For many of our business-to-business clients interested in having a social media presence, we recommend creating a company LinkedIn profile. Typically, this is the channel that’s most closely aligned with their business goals, from reaching prospects to providing a platform for thought leadership.
However, without an engaging, well-thought-out profile, the value of LinkedIn is lost. Read on for five tips for creating a stronger, more effective company LinkedIn page.
1. Utilize all tools.
This may seem straightforward, but it’s important to be sure you’ve completed your profile and filled in all available fields, including a company logo and a cover image. While you’re at it, be sure you’re emphasizing your organization’s keywords in your company description. By including words and phrases that best represent your company, you are ensuring users searching for these terms land on your profile and that you reach your target audience.
On the flipside, make sure you’re using all outside resources to bring users to your profile. Link to your company page from your website, newsletter and other brand materials, as well as encourage employees to link to your page from their personal profile. Simply put, creating more links to your page boosts your ranking in search results.
2. Leverage your employees’ pages.
The more company page followers you have, the greater the impact of each post. A great, easy way to increase your follower count, or the people who see your updates in their feed, is to ask your employees to follow the company page. Secondarily, encourage employees to share the company page’s content to their networks to further increase the reach of each post.
An important note: be sure your branding is synced and consistent across employee profiles. It’s a good idea to provide a quick set of guidelines for how to refer to and describe the company and how to list individual positions/responsibilities. Even better, set aside time and budget to take uniform headshots for everyone’s profile.
3. Strengthen your posts.
The key to curating your feed is to post content that’s relevant to your followers and target audiences. Post regularly to keep your followers up-to-date and engaged. LinkedIn is a great venue for company news, industry-specific articles, research and owned media.
To further optimize each post, incorporate images, links and hashtags. According to LinkedIn, images result in a 98 percent higher comment rate, and posts with links get 45 percent more engagement. The more you can make your post stand out from the rest of the feed and increase interaction, the more likely you are to have a successful profile that’s high in search results.
4. Monitor page analytics.
Directly built into your LinkedIn account is a great tool to monitor success – page analytics. This page shows the demographics and make-up of your followers, so you can better understand your audience. Company page analytics also gives insight into what kind of content your followers like the most, summarizing the reach and engagement of each post. By monitoring the results, you can customize your content to reflect what’s working and improve your overall LinkedIn strategy.
5. Look into a sponsored post strategy.
Once you’ve figured out what works, consider sponsoring posts you think will be particularly effective and best connect with your key audiences. A relatively small investment, sponsored posts allow you to target your message toward specific users to drive an increase in follower count and overall page engagement.
When used correctly, a LinkedIn company page can help you reach and directly connect with key stakeholders and give you a platform to show how your organization is leading the industry. By implementing the six tips above, your profile will stand out from the rest and bring significant value to your overall content marketing strategy.
Jennifer Janicki
Account Executive
jennifer@cookseypr.com
