Since launching in 2003, #LinkedIn has evolved considerably and now occupies a special and unique niche in the social media landscape. Many people aren’t aware of how these changes mean LinkedIn should be seen as a very valuable marketing tool. In this article, we look at some of the myths surrounding LinkedIn and how its true potential can be best harnessed.
How important is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn reports it has 875 million users[1] and in Australia alone, there are 13 million users, which is about half of the entire population. Sure, not all these users are active, but many are. In Australia, someone aged between 18 and 60 who isn’t a member of LinkedIn could be considered to be in the minority. Data also shows an audience pool that is growing at about 10%[2] every year. Market penetration rates for LinkedIn are different across the world and Australia sits at the higher end of the scale.
Is LinkedIn not just a jobs board?
This is a comment we hear about LinkedIn from people who don’t appreciate the different ways LinkedIn can be used to achieve business objectives in addition to talent acquisition.
LinkedIn does view its main purpose as helping people develop professionally and that often means changing jobs. To assist with this primary goal, it is geared toward creating professional communities. LinkedIn is constantly testing and adding new features, some of which endure, while others are not successful and are removed.
LinkedIn is different from other social media platforms
To get the best out of LinkedIn you need to understand why LinkedIn differs from other social media platforms. In essence, LinkedIn is concerned with your professional life, or the product or service you sell - your work essentially. That doesn’t mean you can’t blur the lines a little and express your opinions or show your personality. This makes your company appear more rounded and authentic – it has been given more of a persona. This helps your customers feel more connected to you as a person and not just as a product or service[3]. Of course, this works both ways and your opinions could cause some of your customers to not feel connected to you. Comments and opinions should always be positive and kind as LinkedIn is a professional community not a social community like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok.
Third-party endorsement is powerful
Unlike the traditional testimonial, which while useful tends to be treated with healthy scepticism, every engagement or interaction you have with your customers can be seen by others[4]. While not exactly third-party endorsement in the influencer sense it does allow potential customers to see how you manage your existing clients. Generally, interactions will be positive but negative interactions can also be beneficial if you handle them well. A successful resolution of problems gives potential customers reassurance that you will treat them well if things go wrong.
Engage – don’t broadcast
Positive engagement and interaction with existing and potential customers should be your main objective on LinkedIn. Your strategy needs to differ from other channels. We often see companies simply recycling B2C adverts from other channels and expecting to achieve success on LinkedIn. This often doesn’t work well because LinkedIn is where people go to find out the story behind the brand not to choose a product – that part of the customer journey will be done on Google Shopping or Amazon. Engaging with customers is more useful and helps you promote your brand. The analytics data available from LinkedIn allows you to see who is following your company page – often this could be potential customers you weren’t even aware of.
LinkedIn works more effectively for B2B marketing than B2C. Other social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook work better than LinkedIn for B2C marketing. Direct product marketing should generally be avoided unless you are promoting a niche service directly to specific target customers. An exception to this can be when you have a narrow range of high-priced products, for example, cars or helicopters. Even then promote your brand generally and not just your products.
SMEs who can’t afford large traditional brand awareness campaigns can use LinkedIn to target very specific target customers and build awareness of their brand efficiently. Campaigns can be easily set up on LinkedIn and adjusted regularly using a test-and-learn approach. The cost is much lower and can be easily managed.
New LinkedIn features to be aware of
LinkedIn allows you to set up a company page, you can then direct people to your main website or post content as well as provide a summary of your services or products. You can also add content like articles or relevant projects.
Newsletters can also be created and people who subscribe will be sent them automatically. Often you can tweak content you are already producing for other purposes, making this a relatively easy way to increase brand awareness.
Employee advocacy is a powerful tool
People are your company’s most important asset – this is very true when it comes to LinkedIn. Empowering your employees to share and comment on your content works well because it offers a benefit to both employers and employees[5]. For employees it allows them to build their professional networks and to project an image of an informed and engaged professional who is proud of the part they play in the work they contribute to. Employers also benefit in terms of brand awareness, talent acquisition, and potentially new sales leads.
Another benefit is that by projecting your company’s values you can reduce the much-dreaded bad hire. As a very simplified example, if you promote diversity and inclusion as an important part of your brand identity then it’s likely and desirable that you won’t get very many applicants who disagree with these values – saving time and effort for both parties.
We hope this article has helped you see how LinkedIn should be used to achieve success. Every business or person has different objectives so approaches and specific ways of using LinkedIn will also have to be adapted to suit.
Find out how Lucy Bingle can help you achieve your goals
We’ve been solely focused on helping clients harness the power of LinkedIn for over 8 years and are now Australia’s leading LinkedIn agency. The knowledge and skills have been honed by helping many companies, large and small, across a range of sectors achieve their specific objectives[6]. At Lucy Bingle, LinkedIn isn’t an afterthought or an add-on, it’s all we focus on. Please contact us to find out more about how we can help you.
#lucybingle #linkedinstrategy #brandstrategy #employeeadvocacy #thoughtleadership #marketingstrategy
[1] https://news.linkedin.com/about-us#Statistics
[2] https://datareportal.com/essential-linkedin-stats
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/people-do-business-like-trust-even-another-person-offering-ullman/
[4] https://articles.bplans.com/the-astonishing-power-of-3rd-party-endorsements/