How to Build a LinkedIn Marketing Strategy [Free Template]
Strategy matters, especially in the world of LinkedIn marketing. But, how do you know if you’re doing it right? What should you be prioritizing in order to leverage LinkedIn for your business or brand?
This cheat sheet will give you the do’s and dont’s of creating a stand-out LinkedIn marketing strategy, so you can get your brand noticed, followed, and loved.
Bonus: Get a LinkedIn marketing strategy template to build and grow a winning presence on the platform. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.
What is LinkedIn marketing?
LinkedIn marketing is the process of using the professional networking platform, LinkedIn, to promote and advertise your brand or business.
This can be done in a few different ways, from creating and sharing content, connecting with other professionals, joining groups and communities, and using paid advertising options.
Why is LinkedIn marketing important?
LinkedIn boasts over 950 million users, making it the largest professional networking platform in the world.
Not only that, but LinkedIn is also known for having a more engaged and affluent user base compared to other social media platforms.
This makes it an ideal platform for businesses and professionals looking to build their brands, generate leads, and establish thought leadership in their industry.
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9 best practices and tips for LinkedIn marketing
Itching to get your LinkedIn strategy off the ground? Start with these best practices and tips.
1. Set clear goals
Like any marketing strategy, it’s important to have a clear goal for your LinkedIn presence. This could be anything from:
* Increasing brand awareness,
* Generating website leads, or
* Establishing thought leadership.
Once you have a goal, identify your target audience and tailor your content and messaging to appeal to them.
For example, if you’re an emerging entrepreneur looking to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, focus on sharing insights and knowledge related to your niche. If you’re a B2B business looking to generate leads, highlight case studies and customer success stories.
Keep in mind, people use LinkedIn differently from other social networks. Here’s are a few ways people use the platform:
* Keeping up with news and current events: 29.2%
* Following or researching brands and products: 26.9%
* Posting or sharing photos or videos: 17.7%
* Messaging friends and family: 14.6%
* Looking for funny or entertaining content: 13.8%
LinkedIn is also the social network most commonly used for recruiting, as well as the top platform for B2B lead generation.
Don’t know where to start? Check out our blog post on how to set goals for social media marketing.
2. Optimize your profile and page
No matter what goals you’re working towards, make sure you have a complete LinkedIn Page that takes advantage of all relevant tabs and sections. LinkedIn data shows that complete Pages get 30% more weekly views.
For larger organizations, Showcase Pages can be used as an extension of your main business page, to highlight specific business units, brands, or initiatives. For example, if you have an exciting Q4 campaign launching, or important resources you want to highlight, creating a Showcase Page can help draw attention to it.
Don’t let your main Page content get stale: LinkedIn recommends updating your cover image at least twice a year.
3. Share valuable content
LinkedIn is all about networking and building connections, so it’s important to share valuable content consistently. This could be blog posts, articles, videos, images, or even curated content from other sources.
The key is to provide value and insight to your audience, rather than just promoting your products or services.
Some tips for creating and sharing valuable content on LinkedIn include:
* Use eye-catching visual elements like images, videos, or infographics
* Share relevant industry news and trends
* Engage with other users’ content by commenting and liking
* Use hashtags to reach a wider audience
4. Understand your audience
LinkedIn user demographics differ from those of the other social platforms. LinkedIn users skew older and tend to have a higher income.
But that’s just a starting point. It’s important to understand who your specific audience is and what kind of information they’re looking for from your LinkedIn Page.
LinkedIn analytics are a good way to find the demographics specific to your audience. Within your Visitor and Follower dashboards, you can see what industries your followers are in, their job titles, and their location.
Use these insights to tailor your future content, but also to understand if your existing content is resonating with the right people.
For example, you might notice that your followers are mostly in the tech industry but most engaging with your posts about marketing.
5. Track and refine your performance
The best way to improve your LinkedIn strategy over time is to track and analyze the results of your efforts. LinkedIn Analytics provides a good overview of your page and post-performance, but platforms like Hootsuite Analytics help you go even deeper.
Use the insights from these tools to refine your LinkedIn marketing strategy. Experiment with different types of content, posting times, and messaging styles to see what resonates best with your audience.
For example, a quick look at your analytics might uncover that your page performance is dwindling.
