LinkedIn is the world’s biggest professional social networking site. It’s a fantastic recruiting, promotional, and networking tool. Recently LinkedIn is getting the shine it deserves for also being an incredible marketing platform for B2B businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re a small company looking for local partnerships or interested in finding people responsible for signing million-dollar enterprise agreements, LinkedIn marketing can get you there.
Every day, hundreds of millions of professionals log into their LinkedIn account hungry for notifications. They want to see who has clicked on their profile, commented on their latest achievements, or written them a friendly review. The entire platform is geared toward professional networking. People can endorse other people for certain skills, recruiters hunt for the right fit into a new account, and marketers are hard at work building leads for their companies.
If you’re new to LinkedIn marketing, we’re here to help. In 2020, more businesses are dedicated more dollars to LinkedIn marketing, and you should be there right along with them. The right strategy will land you incredible leads and make your marketing efforts more effective no matter your size. Here’s what you need to get started.
Creating the Right Profile
First, realize that no matter how well your email or LinkedIn message is crafted, it’s going nowhere if you’ve got a subpar profile. Anyone who is going to click on a link or message you back is going to check out your profile first says Ross Kernez of Hpone. It’s the online method of sizing you up. They want to see if you share any common connections, where you worked before, how long you’ve been in business, and use other information to assess your track record.
You need to put in the time to create a high-level LinkedIn profile for yourself and your company. If you’ve got employees, you should also encourage them to write comprehensive profiles. LinkedIn does a great job of gamifying profile creation, so it’s easy and can be done quickly. Once you start, you’re almost eager to keep filling out information on your education, your skills, and what you have to offer. It’s like suddenly bragging about everything you’ve done is now ok.
If you’re having trouble finding the time or wording, you can hire someone to create profiles for you. There are marketing experts who know the right keywords and how to present your business favorably.
Pay Attention to Images
Images on your profile, like your headshot and the background cover image make a huge difference. Just like you wouldn’t use a low-quality image on any of your marketing materials, don’t use one on your LinkedIn page or profile. Make the images you choose to evoke the kind of emotions you want your customers or partners to experience with your products.
Keep It Professional on LinkedIn
Save the goofy videos and preachy material for other social media platforms. People who click on your profile or add you to their professional network will see everything you’re sharing. They can also go back and look at your past activity history.
To avoid public relations goof ups, only share professional content that’s related to your industry and delivers the kind of message you want to embody. Think of sharing content on LinkedIn as a form of brand image curation. What you share online is going to create the perception others have of you and your business. Use the information you share on LinkedIn to present yourself as an industry and knowledge leader. See if you can reinvent or reshape content you’ve shared across other platforms on LinkedIn to capture a bigger B2B audience.
Using LinkedIn Ads
Companies can sponsor content on LinkedIn that will appear on other people’s pages as they scroll through their feeds much in the same way other social media platforms do. You can experiment with a mix of written content, videos, or images to find what works best. This should be in addition to what you’re doing on your own page that hopefully is being shared and consumed organically. Again, think about the audience. You’re going to want to present your products in a way that professionals will use them.
LinkedIn and Sponsored Messaging
One thing that LinkedIn offers that most other media platforms don’t is the ability to pay for the opportunity to direct message leads in their inbox. This direct messaging feature can be incredibly effective but should be used with care. Blasting out generic emails to an audience on LinkedIn is a great way to lose money. However, email copy that is written carefully with some personal details based on who is receiving the message can yield very high-quality leads.
Text and Dynamic LinkedIn Ads
Just like other social media platforms or search engines, LinkedIn offers users text and dynamic ads that appear on user feeds. Text ads are similar to what you’ll see with pay per click, or PPC, ads on Google. Dynamic ads will show up in users’ feeds with some sort of call to action or a link they can click on that redirects them to your site, a survey, an email newsletter sign up, etc.
Measuring Your Success with LinkedIn Marketing
If you’re new to LinkedIn marketing, you’re going to want to know what kind of results you’re getting. Conversion rates and cost of customer acquisition (COCA), are KPIs you should be using. However, with B2B marketing, a single lead can have a massive impact on sales. Use the data you can go improve click-through rates, open rates, and direct messaging response rates. You should view the beginning stages of your LinkedIn marketing journey as the cost of education.
Millions of businesses of all sizes are using LinkedIn to shorten the distance between their offers and decision-makers. There are fewer gatekeepers in the modern era, and you can use LinkedIn marketing to find people who are most likely to use and benefit from your products and craft marketing materials that speak to them. Building your online professional network and marketing to that audience is one of the best ways to grow your business.