LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. The social media platform has more than 660 million active users across the world. The majority of LinkedIn users are between the age of 25 to 34, followed by the ages of 18 to 24. Users who are above the age of 55 only make up 3% of the platform’s audience. Basically, LinkedIn is a networking platform for young professionals. This means that if your business caters to such a demographic and you don’t have a LinkedIn marketing strategy in place, you are missing out on an opportunity to network, find business opportunities, and grow your brand.

Statistics on the worldwide distribution of LinkedIn users. Source/ Statista

How To Create A LinkedIn Profile For Your Business

It is not surprising. Most social media marketing strategies tend to overlook LinkedIn. Their main focus is usually on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter mostly. If you are one of the brands that have relegated LinkedIn to the backstage, let us first look at how to create a LinkedIn account for your business. It is usually done in the following 6 easy steps;

• Step 1: Add your business on the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions page and choose your preferred URL.
• Step 2: Add a cover image and use your company logo as the profile picture. The cover image should ideally be 1536 x 768 pixels while the profile picture is 300 x 300 pixels.
• Step 3: Create a company description telling LinkedIn users about your business in 2,000 characters. You will also have the option of adding up to 20 specialties where you can list your products, services, and strengths. They act as your keywords.
• Step 4: Complete your company details giving information such as the industry you operate in, year of founding, the type of company you are, and your size.
• Step 5: Publish your page so that it can go live. You can preview how it looks like to other LinkedIn users by visiting the Go To Member View page. You can tweak the page as you wish on the Manage Page portal.
• Step 6: Add page administrators to help you in running the page. You have to be connected to those you wish to add as administrators.

Establishing a presence on Linked by creating a company page is the first step to LinkedIn marketing. Do not wait for the magic to happen just because your business has a page on the platform. You have to work hard to gain connections and unlock the many business opportunities available on LinkedIn.

7 Hacks About Linkedin Marketing You Should Know In 2020

LinkedIn marketing does not work the same as for the other social media channels. Using the same strategy you use for Facebook marketing on LinkedIn is a recipe for disaster. LinkedIn can be a great source of quality leads if you can build your networks and connections. It is not only about who is in your connections. The people you connections connect to also matter. Here are 7 LinkedIn marketing hacks you should know in 2020;

1. Encourage your employees to connect with your company’s LinkedIn Page

The importance of employee advocacy can never be understated. Your employees are your biggest advocates as a brand on LinkedIn. When you have them as followers on the company page, you can expand your reach on the platform by tapping into their networks. You should encourage them to list their positions on their profiles. The company will page will be linked to their profiles which will also appear on your company page.

Employee advocacy does not only help with brand visibility and lead generation, but it also enables you to attract and retain top talent

2. Post relevant and valuable content

Quality content is the key to a successful LinkedIn marketing strategy. It establishes you as an authority in your industry and increases brand visibility business opportunities. The content should also be published regularly. If you want quality, organic leads on LinkedIn, then you have to consistently provide your audience with relevant content that is valuable to them. There’s no other way.

3. Incorporate rich media

LinkedIn posts that are rich in media have better engagement rates compared to text-only posts. The good thing about LinkedIn is that unlike other social media channels, you can link videos from your YouTube channel and they will autoplay in the news feed. This can generate a share rate as high as 75%. When using other social media platforms, you will have to natively upload the videos for them to autoplay.

4. Leverage LinkedIn Groups

Actively taking part in LinkedIn Group discussions can help you reach out to new connections and increase visibility. You can use the search feature to find groups that align with your business interests. You can also make use of LinkedIn’s Groups Discover. LinkedIn allows you to add a maximum of three featured groups to your company page. If you have established yourself as a thought leader, you can also create new groups on your topics of interest and engage with your audiences.

5. Make us of Showcase pages

Showcase pages allow your company page to highlight specific areas of the business, for example, an ongoing CSR initiative. LinkedIn allows you to create a maximum of 10 Showcase pages. Those who need more than that have to submit a support request to LinkedIn. Your audience will be able to follow particular Showcase pages for their areas of interest. You can create a Showcase page in the Admin tool of the company page.

6. Take advantage of multi-language tools to go global

Did you know that LinkedIn allows you to create custom company descriptions in 20 different languages? You can also set your company name to appear in different languages. This enables you to reach audiences who speak a different language from English. Each connection will see the description in the appropriate language they have chosen to use on the network. This shows your audience that your company cares about their needs and helps in building trust.

7. Tap into LinkedIn ads

As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn has insightful data into its members’ skills, associations, and interests. This can be very resourceful for targeted advertising. LinkedIn ads should be part of any LinkedIn marketing strategy that is worth its salt. Some of the platform’s advertising solutions include sponsored content, text ads, and sponsored InMail which works the same as email marketing but restricted to the LinkedIn ecosystem.

Additionally, it is important to understand how the LinkedIn algorithm works. It is not a closely-guarded secret like for the other social media platforms. You should also constantly review and learn from your LinkedIn’s detailed analytics. LinkedIn can allow you to build credibility around your business and tap into hidden business opportunities. The platform is a very valuable asset for business growth. All it needs is an effective LinkedIn marketing strategy.