LinkedIn can help enhance your company’s marketing communications in a social media environment. Here are five business objectives LinkedIn can help achieve.
- Position business or company. A LinkedIn presence, either in terms of a company page or in employee profiles, proves that your firm exists. Further, these references give life to your company for people interested in finding out about it including customers, employees and investors. (Of course, this also holds for competitors who may be trying to get a feel for how your firm is structured.)
- Offer credibility. By sharing knowledge on Linked including profiles, status updates and shared content in terms of links, employees position your organization in your category. In particular, answering inquiries on the Q&A section shows that members of your team are thought leaders and experts while building relationships. If you’re looking to expand your firm’s expertise, assign a few of your area experts, not senior executives, to answering relevant questions on LinkedIn regularly.
- Expands business contacts. While most LinkedIn users think of broadening their reach, they generally think in terms of their next job. In doing so, they miss some of LinkedIn’s power. LinkedIn allows your firm to broaden its network with prospects, customers, suppliers, distributors, consultants, funding sources and analysts by helping you to reach out to others in your network and through them to their contacts. Further, they don’t take a social media pay-it-forward attitude. If you want to connect with someone, think about how you can do something for them before you ask them for a favor. Also, don’t underestimate the strength of other people’s networks because there are contacts you may not be able to see.
- Expands company network. Through LinkedIn Groups, executives can extend their business networks, meet new customers and position your firm as a thought leader. You can join a group as well as start one. The benefit of starting a group is that it links to your business. Moderating a group puts you at the center of a group of executives in your business arena.
- Sources employees. Don’t just leave this work to HR. While LinkedIn helps find and vet new employees, it’s a great way to stay connected with former ones. Don’t overlook the power of owning your firm’s alumni organization! Many consulting firms are known for this. Your former employees know you operation well and can become future clients, source of referrals, employees or other business connections. Why not create a forum that enables both of you to keep up the relationship. As the Godfather advised, keep your employees close and your former employees closer.
From a business perspective, using LinkedIn is a no-brainer. It enables your firm to achieve measurable goals and in an environment where the work in terms of content creation and outreach can be distributed across a group of employees. Further, it doesn’t require special content marketing. The related information can be created by a member your business team without special training.
Published from heidicohen.com by Heidi Cohen