5 Things Your Brand Isn’t Doing on LinkedIn (But Should Be)

21 Jun 5 Things Your Brand Isn’t Doing on LinkedIn (But Should Be)

By Emily Copp

Unlike a lot of social networks, LinkedIn didn’t start out as the cool kid on the block. Case in point: my dad got an account before me. I remember him telling me excitedly, “You can connect with classmates and list your work experience!” Sounds thrilling Dad, I’ll jump right on that.

But then something changed. While other networks were competing for the cool crown, LinkedIn was quietly becoming one of the most powerful social networks in the world. Like the nerd nobody in class notices until she suddenly lands a high-powered job.

LinkedIn now boasts the world’s largest professional network with over 430 million members in more than 200 countries. It was just acquired by Microsoft. People can’t get enough of LinkedIn.

The question is, have you caught up with LinkedIn? Are you taking advantage of everything LinkedIn offers to market your brand? If not, read on, because we’re going to show you some key tactics you may be missing.

Things your brand should be doing on LinkedIn

1. Publishing and sharing content

Since LinkedIn opened their Pulse platform to all members, it has become a go-to place to publish long-form, advice-driven content. More than 1 million people have published over 3 million posts on LinkedIn. If you want to reach an influential crowd with your content, you’re in luck—around 45 percent of LinkedIn readers are in the upper ranks of their industry.

LinkedIn will also reward you for posting good content. As author Lavie Margolin, author of “The LinkedIn Butterfly Effect” says, “If a post begins to gain some momentum, LinkedIn will put a spotlight behind it in one of their categories, and it can get tens of thousands of readers (or more). This is a great way to improve your visibility while reaching readers in a way that would not have been possible on your website/blog.”

If you’re new to publishing on LinkedIn, ask yourself the following:

• Who should be posting on behalf of the brand?
• How often should we be posting?
• What kind of advice should we be giving?
• How can we inspire young professionals?

2. Repurposing content with SlideShare

I’ll never forget the first good SlideShare presentation I read on LinkedIn. It blew me away—I didn’t expect a slide show to be such a powerful medium. Unfortunately, a lot of SlideShare content is super boring because it’s treated as a repository for dull presentations rather than a content marketing tool.

SlideShare provides a unique opportunity to repurpose your evergreen content (e-books, blogs, guides, and videos) in a rich, visual format. You can also create new content bundles that mix up your visual and written content.

Here are a few tips from LinkedIn before getting started:

• Set up a LinkedIn SlideShare profile page
• Use researched keywords for your title and tags
• Build a lead capture form

3. Boosting your content with Sponsored Updates

If you want an inexpensive and effective way to promote your content (who doesn’t?), use LinkedIn’s Sponsored Updates. Sponsored Updates allow you to reach a wider audience in a way that is still highly targeted. Here’s why: you can set your updates to target based on industry, location, company, job type, seniority, and group. (If you’re using a Hootsuite Enterprise account, you can also set your updates to target a specific audience.)  By segmenting your updates according to the most relevant audience, you’ll have a better chance of reaching the right people and getting leads through the door.

Before you get started, here’s something to keep in mind: Sponsored Updates need to start as organic posts. So check your analytics to find organic posts that are outperforming the rest—then give them the extra boost to get even better results. View Full Article >>

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