The social media marketing landscape continues to change and evolve at a fast moving pace, keeping up with the changes sometimes feels like a job in itself. When I meet with a new client for the first time one of the first questions we will explore is which social media network is right for their business. For some the social media landscape is a daunting one with the digital landscape telling you that you should be in Facebook, Instagram, Tick Tok, LinkedIn and more. The answer to the question however as to which network is a simple one – where does your audience hang out?
I work a lot with clients who are trying to connect with a more professional audience and very often LinkedIn is a great tool to help achieve this objective. As many of the networks have changed and evolved over recent years, LinkedIn seems to have gained more momentum and engagement. In June 23 there were 38.1 million users recorded in the UK. Looking at this demographic, they are certainly working in a more professional role, with 55.6% being between age 25-34 yrs and with one in five users across the UK being in the 35-54 yrs age demographic. Long story, short, LinkedIn continues to be a strong platform and one that is being used with some key demographics.
In this month’s blog I wanted to share some tips around how to maximise on this tool:
1. Review and refresh your profile
If you are going to use the LinkedIn platform, to maximise on this tool, we need to start by looking at your profile. I am not going to go into too much detail on this as LinkedIn provide some great tips on how to optimise your profile, here. It is worth taking some time to work on this. Some highlights to look out for though are to ensure your picture is up to date, include information about what you do and share highlights of key achievements.
2. Use Keywords
Before you start writing your LinkedIn profile or sharing regular content it is worth doing some keyword research. As a first step, think about what words you want to be known for, look at what terms your competitors use and conduct some basic research of your own online. Of course if you have a little budget put behind this, it is worth working with an SEO specialist to help provide more depth and guidance based in this area on actual results.
3. Create consistent content and engage with your network
One of the key successes to working within social media is sharing consistent content and engaging with others. There are lots of views on the frequency that you should post in different networks, within LinkedIn generally it is recommended to post between 3-5 times per week, it is important to consider what is possible when you are at your busiest. Decide on a frequency and stick to it. Use a mix of media to engage with your audience in a variety of ways, but video is definitely something that continues to be important, you will see a significant impact on your reach when you share a video. Sharing your content is just one part of the jigsaw, it is also important to engage on other people’s posts to start the conversation.
4. Use LinkedIn as part of your new business customer journey
For many, they choose to use social media to help grow their business, LinkedIn can be a really efficient tool to help achieve this. Start by defining your target audience and then start to connect with those already in your network and build your connections from there. For example, if you wished to connect with architects then re-connect with your existing contacts then complete a simple search for this sector, perhaps start by limiting by area. You will soon start to find that LinkedIn also make suggestions for other similar audiences you can connect with. Taking the time to plot out the customer journey for new prospects is worth doing, once you have set out the process, tracking and testing what works is valuable.
5. LinkedIn Premium vs Sales Navigator
You can achieve a lot by using the free version of LinkedIn but if you are ready to do more with this tool, it is worth investing in either LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator. The Sales Navigator tool is probably of more value to a small business looking to grow because of the sophisticated search functionality vs premium if you are looking for a new job. Sales Navigator offers increased search capability, improved visibility into extended networks and personalised algorithms to help you reach the right decision maker, depending upon which level you purchase, this video here, is a great introduction as to how this might work. This was also a useful article which goes into more depth about the pros and cons of each platform, but ultimately it is important to first work out what you need and then find the right solution.
6. Linked In Groups
Joining relevant groups on LInkedIn can also be a useful way to connect with peers or new clients. As with all groups, being present, engaging and interacting will be key to maximising this as an opportunity.
7. A company profile page
This is often cause for some debate. It often comes down to your objectives and the size of your organisation. As a general rule the search engines will support company pages so posting and engaging on this page will definitely support your SEO work. The downside will be if you have a large following on your personal profile it probably does not warrant the focus in shifting followers from one page to another.
LinkedIn also have the ability to send a newsletter and feature longer, blog like articles, the advantage of which is that this content will land directly with your target audience. Of course it is important to continually monitor the success of your activity and understand what your audience engages with (analytics). If you wish to increase your reach and have a little budget available, it is definitely worth exploring the benefits of advertising or investing in the Sales Navigator tool. If you would like some help in making LinkedIn work harder for you, creating your social media marketing strategy or you need some support in raising your profile, please get in touch to see how we can help.
