As a business owner, you know how important it is to reach and connect with your target customers on social media platforms. Many businesses are already using LinkedIn to connect and engage with potential clients and boost sales.
But did you know that certain LinkedIn marketing strategies will help you develop more relationships and grow your business? Are you using LinkedIn without tangible benefits to your business? You might not be using the networking site properly or you might not have a solid LinkedIn marketing strategy to drive leads and conversions.
When you’re thinking about your LinkedIn marketing strategy, you need to make sure you’ve got everything covered. This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you want to know about LinkedIn marketing strategies.
What Is LinkedIn Marketing
LinkedIn is a social media site that allows you to network with professionals in the industry. You can also use the platform to find potential clients for your business. As such, when we talk about LinkedIn marketing, it means using the site to grow your business.
For example, you might have a LinkedIn profile so that people in your industry can see your work and contact you if they need your services or products. LinkedIn marketing allows you to connect with professionals in your industry who might convert into your leads or clients in the future.
Importance of a LinkedIn Marketing Strategy
While LinkedIn is undeniably the most important social media network for B2B marketing, you might not be using the platform to its full potential for your business growth. This is where LinkedIn marketing strategy enters the equation.
LinkedIn marketing strategy is a comprehensive game plan of using the professional networking platform to achieve your business and marketing goals. The strategy defines your goals and objectives and narrates the practical steps and actions required to achieve your goals and objectives. It also provides insight into how the goals will be measured and monitored to determine success.
A LinkedIn marketing strategy is crucial for your success on the network because it keeps you focused on your lead and sale targets, brand awareness targets, and conversion goals. A strong strategy provides a roadmap and guides your actions by incorporating current and emerging best practices to achieve concrete results.
A successful LinkedIn marketing strategy will attract new customers, generate leads, drive sales, improve customer loyalty, and strengthen brand awareness. If you want your business to thrive in today’s digitally driven world, it’s time to create a LinkedIn marketing strategy!
LinkedIn Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business
LinkedIn is used by many businesses to connect with potential clients, engage with them, and boost sales. But when you’re thinking about your LinkedIn marketing strategy, you need to make sure you’ve got everything covered.
Here are some of our top tips for improving your LinkedIn strategy, so you can start seeing results as quickly as possible.
1. Connect with Your Audience on LinkedIn (with a personalized note)
First and foremost, if you want to make LinkedIn work for your business, you need to find your target audience on the platform. And to do this, you need to make sure you’re sending out connection requests on a daily basis.
You can do this gradually. For example, if you start by sending out 20 connection requests a day, you can slowly increase it to up to 100.
After your request has been accepted, make sure you send a thank you message and then deliver a quick follow up in a few business days. Make sure the message isn’t too salely, though! This can make it much easier to convert connections into clients.
However, doing everything manually will take ages and why spend time if you can automate? There are LinkedIn tools like Octopus CRM that allows automating this process, this LinkedIn automation software could save you valuable hours that could be spent boosting engagement in other ways.
Related article: E3C LinkedIn Outreach Strategy
2. Export Data of Your 1st Level Connections and Use in Email Marketing or Retargeting
Another useful tool that can help give your marketing efforts a boost is exporting your 1st level connection’s data, including their email addresses, and using it to try and engage with them outside of LinkedIn.
LinkedIn itself no longer offers this function to its users. However, with Octopus CRM, you can export all the data you need and upload it into your email marketing platform. This data can then be used in your email marketing and retargeting campaigns.
The data can also be exported to your Facebook ad campaigns via Octopus CRM, as part of your LinkedIn social media strategy.
This can be then be used to target your connections on the site, either through retargeting ads, or to remind your audience about your business and the products or services you offer.
When you’re sending out emails or promoting your business on social media, remember to avoid sounding too salesly. For the best results, try and share useful information, such as marketing tips or other content that would be of interest to your target audience.
3. Regularly Publish Articles on LinkedIn Pulse
Publishing articles on LinkedIn Pulse can be an extremely powerful marketing strategy. There are over 260 million active users on LinkedIn every month, and this is something that can be used to your advantage.
This is a platform that can be used to reach a larger audience and generate new leads on LinkedIn. You can use it to promote content to your existing network, as well as other professionals. It even promises to match the topics you’ve written about with users who’ve shown an interest in it.
Plus, if your readers enjoy the article you have written, they are able to share it on other social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter. This gives you even more exposure, so much so that you might even gain more followers on your LinkedIn account.
Since being introduced, the response to the article publishing tool on LinkedIn has been very enthusiastic, to say the least. So far, there have been over 1 million posts on the platform. And the numbers show no sign of slowing any time soon.
So, how do you get started?
