This third and final installment in our Social Media for Small Business series covers LinkedIn. Brush up on your knowledge of this platform to start using LinkedIn to make professional connections, gain leads, and build your brand’s online presence.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the first and only major social network that focuses on professional connections. And it’s growing: Microsoft reported LinkedIn’s revenue grew by 24% in Quarter 2 of 2020. As a social platform designed to facilitate networking and build professional connections, it’s no wonder that over 30 million companies use LinkedIn for business. This guide will show you how to get started with LinkedIn for business, equip you with the right tools, and help you get the most out of your LinkedIn page and network.

Benefits of LinkedIn

Aside from excellent professional and networking tools, another benefit specific to LinkedIn is that it can help with employee recruitment. It can be used to advertise job openings and applicants can apply directly through the platform. Having a complete profile with plenty of details on your company, as well as posts that show who you are as a company, will help you recruit top talent.

LinkedIn also has the benefit of building client loyalty for businesses. Social media connections build a sense of kinship between brands and followers, and LinkedIn has the bonus of helping your followers see you as a thought leader in your industry when you post valuable educational content regularly.

Here’s how you can get started with LinkedIn to enjoy these benefits for your business!

Step 1: Set Up Your LinkedIn Business Page

Like on all social platforms, it’s important to start by ensuring your company has a business page, not a personal profile. A business page allows you to make use of all the features LinkedIn has available to enhance your business.

Fill in Your Company’s Basic Details

Start by selecting your company’s appropriate size category and adding in details like your website, address, and contact info. Next, add in your logo and tagline; these are elements that define your brand and establish your presence on LinkedIn.

Complete Your Page Info

Having all fields complete boosts your ranking in Google and LinkedIn search results. That’s why complete pages get 30% more views! Click the pencil icon on your page under your company name to add a company description, hashtags, custom buttons to encourage action, and more.

Step 2: Start Posting

Once your LinkedIn page is in place, it’s time to start posting. Share news, ideas, articles, pictures, links, and more. Posting frequently is key for any successful social media account, but on the other hand, posting too often means your audience could begin tuning out your posts. On LinkedIn, experts say it’s best to post no more than once a day and to aim to post 2-5 times per week.

Create Original Content

Your original content on LinkedIn can consist of text posts, photos, videos, and external links. Here are some post types and ideas to try:

• Company updates
• Links to industry news and research
• Photos of new products
• Quick marketing tips
• In-depth how-to and list style posts
• Links to your blog posts

Get creative with your posts, but always keep it professional on LinkedIn.

Repost Others’ Relevant Content

On LinkedIn, you have the option to easily reshare posts from others to your followers. This is a great way to share more frequently with little effort on your part, but It’s best to find a balance between original and reposted content. Your feed should be around 80% of original content.

Go Easy on the Ads

LinkedIn isn’t the place for overly frequent sales posts. In fact, these could cost you followers and engagement. Some social media experts recommend having no more than 20% of your LinkedIn posts be sales driven. LinkedIn content should be helpful, informative, and interesting.

Step 3: Interact with Your Community

Start engaging with others on the platform to build your network and connections.

Gain Followers

Like on any social platform, for your posts to make an impact they need an audience. Build up your LinkedIn following early on to create this audience for your content. Add a widget to your website linking to your LinkedIn page, as well as for all your other social platforms. Post to your Facebook page asking your community there to connect with you on LinkedIn. You can also include a link and note at the end of emails asking recipients to follow your social platforms.

Interact with Others’ Posts

Like and comment on your connections’ posts to show support and build community. This will encourage them to engage with your posts, too.

Join & Create Groups

Expand your network by joining groups and interacting with them. Creating your own LinkedIn groups can also help you establish yourself as an industry expert and thought leader. It’s also a great way to send more people to your company's LinkedIn page, gaining you followers.

Analyze to Find What Works

LinkedIn's Company Page analytics allow you to learn more about your followers and identify what works to engage them. Identify trends in post engagement, understand your follower demographics, and learn more about your page traffic. This will help you be strategic in your posting and get the most out of your LinkedIn page.

Step 4: Explore Advertising Options

As on other social media platforms, you can create sponsored ads on LinkedIn that target a specific audience. Because of their targeted nature, these are more effective for generating sales than posts to your page will be. Learn more about running your LinkedIn sponsored ad campaigns in this complete guide.

Making the Most of LinkedIn

In conclusion, LinkedIn is a social network that emphasizes business connections, which is why it can be so helpful for companies who want to grow their network and build brand loyalty and reputability. Start using these tips to build a community on LinkedIn and make the most of this professional social network.