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Officially launched in 2003, LinkedIn is known as the professional social network. In its 14 years online, the site has added a number of features for both career-minded individuals and businesses, including messaging, groups, company pages, and job postings. One tool, acquired in 2013, is Pulse, a newsreader that has become a priority for companies as they market their businesses on LinkedIn.

Pulse is a news feed that publishes hand-selected content written and generated by LinkedIn users. Since sharing articles on your profile helps you gain exposure, you must use your marketing platform to listen, analyze, publish, and engage the right content at the right time; this will give you a higher probability of being featured.

When you post new content on LinkedIn, your goal is to have it featured on Pulse, which will drive profile views and professional networking opportunities. If your content is selected and published, your LinkedIn profile must be optimized with a professional headshot or logo, banner image, and completed individual or company profile in order to capitalize on the exposure. Use the tips in the infographic below to become a LinkedIn marketing powerhouse and capitalize on the site’s tools and features.

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The Best Ways to Market Your Business on LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn Features that Help You Market Your Business 

  • Consider increasing your use of these features on LinkedIn to improve your company’s social media presence, and gain a larger audience and customer base.
    • Messaging: New, smarter messaging feature, helps you connect and unlock new opportunities
      • Easily message a connection on LinkedIn
      • Offers insights across the site to help you break the ice in any new conversation
        • Example: Showing people within your network at a company you want to connect with
    • Posts
      • Sharing articles helps you gain exposure in your LinkedIn Community
      • Tips
        • Post insightful articles
        • Articles can be your own work or pieces you find compelling
  • Know what to post and create content worth sharing with Social Studio
    • Build more meaningful relationships with customers by tapping into the power of social media in your marketing, customer service, and sales organizations
    • Harness social conversations with your customers on a 1:1 basis
      • Listen
      • Analyze
      • Publish
      • Engage
    • Videos and Presentations
      • Display valuable content items in your profile
      • Tips
        • Easily post presentations from SlideShare or videos from YouTube
    • Recommendations and Endorsements
      • A collection of recommendations significantly enhance your profile
      • Tips
        • Seek endorsements that will add credibility to your profile
        • Try to get at least 5 endorsements
    • Publications and Projects
      • Highlight books or eBooks you wrote and published 
      • Highlight your successful projects 
      • Tips
        • Include a description, link, and who you worked with 
    • LinkedIn community features allow you to communicate and collaborate with other LinkedIn users
      • Groups
        • Help you stay informed and keep in touch with people who share your interests
        • Tips
          • Create your own 
          • Join groups that focus on your areas of interest or expertise
          • Participate and add value to the discussion 
          • Can help to expand your circle of influence
    • Company Pages
      • Powerful research tool you can use to find companies to do business with—or research competitors
      • Tips
        • Create a page for your company to showcase your expertise
          • Include a description, your physical address, and web address
        • To further your company page’s value, post: 
          • Targeted jobs
          • Recruitment videos
          • Information about products and services 
  • Advanced LinkedIn Marketing Apps
    • You can add advanced applications to your profile
    • These apps can boost your business by:
      • Creating brand awareness
      • Generating more leads
      • Expanding your network
    • Tips
      • On your company page, use apps to: 
        • Sync your tweets with Twitter
        • Play a video with SlideShare
        • Add your blog with WordPress
  • LinkedIn URLs
    • The platform automatically creates a default address for your pages
    • Tip
      • Customize it to create a branded address 
  • Optimize your profile
    • Headshot
    • Tip
      • Use a professional quality photo
      • Recommended size: 400x400 pixels
    • Banner image 
      • Tip
        • Recommended size: 1536 x 768 pixels
        • Use the same branding as on other social media profiles
        • Offer a value proposition specific to your audience 
          • Example: “Follow us to learn how to drive more sales”
    • Headline
      • Tip
        • Use a complete sentence
        • Offer a clear value proposition  
          • For example: “I help business owners get the search visibility they need”
    • Summary
      • Tip
        • Avoid using flowery or subjective language 
        • List:
          • Areas you specialize in
          • Awards 
          • Guest-posting gigs
          • Areas of competency
        • Use relevant keywords people may use
    • Remember:
      • Use relevant keywords
      • Encourage employees to like your page and share your content

 

Conclusion

By actively using the features on LinkedIn and properly setting up your profile you can increase your reach and improve your business standing. 

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For more tips on using social media as a company, check out our free eBook, “The Business Leader’s Guide to Becoming a Social Business.”