6 Ways to Leverage LinkedIn For Your B2B

Statistics don’t lie. LinkedIn is the largest social media platform for professionals, including individuals and organizations. It’s hard to believe that many small to mid-sized companies don’t have a company page and many of their executives don’t have a personal profile on LinkedIn. If you do – but you aren’t making connections and developing new professional relationships, it may be time to use a new strategy. Below, we share 6 ways to leverage LinkedIn for your B2B industrial company.

LinkedIn Statistics

Before you begin using LinkedIn it is important for you to know its importance. Below are a few key figures to keep in mind:

• As of April 2017, LinkedIn had 467 million users in 200 countries and territories.
• About 25%, or 106 million of them actively use the platform.
• In the United States alone there are 133 million users.
• Profiles that use images get 36 times more messages.
• 63 million people visited LinkedIn from a mobile device in the 2^nd quarter of 2017 or 59% of all visits.
• Traffic increased 13 times for pages that list skills.

1. If You Don’t Have a Page – Get One

The same report states that 80% of B2B social media leads came from LinkedIn. If your business doesn’t have a company page, get one – now! Don’t want to spend the time figuring out how? Hire someone to do it. And if your B2B does have a profile, make sure it isn’t bland. Don’t just give your LinkedIn visitors the same information they can get from your website. Structure your page so it leads to a conversion. The call to action can be a click through to your website/contact form/etc. Put this link in the company description and/or recent update section.

And please don’t just create a company page and then neglect it! Your page will not start coming up in search results if you are not posting regularly and gaining a following. It does take time, but it’s worth the effort. If you don’t have someone internally who can do this, hire a marketing firm with industrial social media marketing expertise (like Marketects).

Read more tips about setting up your company page:

Optimize Your LinkedIn Presence With a Company Page – Part 1

Optimize Your LinkedIn Presence With a Company Page – Part 2

2. Get Visual on LinkedIn

People are bombarded with tons of messages every day. They tend to block these out. But studies found that a relevant image paired with a message was 65% more likely to be remembered later. Your header image is what visitors will see first. Use it to gain their interest instantly.

For example, Coca Cola’s current LinkedIn Page shows a banner with various stages of projects they have completed. They also have a link just below their name, as well as an overview, about, and recent updates – all visible instantly from a desktop.

3. Use the Description to Pitch Your Product or Service

Other profiles lead with their founding date, number of employees, and more flat information. Use the description to catch your visitor’s attention. Open with how your B2B can solve industry problems via a product or service. If you have high profile clients, list them here. Make sure the first two lines are the best, and finish with a clear call to action.

4. Use the Portfolio

Don’t just present information with text and links, use the “professional portfolio” section offered by LinkedIn. Here you will be able to post any number of projects, case studies, etc. Be sure to use at least one image for each portfolio. Be sure to include before and after images if available. You can even post videos – which are a great resource. The portfolio also has options to post slideshows, PDFs, and more.

5. Leverage the Advanced Search to Find Potential Clients

Now that you’ve got your profile looking great, it’s time to lead visitors to it. Use the advanced search in the right hand column to find them. Just type a search in box, and you will be led to the results. On the right-hand side will be a prompt to filter your results. Be sure to use the following options to get the most relevant results for your prospective leads:

• Keywords – Do you cater to a specific type of business? Enter the keyword to narrow your results.
• Location – You may narrow your results by city or country. Multiple selections are allowed.
• Past Companies – Do you have a client who has switched jobs? Find them using this filter.
• INDUSTRY – This is an important one. You can narrow your search by type of industry.

6. Join Groups in Order to Find Customers

 One of the most effective strategies for engaging with potential customers on LinkedIn is pretty easy: join groups where your potential customers hang out; check in regularly to see what discussions you can contribute to; make yourself known within the group.  This is obviously harder in the mega groups with thousands and thousands of members.  Although many of these groups provide valuable insight and knowledge through their discussions, I see their purpose primarily as providing a much broader network of possible connections. Read more about a group strategy in:

How to Engage on LinkedIn – Part 1

How to Engage on LinkedIn – Part 2

LinkedIn offers a lot of opportunity for B2Bs and is ideal for their marketing. As with most forms of marketing, it is essential to carry out an expert strategy for best results. For those who currently use LinkedIn, be sure to post recent updates and interact with the platform regularly. You may be surprised how effective it can be.

If would like to learn more about how industrial B2B companies can use LinkedIn and other forms of social media marketing to increase awareness and brand recognition, contact us. We’ve helped countless industrials with their social media strategy, and we can help you too!