LinkedIn can be an excellent platform for companies operating in the B2B space, offering opportunities for wide exposure across particular industries, and helping to attract new customers. You might already be using LinkedIn to share content, grow your networks and build your company’s brand as part of an overall content marketing plan, but are you using it effectively?

Here are five strategies to get the most out of using LinkedIn.

1.  Start an (attractive) Company page

First impressions count. So when developing your Company page on LinkedIn, you need to display your brand, and show some personality.

Choose imagery that is eye-catching, and provides a clear idea of what your company is about. You should also dedicate some quality time to writing those first few lines about your company. This is your opportunity to showcase what you’re about, and be engaging enough to encourage people to read more.

Treat all the copy on the Company page the same way you would any content for the web, and optimise for search engines. Use keywords throughout the content to help your page pop up across your LinkedIn networks, and to be found by your target audience. If you’re not the best at writing content, seek out a professional content writing service.

While it’s important to have a company page for your brand, people connect with other people, not companies. Being active publishing updates and sharing from your personal profile will be particulary important if your goal on LinkedIn is to expand your network and have conversations with potential clients.

2. Create a Showcase page

A Showcase page on LinkedIn allows you to extend your company page presence by establishing up to 10 pages about your various products and/or services. You can then adapt your messaging on each page according to the specific audience you wish to attract and build a relationship with.

For example, Adobe has multiple Showcase pages to suit their different clients, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. The stories featured on each of their Showcase pages are then highly targeted so LinkedIn members have the opportunity to only follow the part of the business that is most relevant to them and that they value the most.

3. Get involved with groups

LinkedIn groups provide a fantastic opportunity to get in touch with people in your company’s target market. Set up as forum-style conversations, the groups can be used like mini-online networking events that allow you to build a presence and search for potential leads.

There is also the option to create your own group, which means you can establish authority and expertise in a particular topic area. Just ensure that your messages aren’t too salesy, and encourage people to interact and exchange information.

If you personally don’t have the time to moderate the group, you may wish to allocate the responsibility to a colleague to ensure that the group remains active and responsive, and that opportunities to engage with your target market aren’t being missed. Once it’s established, invite core people to the group, such as clients, customers, vendors, partners and key influencers in your industry.

4. Make connections

Now that you’ve optimised your pages and groups, it’s time to actively fuel your growth by seeking new prospects and leads through LinkedIn’s advanced search feature. This tool gives you the option to search based on job titles, companies, industry, groups, plus more. However, if you are reaching out to a brand new connection, you need to send a personal note explaining your reason for making contact – and include how your connection could be beneficial to both parties.

Another way to connect is through mutual connections. Ask your primary connection to introduce you to someone else within their network and offer to do the same for them in return!

5. Publish your knowledge

Contribute insightful and informative information to a wide professional audience with Pulse, formerly known as LinkedIn Today. When it comes to content, LinkedIn Executive Editor Daniel Roth says that users tend to care about one thing in particular – learning.

“The kinds of stories that explode among the business crowd are ones that make them feel smarter at the end of the day; the content could come from anywhere and be in any form.”

As a guideline, you should aim to do the following:

• Write about what you know.
• Write often – short and frequent posts are the best.
• Remember your audience.
• Pay attention to the headline.
• Always attribute – give credit whenever and wherever you can.
• Share across your network!

Do you publish articles on your company blog? Let your followers and groups know when you’ve published a new post, and create a link to the article.

As with all content marketing, you need to measure your results. Regularly view the analytics tab at the top of your Company and Showcase pages, and make adjustments where necessary. For optimal results, be prepared to change your LinkedIn strategy as you discover what works best for your business.

Need help writing articles to publish? Contact the team at Article Writers Australia. AWA is a content marketing agency based in Sydney, and with team members in Australia and New Zealand. Visit our contact page to book an online meeting or send an enquiry, or call us on 1300 880 543.