Marketing Your Business With LinkedIn

LinkedIn has changed. Over the last 3 years in particular this social media platform has evolved from what it started out as, which was largely a CV-sharing site.

Now, although LinkedIn is still business focused, those who utilise it most successfully do it creatively and individually.

LinkedIn is now all about marketing your business in a variety of ways that engage, inform and entertain your ideal customers. Think of it as ‘infotainment’.
It is about building relationships and trust, establishing yourself and your business as experts at what you do, and demonstrating your brand (and personal)values to network and generate leads.

The following tips and advice will help you to get the best out of this platform.

Top Tips for Marketing on LinkedIn

• Remember that it is social media, not broadcast media; don’t post and ghost.
• You want your posts to drive conversation, so respond in a timely fashion to all comments and, where possible, use your responses to keep the conversation going.
• Make use of multimedia; videos, pictures, gifs, polls, and carousels. They all help your customer to build a full picture of you and your business and vice-versa.
• Utilise all the unique features of LinkedIn:
  • Use inbuilt analytical tools to track and measure the success of your posts.
  • It has a huge about me section where you can really tell the story of your business and even include quotes from testimonials.
  • Add links to your website in your tagline, your ‘About’ section and sparingly as a CTA (call to action) in your posts.
  • Recommendations are inbuilt too so don’t forget to find some of your previous clients on the platform and encourage them to sing your praises.
  • There is a featured posts section which is a great place to put testimonials, case studies and introductions to your business and what you do as well as your best-performing posts.
• Use your own personal account as well as or even instead of a business page. People increasingly want to buy from people, rather than a faceless business.
• Create a regular posting schedule, at a time when you are going to be able to respond to any comments that come up soon after posting. Many experts recommend spending 15 minutes engaging with other content before and after you post.

LinkedIn Etiquette

There are a few unwritten rules that will help you to build trust with your audience.

• Don’t ‘sell’ directly. This means don’t cold pitch people in their direct messages and don’t make your content all about sales either.
• Remember that LinkedIn unlike other platforms is very transparent, potential customers can see every comment you make, and every post you react to. So if it’s not something you’d say in front of a customer don’t say it!
• Build your network by showing an interest in others, this increases the number of eyes on your business. Also, further to the point above, your potential customers can see whether you are not engaging with any content aside from your own and that reflects poorly.

Some LinkedIn Creators to Look at For Inspiration

• Craig Brookes – Double Glazing
• Mike Howarth – Mens Fitness/Health Coach
• Iain Griffiths – Marquee Hire Franchise
• Rebecca Pay – CV Writer

We Can Help

If utilising LinkedIn for your business seems overwhelming, you simply don’t have time to manage your social media or would like help in creating the video content that will help you to stand out on LinkedIn or anywhere else then get in touch with us at Approved Business.