LinkedIn Marketing To Build Your Brand in 2017

Here is why you need to know about LinkedIn marketing to drive your business forward in 2017.

Since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has established itself firmly as the premier social media site for professionals. It now has an estimated 467 million users around the globe, providing professionals with a platform where they can not only network and build their connections, but also promote their businesses.

The social media site has demonstrated that it plays an important role in marketing as well, 50% of B2B buyers say that they use LinkedIn when making a purchasing decisions. Among B2B users, LinkedIn is also ranked as the most effective social media platform.

LinkedIn can be a powerful factor in the success and growth of your organization. Here are eight tips you can use to maximize your brand’s presence on the platform.

LinkedIn Marketing: Who uses LinkedIn?

LinkedIn offers a strong global network with as many as 71.5% of users living outside of the US. Brands that have a worldwide presence can leverage this audience to boost their business in other markets.

The platform is also becoming increasingly popular with students and recent graduates. Currently about 40 million users in this category use the site, comprising the fastest-growing demographic on the platform. This creates an ideal environment for businesses interested in recruiting young talent.

Interestingly, the platform also receives more than half of its traffic -- 57% -- from mobile devices. The growth of mobile across search in general already encourages considerable conversation, and it is clear that among the business-minded users on LinkedIn, mobile devices also play a large role in remaining connected.

8 Tips for succeeding with LinkedIn marketing:

• Use LinkedIn marketing to boost brand recognition
• Customize the content on your page for your audience
• Use keywords throughout the profile
• Use the LinkedIn publishing platform to create thought-leadership pieces and industry and brand updates consistently
• Request recommendations from satisfied customers
• Take the mobile user into account with your LinkedIn marketing strategy
• Create a business group where customers, brand employees, and prospective customers can all actively engage with each other
• Track your traffic from LinkedIn marketing to see the value of your efforts

1. Use LinkedIn marketing to boost brand recognition. Since LinkedIn is a business networking site, it provides an opportunity for you to get your company in front of countless prospective customers. Take advantage of the opportunity to leave a strong brand impression on your company page’s visitors. Your logo will be displayed prominently, but you can also create a background banner on your page. Use company colors in this space, and keep other factors, such as the design and fonts, consistent.

2. Customize the content on your page for your audience. While filling out your complete LinkedIn profile might be a page out of Business Basics 101, take your LinkedIn branding a step further by customizing the content that appears. Rather than just copying and pasting the material you include on your main website, consider the audience you target on LinkedIn and create content that speaks to these business professionals directly when they are on the platform.

Let people know how your company is prepared to serve your customers and what sets you apart from others in your industry. Take a look at some of the most-followed company pages, such as Coca-Cola. Despite being a B2C company, the soft drink giant has built a successful LinkedIn company page by engaging the audience with business news, brand updates, and professionally focused posts.

3. Use keywords throughout the profile. LinkedIn marketing offers you a variety of different types of content to develop, including your business description, career tabs/cards, and specialties pages. Use these opportunities to include keywords that will help people find your business on LinkedIn.

4. Use the LinkedIn publishing platform to create thought-leadership pieces and industry and brand updates consistently. LinkedIn marketing has built itself a strong reputation as a publishing platform, and it is easy to see the benefits this offers businesses. Although publishing articles on LinkedIn was once reserved for a select few, now every user and company has the option of self-publishing material, which can then be promoted to prospective customers. Use this tool to gain attention for your company page as well as to establish a reputation for thought leadership for people at your organization.

LinkedIn carries a strong domain authority with search engines, which means that material you publish can also help with general brand awareness off the platform as well by ranking. Regularly publishing content, including any updates from your business, will help you engage your prospects and build your reach.

5. Request recommendations from satisfied customers. LinkedIn marketing allows you to display reviews from past customers, but do not just wait for people to decide to leave you one. Instead, be proactive about asking customers to leave reviews for your brand. Since LinkedIn marketing allows you to display these reviews, this can be an excellent way to build credibility and your reputation on the platform.

6. Take the mobile user into account with your LinkedIn marketing strategy. Since so many users say that they access LinkedIn through their devices, make sure that all the content you create has been designed for them. Stay away from Flash, since it does not work on iPhones and iPads. Watch your video formats as well and only use those that will play easily on mobile devices.

7. Create a business group where customers, brand employees, and prospective customers can all actively engage with each other. Groups on LinkedIn offer you the unique opportunity to encourage conversation among those connected to your business, including past and prospective customers.

To create a group click on the work icon in the upper right portion of your LinkedIn marketing and select Groups. On the next page, click the My Groups on the left portion of the page, then click ‘Create Group’.

Our own BrightEdge Certified group has become a great place to exchange ideas and connect with others using the platform. If you have obtained your BrightEdge certification, make sure you come check it out!

8. Track your traffic from LinkedIn marketing to see the value of your efforts. Once you have built a strong company page, track your success both on the platform and with the referral traffic coming to your main site from LinkedIn. Gauge not only how many people arrive on your site but also the quality of the traffic. See how well they engage with the site, what they download, and how many convert into leads as well as the revenue you derive.

You can then use these statistics to gauge your success at attracting your target audience. Just like any other web property, adjust your efforts on your LinkedIn marketing site to maximize your returns in response to these measurements.

LinkedIn Marketing Bonus: 5 tips for using LinkedIn ads

1. Consider which of the 3 types of LinkedIn marketing ads will work best for your strategy
   • Sponsored content: promote brand updates to your target audience
   • Sponsored InMail: send LinkedIn messages to targeted audiences
   • Text ads: generate ads that appear to your targeted audience while using the platform
2. Target your precise audience exactly. You can include factors, such as business size, seniority, job titles, and industries, so take the time to make sure you reach your targeted buyer personas.
3. Remember the power of images. Include engaging images in your ad to draw the eyes of your audience.
4. Create different variations of your ads and run tests to find the most successful combination.
5. Track your progress both through the LinkedIn campaign manager and your site metrics. See how people engage with your ad on LinkedIn marketing, but also track how many people are drawn to learn more about your brand on your site.

LinkedIn marketing provides a popular professional networking platform where professionals around the world can easily connect with others. For businesses, this means the platform is a great place to build a presence and establish your leadership among prospective clients. Consider how to leverage the social media platform to work for you and gain a fantastic social platform to better engage your customers.

Learn more about VSO or Vertical Search Optimization.