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Did this happen just after you introduced a new content type? Or maybe a new campaign? Performance might also be the result of a recent algorithm update. Or, your audience engagement might be dropping off because you’re not actively engaging with them through comments or direct messaging.
All of these insights can help you make adjustments to your strategy and stay ahead of the curve.
Always remember to share your results! Social media doesn’t exist in a silo, and sharing your LinkedIn marketing results with key stakeholders can help you gain buy-in for future initiatives and investments.
Hootsuite offers LinkedIn report templates you can customize and schedule to keep everyone in the loop.
6. Focus on leads, not sales
LinkedIn is more about social selling than social commerce. As mentioned earlier, it’s the top brand for B2B lead generation. It’s a perfect platform for building and nurturing connections that will lead to sales over time.
It’s less effective as a platform for spur-of-the-moment purchases. It’s just not the place people go when they’re looking for the latest trending items to buy.
So, rather than trying to sell directly on LinkedIn, focus on building relationships and credibility. Reach out when you see an opportunity, but offer expert advice rather than a hard sell. You’ll be front of mind when the time is right for a buyer to make the purchasing call.
That said, using LinkedIn to drive online sales is not impossible. If you want to take this approach, position your product or service in a business-appropriate context. It might be helpful to work with an appropriate influencer, KOL (key opinion leader), or brand.
7. Build your employer brand
Building your employer brand is about more than just job postings. It’s all about showcasing what it’s like to work at your company so candidates feel motivated to join your team.
A strong employer brand makes life much easier for everyone working in your recruiting department. After all, no matter how great a particular role might sound, no one wants to work at a company that gives them doubts or seems like a poor cultural fit.
One of the best ways to show off your culture is to harness the enthusiasm of your existing employees. For example, at Hootsuite, employee advocacy accounts for 94% of organic employer brand content impressions. An employee advocacy tool makes it easy for employees to share approved brand content with their networks.
And a chorus of ringing endorsements of the corporate culture from people who work there provides exceptional social proof for potential new recruits.
Businesses can also add a Trending Employee Content galley to their LinkedIn Page. It’s based on associated hashtags, like this example from Google.
Source: Google on LinkedIn
8. Be human
LinkedIn research shows employee networks have an average of 10 times more connections than a company has followers. Not to mention, employee content gets twice as many click-throughs when posted by an employee rather than on the company’s business page.
On the recruiting front, employees are likely to have LinkedIn connections in their areas of expertise. When they share job opportunities, they reach a much more targeted audience than your LinkedIn company page.
That’s one of the many reasons why it’s important to include personal profiles in your LinkedIn marketing strategy. That might mean training your C-suite on how to use LinkedIn effectively for thought leadership content. Or it might mean encouraging your employees to share their work life on LinkedIn.
Remember that users can choose to follow personal profiles. This way, they see content from people they want to learn from but don’t know well enough to send a connection request. That further extends the reach of everyone who works for your company, from entry-level employees to the CEO.
Always make it easy for employees to share content on their LinkedIn profiles with an employee advocacy program. Hootsuite Amplify helps you manage and share approved content. You can also use this social media advocacy and marketing tool to measure results and increase employee engagement.
9. Engage with the community
Think of LinkedIn as a digital networking event. You wouldn’t just sit in the corner and wait for people to talk to you. You would actively join conversations, introduce yourself, and contribute valuable insights.
The same goes for LinkedIn marketing. It’s not enough to post content and hope people engage with it. Actively engaging with your audience shows that you value their opinions and are interested in building relationships.
Replying to comments on your posts, congratulating colleagues on their achievements, and showing support for those who may be newly looking for work are all ways to participate in the community and build a positive reputation.
Hootsuite Inbox makes it easy to stay on top of comments and direct messages on your LinkedIn content. You can also assign these tasks to team members or integrate your CRM for a complete view of your buyers’ interactions.
But don’t just focus on your own content. LinkedIn recommends sharing an update from an outside source and four pieces of content from others for every piece of self-promotional content you share. Using social listening streams in Hootsuite can help you find relevant content to share with your audience.
In addition, creating your own LinkedIn group can also help build your reputation as a thought leader and expand your network. Just make sure to actively contribute valuable insights instead of solely promoting yourself or your company. Remember, building relationships is key to long-term success on LinkedIn.
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