How to use LinkedIn effectively – and make your content go further
The Marketing Spaces
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In this month’s virtual marketing Coffee Break, we focussed on an area that frustrates a lot of our community members – How to use LinkedIn Personal Profiles and Company pages for marketing.
Ben Wheeler , a Content Marketer who is in an expert in using LinkedIn profiles for marketing for medium to small businesses, volunteered to come and share some of his knowledge and give us some top tips.
Here are some key takeaways from Ben with some of my thoughts too.
“It’s hard to measure success on (unpaid) LinkedIn”
LinkedIn is one of those pesky marketing tools whose value is cumulative. A bit like going to the gym, the more regularly you go and the more consistent you are, the better the results. But they still take time.
And, as Ben says, ‘It’s even harder to measure success when it’s a long-term considered purchase. But as potential clients are thinking through what they need, if you show up regularly, you’ll be in a better place than those who don’t.”
Often, people stop posting because, ‘LinkedIn doesn’t work’. It really is a game of long-term, little and consistent, building up to cumulative results.
“LinkedIn is the top of funnel stuff”
LinkedIn is very much skewed towards the awareness end of the funnel. It is all about being seen, sharing your knowledge, and having a presence.
Remember that your increased Brand Awareness benefits other parts of your marketing pipeline too.
It reassures current clients that they have made the right choice choosing you – essential at the Adopting stage. And it can tip prospective clients, hovering at the ‘Considering’ you stage, a step closer to Buying (‘Adopting’ your product / service).
Ben adds, “Yes, I have clients who tell me that their own clients read and comment on what they post, so it helps them to remain in front of them. It’s a very helpful medium to keep in touch, and clients can do that any time they want.”
“Post regularly and vary it”
You get that brand presence when you post regularly and vary your material. Different things will appeal to different people. There are a few tips for making your content LinkedIn friendly but keep mixing it up.
“No time to manage your Company page?”
You might have a Company page and either have no time to manage it or it’s got such a small following, you’re better off focussing your effort on posting from your Personal Profile.
Ben’s top tip was, ‘If you have a company page that isn’t where the action is at, say that. Make sure you have all the right info, then signpost them to where the action really is. My Company LinkedIn page actually has a photo of tumbleweed saying, ‘Thanks for visiting but nothing happens on this page. Follow my Profile for where the action is’. It makes people laugh, and that in itself is a good thing in a sea of often quite dry posts.”
“Focus on one social media platform”
It is always a huge relief when a fellow marketer gives the exact same advice you give out!
I also talk about a ‘priority social media channel’ – the one where you put the majority of your focus and effort because it’s the one where your prospective clients are hanging out the most.
Ben adds… “We are all busy and especially for solo or small consultancies, they are focused on delivery and don’t have the time to post across social media channels. If you only do one, LinkedIn is the place to be for the B2B audience.”
“Do video”
Ben updated us all on how LinkedIn have now introduced vertical video, to compete with TikTok, and are putting a lot of emphasis on video. As he said, “We all have to get over our fear of being on video – they really are key to increased visibility. As someone said to me recently, no one cares what you look like – it’s what you can help them that matters with so relax, and just be yourself.”
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“They want you to stay on LinkedIn”
Like all social media platforms, LinkedIn is jealous and wants you to just stay on it. That means content that signposts you off LinkedIn gets penalised. Ensure the majority of your posts keep people in LinkedIn.
Ben adds…” LinkedIn posts that keep readers on the platform are ‘non clickable content’ – so, try to make your point there and then, and use a visual to create interest. Canva is handy for this.”
“A post should be no longer than 3 paragraphs”
People won’t read it all and just scroll through it.
“Have a strategy to re-post content”
Ben also shared top tips on how to effectively repost content – dos and don’ts – and how to use a LinkedIn article again … and again… and again in your posts.
He structures articles to make at least 5 points – each one of those can then be a follow-up post that takes readers back to the original LinkedIn article.
Content takes time to write – so don’t post it just once. And besides, you’ll never reach everyone with just the one post.
Make it your strategy to think of your articles as an article + 5 follow-up posts. It will help your content reach a far wider audience.
As always at our free virtual marketing Coffee Breaks (which happen every second Thursday of the month, 2.15-2.45), we get an incredible amount of practical, valuable marketing insights, advice and information in a very short space of time.
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If you want Ben Wheeler to run your business’s LinkedIn presence, then contact him directly and let him know you found him via The Marketing Spaces.
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See you at the next Coffee Break!
Just make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter, and you’ll get the Zoom Link emailed out to you on the day.
Kara,
CEO & Founder, The Marketing Spaces
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3 个月Thanks for arranging it Kara Stanford!! Some great insights from Ben Wheeler, from the simple to the not so obvious, but some great nuggets to get us starting to think about our marketing more broadly. Sign up for future events if you haven't already! ??
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3 个月I don't tend to use LinkedIn primarily for awareness, or at least not right at the top of the funnel. I find it a good way to stay in touch with people, whether that's a follow up to networking or to maintain a connection with people I've worked with in the past. Former clients may come back to me after a few years when they have a new requirement. Someone recently contact me whom I'd last worked with about five years ago and and mentioned that they've been enjoying my tips on LinkedIn. This person hadn't liked or commented on anything, so a reminder that plenty of people may be reading and enjoying your posts without engaging.