Whether you have an online business or are a professional building your network, LinkedIn is a valuable social platform that you need to have in your arsenal. With over 610 million users, there's a wealth of networking and sales opportunities available to LinkedIn members.
Like any social media site, you need to engage with other users in the community in order to build your social network and improve your results. One of the most essential ways to encourage engagement on your business’s LinkedIn Company Page is to post quality content.
LinkedIn is the #1 social channel for content distribution; according to Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn, 94 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to share content.
Every time someone likes, shares, or comments on your post, you have the opportunity to get in front of their social network and increase the potential to build up your follower count. Smart, informative, engaging content can go a long way toward proving your business as a thought leader in your industry.
So, how do you increase your LinkedIn engagement? Here are some tips to help you get your message out, build a strong, reliable social network, and increase engagement with potential prospects around your products or services.
Post Interesting Images and Videos
Visuals are king in the online universe! Today, we live in a visual world. Plain text just doesn't capture the attention of readers like it used to.
Like Twitter, LinkedIn is a text-heavy platform. The most common types of posts that create LinkedIn engagement tend to be links with a small text description of what the link is about, and long-form content generally gets the most shared on LinkedIn.
Don't be like other users – be different!
Use interesting, engaging images to accommodate your text posts. By using images with bold colors, interesting descriptions, and solid links, you're more likely to catch the attention of users as they scroll down their feed. Once you capture their attention, you've got them!
Schedule Posts During “Peak” Times
According to HubSpot, the worst days to post are Monday and Friday. It makes sense considering professionals are generally preparing for the week on Mondays and wrapping up on Fridays.
HubSpot data suggests that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days to engage with users, and that before work (7 – 8 am) and just after work (5 – 6pm) are the best times to post.
Consider scheduling your posts to go out at these times. Before and after work, you're able to catch users who are still in business mode but not yet preoccupied by meetings or projects.
Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups are one of the best ways to meet new faces in your industry or area. Plus, they can be a great location to share valuable content, give advice to other professionals, and secure your position as an industry leader.
There are thousands of LinkedIn Groups you can join, with niche groups for whatever industry you might work in. Manufacturing, technology, you name it.
But, don’t be that annoying person in the group that spams everyone with article after article.
Start out by being helpful, sharing your experiences, offering advice, and building connections. Once you establish a healthy relationship with other members, they might start engaging with your Company Page.
Know Your Audience’s Needs and Pain Points, Then Provide Solutions
Greater LinkedIn engagement allows you to gain insight on prospective clients. Joining industry-related LinkedIn Groups can help you monitor interactions, which can help you to better target your market to address prospect's needs and provide solutions.
You can also monitor your competitors to see what type of information they are posting and identify their successes. Use this information to craft your own content, and fill in the informational gaps for your prospective customers.
Let Users Know Who You Are
There is a misconception with LinkedIn.... many users feel that you need to be 100 percent professional at all times because it’s a “business” site
While it's probably a bad idea to post photos of the company outing where you have a tropical drink in one hand and a cigar in the other, you should be yourself! Show your human side.
Culture content can go a long way to highlight who you are as a business and the values you stand for in the day-to-day. Post photos of the company 5K you sponsored, show group photos of your trade show booth, or photos of you working with your customers.
Show who you are and what your company stands for; keep it honest and authentic. Customers want to engage with companies who share their values!
LinkedIn Career Pages are a great hub to give prospects and candidates a sneak peek into your culture. With a Career Page, you can add a Life tab and Jobs tab to your Company Page. These assets give prospects and candidates easy access to company photos and videos, employee-created content, employee testimonials, and even new jobs posts.
Create Showcase Pages
Showcase Pages are a great feature on LinkedIn that are designed to promote a product, brand, or business initiative. They're basically niche pages that allow you to reach out to a targeted segment of users with a specific message. Think of them as specialized landing pages that connect to your Company Page.
LinkedIn users can follow a single Showcase Page without having to follow the company or other Showcase Pages. Like a Company Page, you can share updates and members can follow aspects of your business, but employee profiles can not be associated with a Showcase Page.
But, you can create a backdoor contact by linking your Profile Page to your Company Page so users can find you if you engage with Showcase Pages!
These are just a few tips that can help you increase your LinkedIn engagement. Engagement is the best way to build your profile, increase your social reach, establish yourself as a thought leader, and prospect for new customers.
Just keep your content informative, engaging, and relevant, and you can reap the benefits and experience the power of LinkedIn marketing!
Rob Steffens
I am the Director of Marketing here at Bluleadz. I'm a huge baseball fan (Go Yankees!). I love spending time with friends and getting some exercise on the Racquetball court.