Guest Post by Chuck Hester. Chief Connections Officer at Chuck Hester Enterprises. You can connect with Chuck on LinkedIn or Twitter.
I recently asked members of a marketing group I’m part of what LinkedIn topics they wanted me to write about for my next post (which you’re reading now). The response was impressive, so much so that I’ll be doing a series of posts over the next few weeks on various topics our members suggested.
First up: LinkedIn and your company. While most people see LinkedIn as a great business platform to promote your personal and professional brand, they struggle with how to use LinkedIn – and a LinkedIn Company Page in particular – to promote their business.
Here are four ways to use LinkedIn to promote your business:
1. Build and maintain a robust LinkedIn Company Page. While you may have a great LinkedIn profile – with an SEO-rich headline, summary and skill set – your company page is probably lacking. Why? Because someone has to build it and maintain it, and that takes time.
But, if you’re a B2B company, it’s vital that your LinkedIn Company page is up to date and represents you well. This is where potential customers, candidates, and even investors go to find out more about your company.
Take the time to build it properly and be sure that it’s consistent with the branding description about your company on your LinkedIn profile (and in the About Us section of your website).
2. Provide frequent and relevant updates. I often call this the “anti-field of dreams.” You can build a company page, but unless you have current updates and promote them, people will not come to visit the page.
LinkedIn Company Page updates should be a part of your content marketing calendar. Include them once or twice a week at the minimum. More if you’re hiring for positions or have a product roll-out in the works.
Plus, if you use Hootsuite or some other social media automation tool, you can plug in the updates and set them up on your calendar. If you do this for Facebook and Twitter, do it for LinkedIn as well.
3.Encourage team members to share updates. Your team is your best marketing weapon. They have the additional reach to their networks, and they are onboard with your messaging.
The easiest way to accomplish this is by sending out a group email with the Company Page update URL (contact me if you want to know the shortcut to do this). Ask the team members to share it with their networks, and encourage that sharing. Remember, LinkedIn profiles and networks are owned by the individual, not the company. So, be careful to ask in a way that isn’t dictatorial.
4. Promote your LinkedIn Company Page to your network. Your LinkedIn Company Page is like a second marketing website for your business. Once you’ve built one, you should promote it to your network. There are several ways to do this but start by sending out a quick note on your status bar stating that the new (or improved) Widget International Company Page is live on LinkedIn. Ask for their opinion and if they are willing, ask them to share it as well.
Frankly, this is just scratching the surface. The LinkedIn Company Page is also changing its interface, but that’s another post for another day. Just remember, a stagnant LinkedIn Company Page reflects on your company. Be sure to breathe life into it and it will be one of the best marketing tools available on LinkedIn.