LinkedIn is considered the world’s largest and most prestigious professional networking site. You can use LinkedIn to display your brand, resume, search for jobs, and enhance your professional reputation. LinkedIn is an integral part of being a full-fledged professional in any industry these days.
Your LinkedIn profile enhances your personal brand. This is where you can include your credibilities, designation, hobbies, and even a friendly summary of yourself. But remember, to use it efficiently you have to use it the right way. Here’s your go-to guide as to why and how LinkedIn is an effective tool for B2B marketers: what to share and what not to share on LinkedIn.
Why is LinkedIn an effective tool for B2B marketers?
Lead generation is the most important aspect of B2B marketing. LinkedIn offers very personal ways of identifying potential leads, nurturing them, and turning them into clients. This is done by a blend of listening, analyzing, participating, sharing, networking, and responding. By giving answers to questions on LinkedIn, you can demonstrate your expertise. If your solution is what potential clients are looking for, they will initiate contact.
LinkedIn has an edge over other social platforms, that is its, “context”. Masses stream to Linkdln to improve their life as business professionals. When you advertise on LinkedIn, your ads appear in a news feed filled with industry news, advice, career tips, and recommendations. Putting your ad on LinkedIn receives more traffic than on Facebook in this context. Your lead generation ads target people who want to enhance their industry. Places where your campaign is shown and where the first-touch with your customer occurs is considered most important in marketing. On LinkedIn, the first touch happens when your client is already in a business mindset.
Still not sure about LinkedIn? Give these next five reasons a check.
- Increases online presence
LinkedIn provides you with an interesting opportunity to network with interesting contacts. If used effectively it improves your visibility and credibility.
- Lead generation
LinkedIn performs better than all other social networking sites for lead generation. According to HubSpot, LinkedIn is 77% more effective at lead generation than Facebook and Twitter. The reason might be the availability of all high-level decision-makers on this platform. It is an effective tool if you wish to help your prospective buyer narrow down their outlook during their buying journey. You don’t want to lose a client because your company wasn’t part of the conversation.
- CRM
LinkedIn is an absolute social CRM. It offers better insight into prospective clients and other contacts. An advantage of a social CRM tool is that it allows you to keep a track of what your contacts are doing on LinkedIn. When saved a lead, LinkedIn itself allows you to see this information.
- Quality Traffic
Just as other social networks do, LinkedIn also allows you to share content in your status updates which are visible on the homepage and in LinkedIn Groups. Business content gets shared more often. LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to gain knowledge, ask questions, get solutions, and insights.
What not to share on LinkedIn?
Never post without giving it a thought on how will that post-impact your brand and authority on LinkedIn. Just by reading your posts, your network will make assumptions and form an opinion, which may or may not be in your favor. Always keep your posts professional. Here are 5 five LinkedIn post types you should avoid.
- Controversial Posts
It would be intellectually good on your part to avoid controversial topics that tend to divide people with negative feelings. Such posts may induce people to take sides. If you fall on the opposite side of your target client, you never know you may end up losing one. These topics may be important but LinkedIn is not the right platform. You may use other social media platforms to present your views. Not only sharing but avoiding even engaging in these types of posts.
- Political or Religious posts
These are the topics that people feel extremely emotional about. They feel passionate and attached to such subjects. Such posts see people joining one camp or the other. You never know which connection may take it offensively and disrupt your relationship.
- Sales Pitch
LinkedIn is the most professional networking site for B2B but it is only efficient if you use it in the right way. To gain most out of it, use it as a platform for building professional relationships and networking and not as a platform to broadcast your sales material.
Remember! Any sales pitches or promotions will mostly be ignored by your connections and some may even judge your brand based on those promotional pitches.
- Too Much Personal Information
LinkedIn is a professional platform that is very different from other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Yes ! you should get social with your connections but there has to be a balance of being social and professional at the same time. For instance, you should not put memes or party pictures. But you can post about what you ate or where you ate for lunch only if it is relevant to your profession. Don’t think of this platform as your personal social space. It is for entirely professional use only.
- Anything Negative Or Unprofessional
Get rid of anything mean or negative on your LinkedIn profile if you want to be viewed as a mature professional. Don’t ever leave negative, hateful comments and say awful things in your published blog posts. Make sure not to publish any negative recommendations on your profile. Always remember your LinkedIn profile and your public face for the professional world. Use it to your best advantage.
What to share on LinkedIn?
- Company Update
Find out unique ways to post company news. If you can manage ways to make news visually attractive and interesting, then LinkedIn is the right platform. You can share a picture of an event your company is part of, create captivating updates by sharing intellectual tidbits with interesting videos or share your company’s goals. Company updates are exclusive ways to let your followers get to know you better. This personalizes your company and encourages people to engage at a higher level.
- Blog Posts
Sharing blog posts on LinkedIn helps in increasing reach, engagement, and building brand awareness. Before sharing the blog posts on LinkedIn always introduce the post with a personal comment, shorten your URL using some app and make sure to check the thumbnail looks great.
- Industry News and Research
LinkedIn is a professional platform. The users are looking for content associated with their industry with great endeavor. Thus, it is a perfect platform for sharing reports and research-based content. You can even share your industry report to engage the audience. LinkedIn users are usually looking for industry updates and news. By consistently sharing it, your business’s LinkedIn page can become a hub for that kind of information.
- In-Depth How-To and List-Style Posts
Publishing content directly to LinkedIn leads to ignorance of your blog and website, but offers more visibility. Consider publishing how-to and list-style posts on LinkedIn. They are simple, easy, and informative. Such posts receive the most attention and can be presented easily with simple formatting. LinkedIn posts between 1,900 and 2,000 words in length perform outstandingly and gain the highest number of views, likes, comments, and shares.
- Quick Tips
Simple genuine posts also do well on LinkedIn. You can share some simple tips and tricks or motivational quotes. Keep your topics to subjects that have the power to uplift your productivity, headship, and professional success. Offering useful pieces of advice can boost your personal brand.
- Festive celebration within your company
Attractive photos like sharing festive celebrations within your companies can gain a lot of attention. They add a human element to your LinkedIn posts and break the monotony of serious informative posts. People get to see the fun and frolic side of your professional world as well.
The content you post on this platform should reflect your business’s goal. Whatever content you plan to share on LinkedIn keeps your business goals, and objectives as your top priority. Though content relevancy plays an important role. Use the platform widely for leadership, productivity, and increased efficiency.