First, you need to check if your account has been approved for publishing content. To do this, go onto your main page. If there’s a grey pencil icon on the top of your page – next to the status box – then you have access to the feature. If not, you will need to email the support team to gain access.
To start publishing, click on the pencil icon and select “create a post”. You will then be given a blank blog post which can be used to create your headline and text. Make sure that your headline is enticing to the potential reader and that your post is interesting and high-quality.
Here are some further tips to help you make the most of this marketing technique:
- Use LinkedIn analytics to check how successful your articles are
- When posting, test out different time of day to publish your article to see if it makes a difference to your engagement levels
- Make sure that your content is relevant and valuable to your target reader
- Try and include images and videos to break up the text
- Before you publish your post, always preview it to make sure the layout is correct
In addition, you can use collaborative articles on LinkedIn that allows you to team up with industry experts to co-create insightful content.
4. Create, Optimize and Promote Your Company Page
When you create a LinkedIn Company Page, it’s important to remember that it’s a key part of your marketing efforts. And making sure that it’s properly SEO optimized and promoted will help you to be more visible on LinkedIn, as well as on other search engines.
Some of the ways you can optimize your page include:
- Identify keywords and phrases that will make you more searchable and use them in your company description, title, and your list of specialities
- Link your page to your website, blog, social media profiles, newsletters, and any other platform you use
- Make sure that you are publishing relevant content on a regular basis, as this boosts engagement, which makes you more visible on search engines
- Use the “companies to track” feature to analyze your competitor’s pages so that you can compare their metrics to your own – you can then see what tactics they are using that work so that you can use them in your own marketing strategy
After you’ve created and optimized your page, the next step is to promote it, gain followers, and grow your audience. By doing this, as well as being able to reach out to more people, it also makes your company more credible and more likely to appear in the search results.
Start off by asking all of your colleagues, employees, subscribers, website visitors, existing customers, collaborators, and business associates to follow your page. Then, make sure you add a “follow” button to all of your business pages, newsletters, and email signatures.
5. Start Marketing in LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups can be a great marketing tool that you can use to boost engagement and grow your business following. There are many benefits from this LinkedIn business marketing strategy, but in order for it to be effective, you need to make sure you’re using it well.
To start with, you need to ensure that you’re doing enough research when using groups. If you want to achieve the best results, you first need to check the groups that are available and choose the most relevant ones.
Think about the following:
- How many admins are there?
- How well is the group being managed?
- Is the information in “About This Group” informative?
- Are any of the group members already in your network?
- Read the message you get when joining the group: is it clear and concise?
Vetting groups before joining them will make you much less likely to be swamped by spam posts and messages. There’s also a much higher chance that there will be serious members in it, who are actually looking to connect and engage with other members.
Once you’ve joined the right groups, the next thing you need to consider is how you’re actually going to engage with other users.
To get the most out of this, try and engage with others as much as you can. Scroll through the newsfeed and see who’s sharing information or articles.
Take some time to read them, look at the users’ profiles, and then respond to the content or article. You can even speak to the author directly if you want. You can do this by commenting, liking, or sharing the post, or by asking relevant, thoughtful questions.
6. Publish LinkedIn Posts at least Twice a Week
Being able to create interesting content is great for boosting your engagement levels. Some of the ways you can get your content to stand out are:
- Use short, concise video content
- When using text posts, make sure they’re attention-grabbing, not too long, and will make the reader want to engage
- Add some personality to your posts and make sure they know you’re a real person
- Try and avoid using too many links in your posts
- Use LinkedIn’s native content system to produce short stories with a hook
Always remember, you need to post regularly on LinkedIn for it to have an impact. Try and aim for at least two posts a week, and you’ll start to notice an increase in your engagement levels.
Consistency is key with this. And remember, you need to utilize everything we’ve mentioned in this article regularly.
With the best LinkedIn automation tools like Octopus CRM, you can reduce your manual work by up to 90%. This frees up time, so you’ll be able to focus on increasing your engagement in other ways, like using LinkedIn Groups, publishing articles regularly, and posting on your timeline.
When you use all of these strategies together, you will start to see results.
4 Ways to Get the Best From LinkedIn
There are many LinkedIn marketing strategies that you can use to help your business grow. Follow these simple tips to get the most from LinkedIn.
1. Know Your Audience
Before you start LinkedIn marketing, it’s essential to identify your target audience on the network. You should already know this information before setting up your personal profile or company page. Knowing who you want to reach will make it easier for you to create a profile or content that is relevant and will attract leads.
2. Create a Professional Profile
When you sign up for LinkedIn, you must ensure your profile is polished and looks professional. Your headline, professional summary, profile picture, background photo, job title, educational information, company information…all of these must present you as an expert in the industry. Plus, make sure to optimize your profile, so it is easy to find for potential clients and leads.
