With over 150 million users, LinkedIn is considered to be the largest professional network on the Internet. A lot of people have been using LinkedIn for networking, job prospecting, and building credibility in their areas of expertise through the Recommendations feature, or by actively taking part in LinkedIn Groups. But while many business owners understand how to use their professional profiles, only a few are taking advantage of the many benefits that the company page has to offer.
A study conducted by HubSpot in January found that LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than Twitter and Facebook combined. So if you haven’t created a LinkedIn company page for your business, or only have a brief description and/or logo there, you are missing an opportunity to give your business a more robust presence.
Here are some of the features that you can take advantage of to make your business stand out from your competitors:
1. Blog RSS Feed and News Mention. Aside from creating a keyword-rich description, you can add more content in your company page by adding your blog’s RSS feed. This works well if you regularly post new content in your company blog.
Make sure to also turn on LinkedIn’s News module. The News module pulls any mentions of your company on the web and displays them on the right-hand side of your company page. Getting a mention in the press or on a third-party site is good way of adding credibility to your business.
2. Company Status Update. Many businesses have yet to take advantage of this great feature, which LinkedIn launched last October. Make sure to enable company updates for your page and regularly share content and useful information to your followers. This gives people a reason to follow your business page. Also, your updates are searchable both within LinkedIn and in Google, so it can help boost your search visibility and raise awareness about your brand or services.
3. Products and Services Tab. There are many ways that you can highlight your products and services beyond adding an image and description. If you have video demos or promos for any of your products, make sure to add them to YouTube and add the link to your product page. There is also an area where you can add links to any promotions you are running for your product or services and even white papers, case studies, or free e-books.
You can get pretty creative with how you use this feature. Check out how DLA Piper uses their Products and Services tab to invite people to interact with them on social networks and to encourage visits to their blogs and microsites.
4. Products and Service Spotlight. Another great feature is the Products and Services Spotlight. Once you’ve added at least one product or service, you will be able to feature three clickable 640×220 banner images in a scrolling area at the top of the your Products/Services tab. You can create call-to-action banners that can encourage visitors to engage with your company. Here’s an example from the Microsoft LinkedIn Page.
5. Targeted Products and Services Landing Page. To maximize the use of the spotlight section, try creating different targeted landing pages for your product and showcase different variation of banners depending on your target audience. LinkedIn provides good guidance for how to do this (see screenshot).
6. Recommendations. Just like your individual profile page, you can also ask your professional network to give recommendations for your company’s products and services. This is a good way to build your business’s reputation and your customers’ trust.
Don’t overlook these powerful features for promoting your business. Because LinkedIn is meant to connect with other professionals, there’s less clutter and less sharing of personal stuff (family photographs, goofy memes) which makes it a much better platform to highlight your message – especially if you’re in a B2B-focused business. And as with all other forms of social media marketing, it’s important to stay engaged – a short, regular company updates go a lot further than big chunky articles or whitepapers shared only once or twice a year.
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