Unlike Facebook and Google+, which are used by both individuals and businesses, LinkedIn is built primarily for business professionals. The people who use LinkedIn are generally older and more affluent than those on Facebook or Twitter and are using the site primarily for business connections. For these reasons, LinkedIn is extremely important for B2B sales and marketing.
Here are some tips on using LinkedIn effectively for B2B marketing:
- Create a Page for Your Company. Like Facebook, your page is the platform from which you do all of your communication. You cannot get around having one if you want to be successful on LinkedIn.
- Customize Your Page. Give your readers something to look at by adding photos and videos to your page. LinkedIn also lets you create tabs for different topics like specific products or services, career opportunities and a description of what you do.
- Add Presentations. LinkedIn gives you the ability to upload any presentations or slideshows you may have to your page. They offer a few different applications for this, but PowerPoint and SlideShare are the most common.
- Use Polls to Attract. LinkedIn also has an app that lets you create polls. You can use this feature to gauge opinion on a new product or industry trend, and simply to engage with your audience. If your conversation is interesting enough, you will attract new potential customers.
- Add Blog and Twitter Feeds. LinkedIn has a feature that allows you display feeds from different sites. The two main feeds you want to add are your Twitter and blogs feeds. This makes it possible to have several different flows of information all aggregated in the same place, making everything that much easier for your potential customer to find.
- Create a LinkedIn Group. Like ‘circles’ on Google+, groups on LinkedIn allow for people to come together to discuss a certain issue or topic. You should create a LinkedIn group related to your industry and take part in the conversation. This is a great place to discuss best practices and industry insights.
- Promote Your Group. Once you have a group, you want people to know about it. Use all the media platforms you have to get the word out about your group and invite people to join.
- Participate in Different Groups. You should not only care about your group on LinkedIn. Your customers and potential customers are involved in other groups, and you need to interact with them in those places as well. Remember, communication works two ways, and you need to participate in the conversation.
For more tips from Gabriel Sales on using LinkedIn for B2B marketing, please feel free to contact us.
