5 Ways to Use LinkedIn for Business in 2018
LinkedIn has gradually been building out its marketing options, with the backing of Microsoft empowering a broader range of integrations and data tools to optimize campaigns.
It has also increased its number of users (now at 530 million total members) and launched a set of new tools to boost brand message. It’s worth taking note of these tools as you plan your 2018 strategy – mainly because more social managers look to diversify their traffic sources in lieu to Facebook’s coming algorithm shifts.
Here are five tips to consider in your LinkedIn strategy.
1. Video
Video is massive on social, and in 2017, LinkedIn finally jumped in on the trend.
Available to every user (not company pages at the time of writing), the ability to post video to LinkedIn adds another option to your on-platform content distribution, with the capacity to post engaging video content directly related to your professional interests.
LinkedIn says video content is shared 20x more than any other type of content on the platform. As such, it’s worth considering how it might fit into your wider LinkedIn approach.
2. Conference Frames
Hopping into another rising trend, LinkedIn released their new conference frames in October, which can be used to brand images and videos at industry events. Attendees will be keen to showcase their attendance on the professional social network, while it also gives brands an opportunity to promote their functions, giving people an inside look at what’s happening, who’s attending, etc.
The option’s not available to all conference organizers as yet, but LinkedIn has said they may look to make the frames a self-service option (like Snapchat has), which could provide another worthy consideration in your event marketing plan.
3. Website Demographics
If you want to guarantee you’re optimizing your LinkedIn campaigns and content, one aspect definitely worth looking into is Website Demographics, which launched in July.
LinkedIn’s Website Demographics helps classify the types of professionals who are visiting your site based on their listed LinkedIn data. This could be particularly valuable for B2B brands as Website Demographics can show you whether you’re currently getting your target audience to your pages. You can then use this information to refine and improve your marketing efforts to ensure you’re connecting with the right people.
4. LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn recently announced to all group admins that they’re looking to putting an improved emphasis on Groups in 2018. They’re also looking to add new tools, including improved navigation and notifications of activity, and video within groups.
If LinkedIn can make meaningful changes, LinkedIn groups could become a lot more valuable – especially if, as expected, more marketers shift their focus to group interactions as a result of Facebook’s algorithm shifts, which may also form habits that they can better translate to other platforms.
5. LinkedIn Publishing
LinkedIn’s long-form publishing platform has gone through some significant shifts in its four years of existence. At first, it was a great place to help build your personal brand and showcase your industry knowledge, with your LinkedIn posts being shown to all your professional connections, boosting awareness, reach, attention, etc. But then LinkedIn changed the way posts are distributed – originally, all your first degree connections were notified when you published, but then the notifications became overwhelming for users, and LinkedIn reduced them to selected individuals, and they’ve further refined their distribution algorithm over time.
Now, your LinkedIn Publisher posts will only reach a select group of users, and their engagement will define further distribution. That drop in reach has caused some to abandon LinkedIn as a content option – though according to LinkedIn, some 130,000 posts were, at one stage, being uploaded every week.
Yet, even with the reduced reach, LinkedIn publishing is still worthy of consideration. The main potential benefit is the opportunity to be featured on one of the LinkedIn Pulse showcase platforms, which can give you massive distribution. But even without making the Pulse, you can still help build your professional profile, among a very targeted, professional audience of industry people you really need to reach.
Your posts are also linked to your profile, helping to further showcase your knowledge, expertize and engagement in your industry. And while it may be more difficult to get massive reach, in general, quality content will shine through – which is true of most publishing options. If you can produce great, insightful, engaging content, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to solidify your personal brand, and help boost your business profile, through LinkedIn publishing.
There are a heap of other ways to utilize LinkedIn to further boost your marketing efforts, with the platforms ad and data options improving all the time. Hopefully these ideas get you thinking about your options on the professional social network, and considering the wider ways in which you can use LinkedIn to broaden your audience potential.
