Making the most of LinkedIn for B2B marketeers

LinkedIn is the place to be seen and heard if you’re trying to connect with decision makers, influencers and leaders. The thought of incorporating a LinkedIn strategy into the rest of your online marketing plan can seem daunting and difficult to manage, especially if you have a small in-house marketing team. However, it’s surprising how much you can achieve in just an hour a week and here are some tips to help you along your way. Make sure you track the results, as you will definitely be due a big pat on the back when you showcase your success!

Put in the groundwork

If you’re yet to have a LinkedIn company presence, put in the research before you get started, and if you already have a company page, press pause and consider whether it’s working in the way you want it to. Look into the following:

• Competitor analysis – what are your competitors doing well and not so well, how can you stand-out from the crowd, how large is your audience on LinkedIn?
• Content strategy – put together a simple content plan using key dates in your annual calendar, think about how you are going to vary your posts every week (see more below)
• Page optimisation – make sure all of your company page is completed and continues to be used; including hashtags, about details and any current vacancies
• Goals – what are you trying to achieve, why are you using LinkedIn?

Content is king

Marketeers are fed up of hearing this, but it remains the most important message across all marketing platforms. You need to stand-out in a crowded space and reach the right people at the right time, remember your audience are seeking interesting, thought-provoking content; they are looking for answers to questions that they don’t even necessarily know they have yet. As such you need to build an identity for your brand that’s exciting, visually appealing and different from your competitors.

Think about what you’re trying to achieve and make sure you keep the content balanced. You need to give something back rather than creating a weekly sales post. Sharing industry news, opinion pieces from your leadership team as well as celebrating the team behind the scenes are good examples of varying your messaging. We have recently taken over one of our clients LinkedIn content and have increased website CTR by 220% in the first month by following this balanced approach to content.

Make connections

If you’re getting started then make sure you empower your colleagues to use LinkedIn, they are your best marketing assets and will prove invaluable when it comes to engaging with posts. Continue to reach out and show that your company cares about its employees – this is a great way to organically grow your audience as current staff will share content. Be genuine in your approach by sharing interesting staff related stories e.g. team building, staff achievements and unique behind the scenes stories.

Utilise B2B connections as well and @mention business partners and local companies in your posts. This will quickly grow your content engagement and attract those hard to reach decision makers in a different and interesting way.