Social networks are great tools to promote your business on the internet, gain new customers or develop a community.
When you want to create a site, or even optimize your existing website, social media should be an integral part of your digital communication strategy.
But to have an effective presence on social networks (and not end up drowned in the mass) you have to master the codes and good practices of each of them.
Today, we are particularly interested in LinkedIn, which has 660 million members worldwide in 2020.
At first glance, it may seem less attractive than Facebook. However, LinkedIn can prove to be an essential tool to improve your company's online presence.
This professional social network has more than 19 million members in France. According to a Hubspot study, LinkedIn is a particularly effective source of acquisition: the platform is 277% more efficient at generating leads than Twitter and Facebook.
However, the competition is stiff with more than 30 million companies present on LinkedIn. To give you the keys to stand out, we have undertaken to list some tips to optimize the use of the platform.
So, if you want to market your business on LinkedIn, follow this guide!
Define your target
First, ask yourself what type of user you are looking to attract to your LinkedIn page:
- potential customers (if you're B2B)
- influencers (in your field)
- known by importing your contacts your mailing lists
Analyze their own profiles to determine their interests and identify the groups they follow.
You can also look at your competition’s pages and contacts to see how they communicate and who their followers are.
You need to be as close as possible to your main target and communicate effectively with them. For this, you can add your prospects, customers, and other members of your close network in order to have a maximum of active relationships. It's important to keep a network that reacts to your content in a way that feeds the LinkedIn algorithm. Indeed, it penalizes accounts with very important networks but which interact little or nothing with your publications.Thus, by knowing your target contacts, you will be able to define a relevant communication and editorial line that will answer their questions or attract their interest.
Create an optimized business page
Images and photos
Now that you have your target and your communication focus, it's time to create your business page on LinkedIn.
First, choose professional images, good-quality. Your media are one of the keys to humanizing your online profile. There are essential points, for example, don't forget to add your logo as a profile picture. LinkedIn revealed that profiles with a logo are viewed 6 times more and broadcast as conventional profiles.
But for a perfect profile, everything hinges on the details.For example for your brand image: use the same profile photo on the account of all your other social networks. Users will recognize you in the blink of an eye.Adding a personalized banner that will effectively present your activity is essential. You can insert text in the image that describes your purpose, goal, or slogan to add a personal touch.
The dimensions are the following:
- PNG, JPEG, or GIF format
- Profile picture: 400 x 400 pixels
- Cover picture: 1584 x 396 pixels
- Page profile picture: 130 x 130 pixels
- Page cover picture: 1584 x 396 pixels
Semantics
Also, take care of the SEO aspect of your page by writing a relevant description with keywords that explain your activity and your positioning. Google previews up to 156 characters on your business page - enjoy it!
It is important to fill in a description for your profile that represents you and highlights your value proposition and your difference. You can present your company with elements such as:
- your mission
- your values
- your key figures
- your differences
- your references and recommendations
- your partners
Language
Do not neglect the languages in which you want to be present depending on your field of activity and your markets. Company Pages are viewable in over 20 languages, follow this LinkedIn tutorial to set up your Company Page in other languages.
Finally, be aware that more than 60% of LinkedIn users connect from their mobile: therefore remember to check the rendering of your page and the display of information on the LinkedIn mobile application.
Last point: once your page is created, add a link to it on your website, in your email signatures, and in your newsletter.
Ask your teams to update their profile if they haven't already done so, to show your company page on their own profile!
Post engaging content on your page
Avoid overly promotional posts, this is not the place. On the contrary, LinkedIn should be used to showcase your expertise in your field of activity.
Relay your own blog posts, but not only: post or share relevant publications in your field that come from other interesting sites or pages.
Here are the recommended dimensions for an image:
- Shared image: 520 x 320 pixels
- Illustration image of a shared link: 520 x 272 pixels
Before post, always ask yourself what is the added value and the intention you bring to your readers.
Like any social network, you will need to post regularly to be credible, at least several times a week.
Finally, vary the types of content so as not to tire your followers: focus on visuals, and don't forget the videos that have been on the rise for a few years. These contents generally generate a lot more reactions and sharing than the texts alone.
Add Relevant CTAs
If you're interested in producing sponsored content to boost your posts, don't forget your CTAs, which have a major role in driving engagement.
Once you've described your message and your added value so that your CTA can increase your click-through rate (CTR), you should take these elements into account:
- Use short, personalized links to your landing page
- if you publish a video: get your audience to click throughout the reading and not just at the end
- Add a relevant CTA according to your intention:
- Contact us
- Learn more
- Log in
- Subscribe
- Visit the website
Be active in groups
When you socialize and are interested in your target, you have spotted relevant groups that bring together actors and influencers in your field of activity.
Join these groups and be active in them: You have to comment on the posts, take an active part in the discussions and debates. This will help market yourself and drive traffic to your own page.à
Analyze the performance of your page
To be able to quantify the result of your actions, use the statistics of your company page: this will allow you to know if your page is seen if your publications are clicked. These are all valuable tools to be able to optimize your presence on LinkedIn.
This article explains in more detail how to understand your business page statistics on LinkedIn.
Use sponsored posts
LinkedIn Ads, as well as sponsored posts, will allow you to promote your publications beyond your usual circle.
You can use criteria such as the field of activity, the position, the geographical area ... to push your posts to people able to relay or follow you!
Our advice: don't abuse sponsored posts.
As a first step, focus on the above points to build your corporate LinkedIn page, liven it up by sharing interesting content and promote it in a natural way.
