing brand awareness, offering a more human side to your company.
According to Wyzowl’s 2019 State of Video Marketing…
- 79% of people say a brand’s video has convinced them to make a purchase
- 87% of people would like to see more videos from brands.
- What’s more, 59% of executives agree that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video.
Despite this, video is still a relatively untapped marketing channel. Don’t be put off by a lack of budget of technical know-how, you can create this content affordably in – house your video content doesn’t necessarily have to be professionally produced to be effective. Here are a few ideas for creating that captivating video content.
Create screencast tutorials and presentations.
A screencast is simply a video recording of your computer screen accompanied by audio narration. Use a PowerPoint presentation or high-quality visuals, and narrate as if you were giving a presentation. Screencasts are one of the most cost-effective techniques for producing video content and are the perfect place to start if you’re camera shy or don’t have a video camera.
Show behind the scenes of your business
Giving your followers a backstage pass offers a unique insight into your business – why not highlight your best employees, or flaunt your office culture and brand values?
Try DIY animated videos
Hiring professionals to make animated videos will set you back a fair bit, so why not try giving it a go yourself? Animated videos are a great tool for simply explaining concepts, whilst enchanting your viewers. Try cloud-based animated video creation platforms such as Sparkol or Vyond. These platforms are not free but are more affordable than employing a professional, and many of them offer free trials.
Share video testimonials from happy customers
User-generated videos take the pressure off your company to produce content while offering social proof – something you can never get enough of as a business. Customers product reviews, social media shout outs and testimonials are invaluable tools to grow your business, and if they are video testimonials, even better! To cultivate your customers, why not consider offering them discount codes in exchange for video testimonials of your product.
Interview experts and thought leaders
Associating your business with influential thought leaders in your field will help you become recognized as an industry leader. Interviewing experienced leaders in your industry is a tried-and-tested way to build trust and authority with your target audience.
Pro tip: Add subtitles to your video content – studies have found 39% of people are more likely to finish a video with subtitles.
How to grow your followers
You’d think out of 645 million users, it wouldn’t be that difficult to quickly build your connections, but after you’ve exhausted your own contacts list it can be a challenge, especially when you want to make sure those connections are relevant and add value to your network. Here are some simple steps to help grow your followers:
Add a page link in your signature
If you’re already emailing someone professionally, it’s likely your page will interest them.
Add the follow company plugin to your website
This drives visitors from your website to your LinkedIn, increasing your reach.
Ask your employees to add your page to their current work experience
This will help you get more backlinks and gives you the opportunity to share your employees’ best posts on LinkedIn, profiling your top talent as well as leveraging their networks.
Mention companies and pages in page updates
By mentioning companies with the @ symbol it’s easier for them to reshare your content in front of your audience. Think about the companies you admire and have strong followings and mention them in your updates.
Keep it up
Post consistently – according to LinkedIn, pages that post daily get twice the member engagement. Try the 3, 2,1 technique to keep your content varied- every week aim to post 3 pieces of industry-related content, 2 pieces of ‘proud’ content (content that makes your employees and followers feel good) and just one piece of product-related content.
Remember to engage promptly – reply, comment and ask questions and keep your business details and photos up to date. Building a community on LinkedIn requires attention.
Make LinkedIn work for your small business this year
There are endless opportunities to make your small business LinkedIn Page work wonders for your company. Of course, running a small business can be challenging, but with a good plan in place and the right tools, LinkedIn can be a fantastic tool for helping your company grow. We hope you’ve found this guide helpful, and are inspired to make LinkedIn work hard for you in 2020!
