Home to over 722 million professionals, LinkedIn certainly has no shortage of opportunities, and it’s no secret that the platform is favoured amongst B2B businesses thanks to its powerful lead generation and networking opportunities – but not everyone knows how to make the most of it. So, if your business is ready to jump on board, keep on reading to find out how you can overcome the most common obstacles faced by businesses using LinkedIn and learn how you can create a page that delivers the results you need.
#1 Right channel, wrong content
Whilst LinkedIn has the power to deliver amazing results, the ball really is in your court with this one. To unlock all the benefits offered by LinkedIn, you need to ensure you know what content you need to post to get the best engagement from your target audience; to do this, you must start by developing a strategy. This should not only be aligned with your broader marketing and business goals but must also address the needs and wants of your target audience. Before diving into the content creating process, think: why are you using LinkedIn? Who is your target audience? What are their interests, needs and challenges? How can you use the information to offer value to them? When are they most active on the platform? What are your goals for each content piece? How will you assess their performance?
Another important thing to note is that when it comes to social media content, people expect to see a more human side to your business. They want to understand who you are and get a look beyond the faceless corporation they know so little about. Think about sharing employee updates, celebrating achievements and offering a behind the scenes look at what goes on in your business. By humanising your brand, you will be helping your audience to connect with you on a deeper level, which in the long run, will have a positive impact on your organisation.
#2 Inconsistency
When it comes to LinkedIn, consistency is key. This is both in terms of your branding and the frequency of your posts. Now, this doesn’t mean you should be posting multiple times per day – save that for Twitter – just simply you should aim to be active at least once per day. And what do we mean by ‘active’? Essentially, what it says on the tin; you should log on to your account to check messages, notifications and other page activity and get involved with conversations outside of your business but within your industry.
When it comes to deciding your schedule for LinkedIn, you need to remember that your audience will likely expect a routine; if you decide you only want to post once per week, that’s fine, just make sure you stick with it. We’re not saying posting more frequently is a bad thing (although over publishing can be an issue on LinkedIn) but rather don’t get your audience into a routine and then leave them with nothing for weeks, or worse, months – it happens more often than you might think!
Whilst there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to LinkedIn, statistically, the best day to publish content for B2B brands is Wednesday whilst publishing at least once per week can help double engagement rates.
#3 Promotion overload
Whilst it can be tempting to simply share and promote your own content, it can harm your engagement levels. You need to remember to tailor your content to suit your audience’s wants and needs – not just your own.
LinkedIn is a personal platform built to power relationships; people will choose to engage with content and connect with those who offer more than just another sales pitch. As a general rule, it’s good practice to aim to stick to the 80-20 rule, whereby 80% of your content is published with the intent of educating or delighting your audience and just 20% is dedicated to promoting your business and services. By adopting this approach, your audience will feel more inclined to take notice of your self-promotion posts as you have earned their trust and respect and given them a reason to repay the favour.
#4 Not tracking metrics
Naturally, the only way to truly monitor how effective your LinkedIn marketing efforts have been is by knowing which metrics to track to assess your performance against your objectives. Regularly assessing the achievements of your content is fundamental to optimise your performance as it allows you to identify areas of strength and weakness and factor this into your future planning meetings.
Equally, it’s also essential that you know exactly which metrics you should be tracking and the impact each has on your business goals. When it comes to evaluating the performance of content published on social media, all too often businesses will get caught up in vanity metrics – such as likes and follows – and lose sight of what is really important.
For each piece of content, you should have a couple of metrics that are closely related to one (or more) of your business goals. This way, you will ensure all of your posts remain relevant and offer value to both you and your audience.
#5 Failing to optimise your profile
Your LinkedIn page represents your business and will be the first impression many get of your company; so you need to ensure it’s sending the right message. And it really does pay to spend time completing your profile, with businesses running a completed profile receiving up to five times more page views than those who aren’t.
Time for the million-dollar question: what can you do to ensure you are getting the most from your LinkedIn profile? Well, a good place to start is by thinking about the following:
- Have you used professional, on-brand imagery?
- Have you linked to your website? (Providing a link to your LinkedIn profile on your website is equally important)
- Have you included other key information, such as your company address, industry and size?
- Is your ‘About Us’ section engaging? Does it make use of relevant keywords?
- Is your page optimised for both humans and search engines?
- Have you created Showcase Pages to highlight key products and services?
So, now you know what to avoid (& how), why not find out more about what works? Head over to our B2B Social Media page here to find out more about how we can help your business create a strategy that delivers results, or check out our Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for more helpful tips.
