Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are most likely your first choices when thinking about social media marketing, but LinkedIn is stepping up their game and becoming a worthy competitor. Created in 2003, this platform was designed for networking and building careers. On the surface, LinkedIn appears to be a way to make connections and speak with potential employees/employers. With the new additions of analytic tools and creator mode, this platform may just be the next key player in social media marketing.
With over 810 million members, LinkedIn is only growing and generating new resources for your business. Microsoft reported that its year-over-year revenue has increased by 34% totaling around $3.44 billion. The platform also has received record levels of engagement with 22% sessions growth. LinkedIn is beginning to compete with the big names like Instagram and Facebook, but in a way that is valuable to expanding a business's professional network. LinkedIn marketing means making connections, generating leads, improving brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, and even sharing content. LinkedIn is one way to generate leads and has been more effective at this than other platforms. Other social media platforms are great for targeting audiences and expanding your reach, but LinkedIn takes the professional side of your company to a whole nother level.
In early 2021, LinkedIn added creator mode to their platform as a way to help businesses grow their reach and influence. Creator mode allows businesses to get discovered by potential followers and highlights your original content. Here are some of the new key features of LinkedIn that can expand your audience and build your brand:
Content analytics - With the addition of new content analytics, creators can plan and optimize their original content. From total impressions to engagement statistics, the new analytics tools can help your business find what is and is not working. With these new features, you can now see an individual summary page for each post.
Profile video tools - One unique way LinkedIn is trying to build a business audience is with profile videos. Prompts are now provided when making your profile video to help you narrow down what to share about your company. With that, a profile ring will be visible on your page/feed, so audiences know your profile video is active.
Newsletter showcase - Creator mode allows creators access to newsletters, which allows businesses to connect with audiences. Newsletters are a great way to incentivize creators to publish regular content regarding their interests and establish their presence. Subscribers will be able to stay up to date with your content with push notifications when you post.
Subscriber bell - The subscriber bell will notify a creator’s audience when they share something new. As soon as your business posts a new article or video, your subscribers will be aware and receive a notification.
With the addition of these new features, businesses have new ways to generate leads and grow their image. When using LinkedIn your content should be tailored to the platform like you would with Twitter or Facebook. Let’s review a few different tools for marketing on LinkedIn. First and foremost, hashtags. While you may be tired of seeing them, hashtags serve a vital purpose and add emphasis to your posts. Simple phrases help target potential audiences, but hashtags can be tricky to get right. Not using the right ones or using too many can impact your reach. Balance your hashtags by utilizing relevant tags to your niche. Users can follow hashtags, and therefore, you can see how often it is used. Also, keep in mind that lesser-known phrases can narrow your audiences. Choose popular hashtags related to your business and your target audience.
Regarding content, LinkedIn posts should be varied in length and use external articles to grow your business. Reading a monologue of a post can be draining and potentially boring. In contrast, too many short posts can seem like your company lacks substance and can come off as less knowledgeable in your field. Vary the length of your posts and add pictures and videos to keep content fresh. Linking blogs and articles is another way to engage users. As long as the content is relevant to your business, this is a great way to keep your page entertaining.
Lastly, remember to have a consistent page and posting schedule. Your LinkedIn page should be identifiable and consistent with your brand. Posts need to have a unified look and provide insight into what your company can provide. Are your business's colors blue and gold? Utilize these colors in each post to have an identifiable and uniform feel. Once you have nailed your posts, create a schedule to maximize reach, impressions, and engagement. This is where the analytic tools play a big role, as you can decide when and at what time is most effective to post. LinkedIn could be the extra step your company needs to expand and grow your audience. Using these tools can help make a captivating page and engaging content.
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