No, Linkedin Marketing is not as tough as it sounds, for startups

LinkedIn is different; it's probably one of those rare social media platforms where people don't talk about politics and movies but growth, business, and self-development. Often understated, LinkedIn is a network of more than 600 million professionals, which can be used for connecting with people that belong to the same industry or share the same mindset. 

Yet, it lacks behind Facebook and Instagram in terms of marketing dollars spent. However, the times are changing as 92 percent of B2B marketers are using LinkedIn as a content distribution channel. And the results are evident as 46% percent of social media traffic to B2B sites is coming from LinkedIn. 

With 92% of Fortune 500 companies, 90 million senior-level influencers, and 63 million decision-makers using LinkedIn, it's certainly a great place to be, especially for startup owners. 

Here's a quick look at why startups should use LinkedIn as the primary channel to market their business.

The importance of LinkedIn marketing for startups

LinkedIn offers some exciting marketing features that provide businesses with an edge compared to other social media platforms. The main benefits of using LinkedIn marketing for startups include:

• Media: Media is playing a critical role in increasing brand awareness and improving brand positioning. Branding is closely linked to a symbol and design of your brand, and LinkedIn is a perfect platform to express yourself with the help of visuals and graphics. Moreover, using media improves your marketing ROI, making LinkedIn a popular choice for several brands and startups. 
• Partnerships: Partnerships are a critical aspect of business growth. Having partners means referring clients and customers to one another and benefitting from each other's business capabilities. LinkedIn makes finding partners easy, which otherwise could be an obscuring task. 
• Clients: If used properly, LinkedIn can be used to find new clients. The difference between good and bad marketing is bleak, and what makes a difference is the way you present your product or service to your target customer. With business-oriented people following your posts, LinkedIn can be of great significance in conveying your message to the customers in a professional, compelling, and persuasive way. 

How to increase your lead generation by more than 250 percent on LinkedIn?

A study from HubSpot indicated that LinkedIn is 277 percent more effective at lead generation compared to Twitter or Facebook. Here's a step by step guide for startups to level up their marketing game using LinkedIn. 

Set up a winning company page

Having a professional company page on LinkedIn gives you a free opportunity to grow your business, acquire talent, and generate leads. Here's how you can set up a killer company page:

• Use the power of the media. Put the profile picture as your company's logo. 
• Write a compelling profile heading and description targeting only your target audience. Be very specific and talk only about who you are and how you can help. And don’t forget to use keywords in your LinkedIn profile description. 

Don't forget about yourself

People do business with people and not companies. For instance, Microsoft, one of the biggest software companies in the world, has 11,018,921 followers on LinkedIn. The figure is surely impressive, but not enough when compared to 27,204,914 followers of Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. People are always keen to know who is the person behind a company/brand, their journey, the team, and more. Therefore, make sure to have your own LinkedIn profile and encourage your team members to do the same. 

Target your prospects

At the end of the day, you are on LinkedIn to grow your business and increase customers. The process of sales prospecting has undergone a paradigm shift due to the rise of digitization, as more than 50 percent of B2B customers make their purchase decisions via online content. Browsing through your competitor's network, tracking your profile visits, and commenting on your posts are some quick yet effective ways to target your sales prospects without being "salesy."

Add value for free

The key to succeeding on LinkedIn is to showcase expertise. Answering questions specific to your skills enables your potential clients assess your offerings. Therefore, helping people solve their queries allows you to give a "free demo" of the value you can provide to your clients. 

Share high-quality content regularly

The purpose of using LinkedIn belittles if you don't have an audience. Make sure to develop a separate LinkedIn content strategy consisting of post news, opinion articles, post news, industry trends, and job postings. What's better, you'll never run out of content to post on LinkedIn. Videos, backstage photos, completed projects, satisfied client reviews, tips, hacks, and more – you'll always have something on hand to post on LinkedIn. 

And yes, don't forget about LinkedIn SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a critical element of the LinkedIn marketing strategy. You need to include keywords that best represent your business and what your prospects might be searching for to find your business. Also, you need to post regularly to meet the SEO requirements. 

Become active on LinkedIn groups

Another excellent feature of LinkedIn that can help you promote your business effectively is LinkedIn groups. Join industry-specific LinkedIn groups where you can demonstrate your knowledge and position yourself as an expert in the industry. Take parts in discussions, add value to the lives of your prospective clients, and notice the number of profile visits, messages, and inquiries increasing. 

Receive recommendations and endorsements

Recommendations and endorsements can promote your business to a great extent. Your clients can give recommendations on your profile, and they act like testimonials of satisfied customers. Besides, your connections can endorse you for specific skills, which add validity to your online resume. 

Dont's: Some LinkedIn marketing mistakes to avoid

While LinkedIn is an excellent platform to promote your business, it is sensitive to your actions. Delivering the wrong message can adversely affect your audience and prospective clients. Therefore, avoid the following mistakes when marketing your startup on LinkedIn. 

• Don't deliver a sales pitch. Instead, try to build trustworthy insights and relationships. 
• Don't use a tone that is 'salesy,' complex, or flowery. 
• Don't ignore a comment or question. Also, don't criticize a comment negatively. 
• Don't produce content focusing only on your company and product. 
• Don't send irrelevant or spammy messages to your followers
• Don't be extravagantly broad with the selection of topics or themes. 
• Don't forget to use visual content, such as images and videos. 

Final thoughts

If you want your business to flourish, LinkedIn is the right platform as the tools you get are explicitly designed to facilitate connections, communication, and the relationship between professionals and organizations. Instead of always talking about yourself and trying to hard-sell your services, focus on developing relationships, and let your connections endorse and recommend you.