Why You Should Be Posting on LinkedIn and How to Get Started

I’ve talked a lot about LinkedIn strategy and tactical ways to improve your profile and content. 

But, let’s take a step back and talk about the benefits of stepping up your game. 

Why should you care? Why is LinkedIn such an important platform right now for B2B sales? For one, it isn’t tapped. LinkedIn isn’t saturated like other social media networks. 

1. There are over 600 million LinkedIn users, and only one percent share content regularly. 

Only one percent share content regularly on a platform where people are hungry for relevant content! My friends, you won’t find feeds inundated with GOT quizzes, draft picks, or anniversary photos. But you will find thought leaders, advice, industry best practices, and meaningful conversations. LinkedIn is where industry professionals and your potential buyers spend their time. Sounds like gold to me. 

2. “91% of executives rate LinkedIn as their first choice for professionally relevant content.”

The Sophisticated Marketers Guide to LinkedIn

3. “LinkedIn is the most-used social media platform amongst Fortune 500 companies.”

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog

The Proof is in the Data

Let’s get the “boring” numbers out of the way. I’m not just telling you my opinion that LinkedIn is a B2B salesperson’s dream because it’s a platform where we can create a digital community full of ideal customers. The stats and data on users and engagements tell the story. 

4. 94% of B2B marketers on social media use LinkedIn to publish content (Source)

5. 50% of B2B web traffic originating from social media comes from LinkedIn (Source)

6. LinkedIn is the most-used social media platform amongst Fortune 500 companies. (Source)

7. 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn vs. 13% on Twitter & 7% on Facebook. (Source)

8. Traffic From LinkedIn Has the Highest Visitor-to-Lead Conversion Rate at 2.74% compared to Facebook (.77%) and Twitter (.69%). (Source)

9. 40% of LinkedIn users visit the site daily. (Source)

Candidly, I’ve had a lot of success on LinkedIn building trust within my network and just genuinely trying to provide value. But I’m definitely not the only person making valuable connections.

When done right, this platform can be used to curate a community of potential buyers, spread company brand awareness, establish subject matter expertise, and drive organic engagement and leads.

Value Engagement Over Followers

When I talk about building your network on LinkedIn, I don’t mean increasing your number of 1st connections -- 27,945 followers means little if they’re not engaging. What is the point of a follower who doesn’t actually follow and interact with your content? (That was rhetorical.) When I talk about building a network I’m talking specifically about potential buyers and peers in your field who you are deliberately trying to connect with. People who are going to care about what you’re putting out there and are hungry for more.

What provokes this hunger? Relevant content that has an impact on their day-to-day.

Post industry insights and recaps of sales conversations where you learned something. Stop resharing articles and shouting about your company in every post. Make your profile a resource, not a resume. 

Need help getting started? Check out this One Month Beginner LinkedIn Challenge.

It’s Free Advertising

There’s a reason why 94% of B2B marketers on social media use LinkedIn to publish content. But you don’t have to pay for awareness and leads when organic content can be so much more powerful.

If your profile generates over 500,000 organic views on LinkedIn in one month, imagine if five other people at your company took on this approach. That’s a lot of free advertising that normally you would have to pay for.

With other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, it’s almost impossible to rise above the noise without boosting posts or using paid ads. The time is now to get in front of this on LinkedIn before five years goes by, and the platform becomes more saturated, and you do have to pay to play.

Well my friends, I hope I’ve convinced you of the benefits of overhauling your LinkedIn game and why you should do it now. If you’re having a hard time getting other people on board and rationalizing the ROI, just give them stats 7 & 8.

My challenge to all of you - post everyday for 30 days….that’s it.  One text post every day, mornings are best, and watch how it changes your life. Use the hashtag #30daychallenge.

Here is a quick shoutout to people in the middle of this now:

• Jarrod Best-Mitchell
• Royce Butler
• Brianna Gammons

It’s great to see new people every day adopting this strategy.

Take the LinkedIn challenge. It’s worth it.