LinkedIn can be a tricky site for social media marketing. Even big businesses may have little or no engagement on their posts.
However, there are a few things that small businesses can do to make the most out of LinkedIn as a platform.
1. Know your target audience very well.
This is not really a tip but it’s essential if you want to do LinkedIn marketing right. Trying to cater to everybody won’t do you any good. Being aware of your demographics will not only help you to decide on the topic/content of your posts, but also the format (such as infographics, blog posts, simple status updates, etc.).
2. Have a complete company page/profile.
Yes, I know this is a very common suggestion, but people still recommend this because not everyone does it. Apart from the fact that it looks unprofessional if you don’t fill out your profile, you could also be missing out on some SEO benefits.
Google indexes LinkedIn content. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when looking up a person or business, their LinkedIn profile/page comes up high on the first page of search results. So make sure to also use keywords relevant to your business when writing up your company information.
3. Join groups that are relevant to your niche or industry.
LinkedIn is primarily a networking site, so connecting with like-minded individuals and businesses can only help you. LinkedIn Groups are great because not only are they a good place for interaction, but they’re also a market research tool; you can monitor relevant group discussions related to your area of expertise, and use this to your business’s advantage.
However, don’t just push your own products or content in a group. Provide value by answering questions, sharing helpful resources, promoting others’ content, and help members as much as you can. Pretty soon you’ll be a trusted and respected contributor, which makes people more likely to consult your services over others’ and accept your content when you do share it.
4. Monitor your analytics.
Just like Facebook, LinkedIn has its own page analytics for your business. It’s important to use this tool to see how your page and updates are performing. The metrics included are impressions, clicks, engagement, demographics, etc. If you notice that one type of post―say photos for examples―isn’t performing well, then it’s time to change what you post.
5. Post content regularly and fashion it to suit LinkedIn.
This is another obvious but crucial one. Try to send out 2-4 updates each day, spread out over the hours. The reason why you should publish often is because on LinkedIn there’s just so much content circulating―from individuals, companies, and the content that LinkedIn Pulse pushes out to users.
Also remember that LinkedIn is a formal/business platform. It’s not the place to advertise discounts or send out casual messages like you would on Twitter. Information in the form of blog posts, ebooks, white papers, etc. are suitable.
6. Publish long-form blog posts.
A blog post is an easily shared form of media. Apart from promoting the blog posts published on your own site, you can also make use of LinkedIn’s own blog post publishing tool.
By linking to your site in the post, the chances of people clicking through are higher. If you have some great and shareable content, LinkedIn Pulse could also recommend your post to a huge audience.