Your business is most likely already on LinkedIn – and has been for years. The standard B2B LinkedIn marketing strategy typically involves begging employees to share a company post on their personal feeds or haphazardly liking various industry experts’ comments. Fortunately, the rise of video content – among other elements – has made life on LinkedIn a little more exciting.
B2B marketers can now make use of LinkedIn’s native video as well as video for sponsored content to deliver visually compelling stories to as many relevant viewers as possible. The potential for engagement is much higher and this translates into measurable results – namely, business leads and new customers.
Sounds amazing – and it is. But how do you do it? Social video production is not something you do on a whim from your iPhone. Nor is creating your company profile a quick copy and paste from your website. Like everything else in your B2B marketing arsenal, your LinkedIn marketing strategy needs to be well, strategic. This involves setting up your company page, aligning your content schedule with your business objectives, producing the content, posting it, monitoring it and measuring it.
It’s hard work – trust us, we know. As a rather good B2B social agency, we also know that when B2B marketing efforts use LinkedIn successfully, the results are fantastic. Current stats show that 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. So, here are few all-important steps to getting your LinkedIn marketing strategy off the ground.
Create your company page (or tidy up the one you have)
LinkedIn makes creating your own company page a pretty straightforward process. The tricky part is the content. You need to write an interesting profile that sets you apart from all other businesses. This description needs to be supported by a photo and your company logo. Obviously, it all needs to look clean and professional; no spelling mistakes and no blurry edges.
It also needs to genuinely reflect your company’s brand – and what you want to be known for. If being a great place to work is an important company value, then make sure this comes across well in your words and images. That said, please don’t use photos from your office end of year function taken during last rounds at the bar.
Produce compelling, consistent content
The content you produce and use across all your marketing channels, including LinkedIn, has to be good. It also has to follow an approved schedule that supports your bigger marketing goals. It’s not so much about having the most engaging LinkedIn company page as it is about generating new leads. We get that. Of course, part of achieving that is giving your network what they want; content that solves their issues, offers advice and every now and then, provides some much-needed entertainment. Video can tick all those boxes.
Here’s where things get fun, or confusing. Do you want live action video? Animation? A combination? Maybe a little bit of virtual reality? The style of video you choose has a direct impact on the message you’re delivering and who you’re delivering it to.
Essentially, your content – video or other – has to be consistent with your company brand and tone of voice. It needs to be on-message, attract audiences, get shared and generate interest that comes knocking on your website’s door.
Choose your advertising media
Once you have your carefully crafted content, you need to distribute it. When it comes to video, LinkedIn offers a range of cool B2B targeting tools. These enable you to design and deliver your video to relevant viewers segmented by job title, seniority, company name, industry, skills and so on. Even organic or native video needs to be created thoughtfully and not just posted for the sake of a cool spontaneous moment.
It’s well worth integrating your content amplification strategy to get better business results. In other words, don’t choose between an organic (non-paid) or paid approach. Use both. Sponsored content and pay-per-click text ads can help boost brand awareness and drive traffic to your website. The greater your organic reach, the more it can amplify your paid effort – and the more strategic your paid effort, the more it can expand your organic reach.
What’s more, don’t just focus on pushing your content from your company page. Inmail campaigns are personalised so they’re a great way to target a specific audience. Whichever combination of elements you choose, make sure that your ads and sponsored content all have a clear call-to-action. Don’t rely on your audience doing the right thing – tell them what you want them to do once they’ve viewed your ad.
Engage with people
Be active on LinkedIn. Join groups, participate in conversations, weigh in with relevant information when and where possible. Whatever you do though, don’t bombard LinkedIn groups with sales pitches. Not only will you get minimal, if any, feedback, you will have committed a rather embarrassing social (media) faux pas. People want to have conversations with people – they don’t want to be sold to by a brand. So, pay attention to the trending topics and spot the ones that are relevant to your business. Use your knowledge to contribute positively to the LinkedIn community and people will reach out to you for more information.
And when they do, don’t sit back and merely observe, responsiveness is crucial. LinkedIn is, after all, a social platform – even if it is a primarily focused on the business of business. If someone shows interest in your company page or product, follow up and engage with them immediately!