3. Build Your Network
Once your profile is live, the first thing you should do is build your network. Connect with other professionals on LinkedIn and start sending connection invitations to people in your industry. You can also invite them to connect with your company page, which will allow you to highlight your products or services.
Make sure to engage with people through comments, likes, and shares. This way, you’ll build your network fast. Plus, create and post original and high-quality articles and posts on LinkedIn, so you can emerge as an authority in your field.
4. Join LinkedIn Groups
Joining LinkedIn groups is a great way to connect with potential leads and professionals in your industry. LinkedIn groups are an excellent way to find people who share your interests, leading to future collaboration.
Benefits of Using LinkedIn for Your Business
The first benefit of using LinkedIn for your business is that it will increase your credibility. LinkedIn gives your business a professional aura and helps you establish an authoritative online presence. If you’re viewing someone’s profile, you can see if their experience matches up with what you need for your company, and so on.
The next benefit is that it will help you generate leads. You can use LinkedIn to find people interested in your services or products. It’s a great way to find potential clients without having to do any cold calling!
The third benefit of using LinkedIn for your business is that it will help you build relationships. Building relationships with current and potential customers is essential to growing your business.
LinkedIn Optimization Tips
Did you know that your LinkedIn profile is 40x more likely to be discovered when it is optimized and complete? Being more discoverable on the network means more business and lead generation opportunities.
But how do you complete and SEO optimize your LinkedIn profile? Read on for some quick tips:
- Upload a professional profile picture
- Write an attractive headline and professional summary
- Upload a professional cover photo
- Mention your location
- Update your existing job and company
- Mention your work experience or work history
- Mention your education
- Add at least three skills to your profile
- Place relevant keywords across your profile
Use LinkedIn Stories
One of the most popular features on LinkedIn is Stories. LinkedIn Stories allow you to give your connections a quick recap of your day with pictures and videos. It’s a great way to keep followers updated with what you’re up to.
Since today’s consumers are all about visuals, using LinkedIn Stories can increase your chances of being seen by your audience. Using stories, you can post content highlighting your company values, culture, or the people behind the business.
You can also use this feature to promote a product, service, or even. Or you may want to share photos from an industry event where you received recognition or an award. Using LinkedIn stories regularly will help people remember you and engage with you, leading to future business opportunities and collaborations.
Use Hashtags on LinkedIn to Grow Your Client Base
One of the best marketing strategies is to promote your content with hashtags on LinkedIn. This will help you get more views, likes, and shares. You can take your LinkedIn post and add a relevant hashtag specific to your target audience.
For example, if you’re offering cybersecurity services in San Francisco, you could write a LinkedIn article or post on a topic related to your expertise and then promote it with hashtags like #CybersecurityInSanFrancisco, #CybersecurityServices, and #CyberSecurityCompany
And when people search for those hashtags on LinkedIn, they might see your post and follow you. This way, your network will expand, increasing your leads and expanding your client base. It is also a great way to keep up and nurture good relations with your existing clients.
Benefits of LinkedIn Company Pages
A LinkedIn company page is a free feature that allows you to create an online presence for your company. It’s a place to share information about your company, such as its history, services, and recent news. You can also use the page to connect with new prospects and clients.
A company page on LinkedIn also allows you to showcase your brand’s values, features, and benefits, besides promoting your product and services. It is also a great way to draw more people to your business profile and create brand awareness. Plus, you can use it to find and hire suitable candidates to fill positions at your company.
Best Practices for Managing LinkedIn Groups
One of the best practices for managing LinkedIn groups is always staying on top of the discussions and being responsive. Remember, people will often go into a group and look at all of the recent posts, so if you haven’t responded in over a week, they might think that you’re not active and won’t want to interact with your group. To avoid this, make sure you check your groups every day and keep up with the discussions.
Here’re more tips for managing LinkedIn Groups:
- Create group guidelines and make them clear to every member
- Post the group’s rules up front and in clear terms
- Follow the rules strictly and communicate with members experiencing any issue
- Take immediate action against offenders
- Keep the group spam free
Generate Leads and Drive Conversions
LinkedIn is a great way to generate leads and drive conversions for B2B businesses. You can connect and network with industry professionals, key decision-makers, prospects, leads, and potential clients.
Using the tips provided in this article, you can nurture strategic and valuable relationships with your leads that might convert into clients down the line. And as your business grows, you may want to automate the repetitive and tedious LinkedIn lead generation tasks. Octopus CRM allows you to automate profile scanning, sending and responding to connection requests, sending and responding to messages, and other repetitive tasks.