Are You Struggling To Get Visibility On Your LinkedIn Company Page?

I was chatting to a recruiter on our “live chat” and they were looking for the answer to the question “how do I get more people to like my company page on LinkedIn?”. It was a long conversation as I delved into the structure of their page, and asking them about their marketing activities. When I received the live chat transcript, I thought to myself that others would benefit from the long list of actions that this company received from me, hence my blog article today.

Before you look at marketing your LinkedIn company page, first make sure that it is set up correctly. The same as any social media platform, building a network on weak foundations is not a good start. Here is a quick checklist for you:

Stage 1 — Is your LinkedIn Company Page Built Correctly?

1. Don’t set up company page as a profile. Not only is this against LinkedIn rules, but I guarantee the profile will be deleted in time, so act now!
2. If you do have a personal profile as a business page then convert it into a business asap before you lose it altogether.
3. Quickly double check that you only have one page for your business. Before 2011, anyone could set up a page (similar to Facebook). So there are still hundreds of pages on LinkedIn that were set up a long time ago but have never been used. A quick search in the top bar will give you the answer. Luckily, in 2011 LinkedIn stopped pages being set up that did not have a domain name email address ie: if you had a Hotmail account, then you can not set up a company page on LinkedIn. The other benefit of this feature is that you are only allowed one LinkedIn company page per domain name, which eliminates duplication. (Facebook should think about implementing this feature!)
4. Please make sure that the owner is always the administrator. If I had £1 for every client that had an employee set up the company page, and now the employee has left the organisation leaving the account dormant, then I would be a millionaire. Please note that as you are only allowed one LinkedIn company page per domain name, if you no longer have access to the account then you need to prove to LinkedIn that you own the business (providing documents etc), before they give you access. So, be wise, and have more than one administrator for your business page.
5. Showcase pages — rumour has it that they are getting rid of showcase pages later this year to make room for new features, therefore I would not spend any time on showcase pages at the moment. (This is my personal opinion, so don’t quote me on it!).
6. Ensure that the content for your page is keyword rich and that all relevant boxes, fields, and areas are completed.
7. The overview banner is essential. So many businesses add a logo and never make the most of the overview banner. This is a big image, so take the opportunity and ask a designer to create you something that has the wow effect. Here is a few on our portfolio: click here

Stage 2 — Perfecting the Status-Update

Your page is looking great, and now it is time to have a look at the content. I am constantly asked “how many times a day should I post onto Linkedin?” or “what type of things should I be posting on LinkedIn”?

Ideally, you need to be posting daily. At the time of writing this article, there is no smart algorithm for LinkedIn. In layman terms, this means that when you post an update, only the people online at the time are likely to see your post in the newsfeed. If you have the time and the resources, then posting a few times a day is ideal. Please don’t worry, you will not flood people’s newsfeed (unless they spend all day on LinkedIn!).

Stage 3 — What to post?

1. Sharing links — obviously sending traffic back to your website or blog is essential, but please consider sending other content as well ie: industry news.
2. 600 character limit — we have got into the habit of posting updates which are similar sizes to a tweet, however, LinkedIn allows us to post up to 600 characters. Make the most of this and utilise the content options wisely.
3. Add images — we are not yet able to add videos (natively) to LinkedIn, but we are able to add images. Images with posts receive much better conversions, so add an image at every opportunity. Especially job adverts.
4. Calls to action — adding calls to action at the end of your LinkedIn posts, or within your messages are another way to get engagement. ie: asking for people’s opinions, comments or even asking them to share the post.

Stage 4 — Targeted updates

Did you know that you do not have to pay to send a targeted update? If I am writing a post that is specifically for a niche audience such as “recruitment” or “legal” etc, then I send the post to a targeted audience. The only rule is that you need to have a minimum of 100 people in that specific audience. Try to write at least one post a week which is specific to your ideal target audience.

Stage 5 — Think about sponsored updates

Another sure way of getting exposure to your page and content is to put your hand in your pocket and pay for sponsored updates. I am not a big fan of adverts on LinkedIn. I find them very expensive and they only work well if you are targeting a niche market (get as close to 1000 people as possible), but that is my opinion. Other LinkedIn trainers swear by LinkedIn adverts, so it really depends on your audience, your budget, and your design skills.

Stage 6 — Check your analytics

Looking at your demographics and LinkedIn page analytics will steer you in the right direction. Take a look at what is working for you, and do more of that type of content. Also take note of what is not working for you, and do less of that type of content. It is common sense, but how often do you look at the things that didn’t work?

Stage 7 — Time to start marketing your page.

You have now made your page look great, and your content is interesting and creates value. It is now time to drive some traffic and get more followers.

Think of your page as another website that you need to drive traffic too. It’s a product that you need to tell the world about.

Ideas and tips to market your LinkedIn page

• Have you employees added your company page to their experience section? A quick check on their profile to see if your company logo is listed in their experience section will show you if it is linked. (If not, here is a video to show you how to do it).
• Have your team members also followed your company page?
• Encourage team members to share company page content.
• Add the LinkedIn company page as a link in your bio, or as a footer in your publisher posts.
• Is there a link to your LinkedIn company page on your website? Please go and check this right now, as so many businesses have linked a personal profile, or sometimes the link simply goes to LinkedIn.com
• Add your LinkedIn company page link to your email signature.

Stage 8 — Save the best to last — Email Marketing

This is the BEST way of instantly having more followers on your LinkedIn company page. We call this an “envelope campaign” .

Sending a LinkedIn branded (not your company brand) email to your list. We found that we had better conversion by exporting your LinkedIn connections and it is a great way of getting a targeted list). The ONLY call to action is “click here to follow our company page” — see design below. The campaign below went from 0–250 overnight, and we only had a small database to work with.

I am a member of the Social Media Examiner Society, and we have the privilege of listening to all the experts talking and giving advice on all different social media platforms. We also get to know about new features and services before the general public, which is always exciting. There are many rumours about LinkedIn’s future, and it is actually looking quite rosy. The experts are saying that we may see more autonomy with LinkedIn pages so that the business can have a voice and talk to other businesses, not just a personal profile. Other rumours are that we may see LinkedIn publisher posts coming to pages, and also the use of Skype webinar services. If you are in the B2B sector, then it is important to keep up to date with the latest developments on LinkedIn. Feel free to hit the subscribe button below and receive these tips in your inbox each week.

See you next week!

Originally published at www.green-umbrella.biz on August 25, 2016.