LinkedIn is one of the best free marketing tools to drive leads and close sales. However, with so many businesses using the platform, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. Here are some B2B marketing tips to help you make the most of your efforts on LinkedIn and drive more sales through the platform.
If you're using your company profile to drive leads, make sure your profile is up-to-date and optimized for that purpose. Update it with a brief description of your business, links to any blogs you may have written, and a link to a page where someone can download content related to your company. Linking these resources directly from your company profile gives readers one-click access to download what they need quickly.
If you aren't getting leads from your LinkedIn updates, experiment with different types of content, such as infographics or toolkits, or see what happens when you change how often you post updates.
Pro Tip: Content marketing is about creating helpful information people want to read and share. For example, create an infographic about how small businesses use social media or an e-book outlining best practices for recruiting interns. Once you've built a piece of content, promote it on LinkedIn by sharing it with connections via email or posting a status update about it in your feed.
To drive leads through LinkedIn, engaging with companies related to your industry is vital. Engaging with a company is not just about posting comments but also about following them or sharing their updates, thereby bringing value to that company and its followers. In addition, these actions will be noticed by others who can potentially become your future customers. As a result, you should aim for engagement to maximize content marketing success.
Pro Tip: When LinkedIn users see that their content is engaging for an individual or organization they follow, they’re more likely to respond positively because they feel like getting something out of it too! So don't hesitate to join conversations relevant to your brand and start interacting as much as possible!
LinkedIn has a vast amount of groups - over 2 million - and it can be overwhelming to wade through and find those relevant to you or your industry. Fortunately, there are a few different ways you can use groups to get more involved in your business community and drive more leads.
First, join groups in your niche or target market. These groups will be active with discussions among industry experts, so once you’re a member, you'll get regular feedback and insights into what’s going on. Even better, group members might reach out to you directly because they know who you are (and maybe even trust your expertise).
Second, share content. LinkedIn’s most significant benefit is its ability to help professionals establish themselves as thought leaders by sharing their knowledge in various forms—blog posts, presentations, webinars, and more.
Pro tip: Use groups to share materials with other professionals who may not already follow you online or subscribe to your email list. Make sure that when posting content for discussion within a group (rather than just sharing it), you include an invitation for others to contact you if they want further information about any topic discussed in your post.
LinkedIn is a powerful platform for B2B marketing, but you have to know how to use it effectively. One of the best ways to market on LinkedIn is with automation. Just like it sounds, automation uses a computer program to run social media accounts at predetermined times and intervals, saving your team from having to do so manually.
Re-engaging your audience can be time-consuming and tedious, so automating your marketing efforts gives you more free time for other things that drive business value.
Pro Tip: One way to automate campaigns is by setting up automated LinkedIn InMail (messages) using SlideShare presentations or SlideDeck ads, whichever fits best with what you are trying to achieve.
Influencer marketing isn’t new, but it’s become a powerful way for B2Bs to grow their lead flow online. Using LinkedIn as an influencer marketing tool has evolved into its own strategy: Influencer Linkedin Strategy. Before you jump into your campaign, be sure you know what your goals are and why influencer is a worthwhile channel for you to explore.
Once that’s established, determine what your ideal audience looks like and how many of them you want on LinkedIn to engage with your brand. Then identify potential influencers who could help you reach those goals. As your network grows, so will your ability to find more people who can help share your message.
Do they have a large following? Are they active on LinkedIn? What types of posts do they share? How often do they post? It's important to research potential partners before reaching out so that you can ensure there's alignment between their values and yours.
Be clear about your objectives and how each influencer fits into that plan. For example, if your objective is to increase awareness of a certain product or service, then make sure any influencers you work with fit within that plan. If not, consider whether another type of partnership might be better suited for your goal.
LinkedIn makes connecting with other professionals through existing contacts very easy. Connecting first helps build trust and rapport when working together down the road. Plus, LinkedIn makes it easy by showing both parties mutual connections. Before reaching out directly via email, send an introduction request through LinkedIn instead.
Generating LinkedIn business leads through well-done inbound marketing is not a secret formula, but it takes some strategy and planning. Keep these practices in mind next time you want to create content for your LinkedIn page, and don’t hesitate to contact our experts if you need more professional advice.