Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Leverage Access to High-Quality Audiences on LinkedIn.
As you find your footing with your B2B content marketing strategy and become secure in the quality of your offerings, looking to LinkedIn for distribution to a network of professionals is an important next step.
You can count on LinkedIn audiences to be well-informed, well-connected, and accomplished. Unlike other social networks, LinkedIn is not a place for personal whim posting, rather a real opportunity to amplify your professional voice and get your content in front of a high-quality audience.
The following four techniques will help you supercharge your B2B content marketing with LinkedIn.
1) Create a Personal Profile and a Company Page
By creating a personal profile and a company page, you get two launching points for B2B content marketing on LinkedIn.
You can use your personal page to foster connections with others in your industry, and join (or create) relevant discussion groups. Also, by providing useful and relevant content, prospective customers will see your posts in their newsfeed and come to see you as someone who can solve their businesses’ pain points.
You can post your content as a status update, or increase your standing as an expert in your field by publishing your own LinkedIn articles. More on that later.
Your company page should be optimized and up-to-date with your business’s’ latest information, logo, and messaging.
And, unlike your personal profile, a company page can access LinkedIn’s advertising program to promote your best content to targeted audiences across the platform.
2) Follow Best Posting Practices
A few key guidelines to posting on LinkedIn will go a long way to maximizing your exposure.
- Perfect your headline – A creative, attention-grabbing headline always performs better than an uninspired one. Headlines are just a few words, but they pack a big punch. Invest the time it takes to come up with a great one. If you have created a great post, capping it with a stellar headline will ensure it finds an audience.
- Write quality lead-in copy – This is the next opportunity after your headline to entice people to view your content. You have more words to work with, but keep it concise and action-oriented.
- Add images – Even if your post links viewers to your webpage, a strong image associated with the content should be included. A compelling image that ties in with your lead-in copy and headline create an enticing package.
- Mention industry peers and leaders – Are there customers or thought leaders who you think would be interested in the content you are posting? Mention them with the @ symbol to grab their attention. This is like a personal invitation to view your content and could result in amplification or sales if they decide to share your post with their network. Always be judicious with your mentions- spamming will backfire.
- Publish to industry groups – Take advantage of the industry groups you participate in on LinkedIn and add to the conversation with relevant content. Be prepared for discussion around your post and be ready to engage with people who comment on it.
3) Publish and Distribute on LinkedIn
It’s one thing to post a link to your website or blog on LinkedIn. But LinkedIn offers another content distribution option. Blogs or long-form posts can also be written and published on the platform.
It’s true you want your content to pull visitors to your website. But publishing directly on LinkedIn will likely increase the reach of your content on LinkedIn.
Plus, you can have it both ways.
You can create a condensed, LinkedIn-specific version of your post, and add a link to your website, driving visitors there to view the rest.
Then, a few weeks later, create the same content on LinkedIn and re-publish in its entirety, using a different image.
4) Use Employees as Distribution Partners
Your employees have the potential to be your greatest brand ambassadors. Encourage them to complete and maintain personal LinkedIn profiles.
Employees who are well-connected give your company another avenue of influence on LinkedIn. When they post your company’s content, it will access entirely new audiences, greatly increasing the organic reach of your post.
LinkedIn offers a high-quality audience that can take your B2B content marketing program to new heights. Don’t miss the opportunity it presents to publish and distribute to your prospective clients.
Thanks for stopping by,
Laura
Editor’s note: This blog was originally published in May 2017 and has been edited and updated in March 2022.
