Many small enterprises still undervalue the need to use social networks such as LinkedIn as a part of their online marketing. LinkedIn is now established as a great place for business minded people to interact and connect with each other, but how can SME’s use LinkedIn to increase the potential of their business and get themselves noticed?
The people behind LinkedIn recently expanded their publishing platform which will allow users to write and then share longform content posts on the network. Initially this privilege was only reserved for LinkedIn ‘influencers’ but the doors have been opened to allow more members of the community to share their work. They aim is to become the ultimate ‘professional publishing platform’ and encourage other brands to publish on the network. The new changes will provide the infrastructure for millions of companies of all sizes to publish and distribute messages through their own unique content.
Not only is the social network a fantastic way for companies to share their content, it is also a gateway for candidates to find job vacancies and also post any openings for other job seekers to see. You’re missing out if you are not active within the world of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is much like a corporate Facebook, a less fun version of Mark Zuckerberg’s site, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.
We are social animals
A study in the early part of this year from Linkedin stated that 81% of small to medium enterprises are now using social media. That includes 94% who now do so specifically for marketing purposes. Social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Google + can really kickstart the raising of ‘brand awareness’ and encourage new leads to be formed. As a result, social budgets are also growing at a quick rate. Online marketing is all about creating value, while attracting and retaining customers. It’s now very important to utilise social channels in order to market a business within the online realm. Linkedin is great because smaller companies can actually compete with the big hitters and use the free platform to share information and sculpt their own brand.
Fifteen years ago jobs in social media would never have even existed, as crazy as that seems. Nowadays the departments are thriving, the IABUK reported that businesses are set to increase their social media marketing budgets throughout 2014. The big networks now include Youtube, Pinterest, and Instagram, but it is difficult to make use of their capabilities completely. It’s a huge challenge to do so – how can SME’s make full use of Linkedin, specifically its publishing platform?
A brief guide to LinkedIn
LinkedIn has over 150 million members and is growing extremely quickly. There are executives from all of the worlds biggest companies present on the site – never before has it been so easy to connect with CEO’s and highflying businesspeople, making connections, and having the ability to establish yourself as an expert within your industry. Surprisingly (to us) Linkedin is now eleven years old, when the company started it wanted to appeal to professionals, letting them share their business related status updates. The network also offered a new way for companies to do business.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn has described the journey of the network:
“Ten years ago, I co-founded LinkedIn in my living room with the mission of connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Inspired by the invaluable role relationships played in our own careers, we launched LinkedIn with the tagline “Relationships matter.” At the end of first month, we had 4,500 members in the network. 10 years later, we’re honoured and humbled that so many of you made LinkedIn a part of your daily professional lives.”
Nowadays LinkedIn estimate there is around “432 million years of professional experience” in the heads of their members. Additionally, anybody on the site will soon be able to share their knowledge and expertise through the new publishing platform on this site.
What’s the deal with the LinkedIn publishing platform?
LinkedIn has long offered the power to publish on their website, but only a select group of industry leaders were allowed to do so. Ryan Roslansky, who is LinkedIn’s head of content, has talked about the updated LinkedIn publishing platform, stating that:
“We’re really excited to actually open up this publishing platform and start to draw some of that experience, knowledge, and insight out of these members and onto the LinkedIn platform to share at a more massive scale’.
User have always been able to share links to third-party blogs or websites, while the longform publishing tool was limited to ‘influencers’. This has now been tweaked. It used to be the case that the LinkedIn Influencer programme invited top voices in the professional world to reach other professionals across the network. It was invitation only which meant LinkedIn had to ask you if you wanted to participate – following these latest developments, anyone will be able to join in.
Why is it important to become an influencer?
LinkedIn keeps a track of the posters on its site who generate the most discussions in groups every week. These people are ‘Top Influencers’ and LinkedIn puts their name and profile pictures at the top of the group – by joining in with these online message boards you can gain free exposure, really influencing other users.
You need to be continually posting engaging content in message groups and creating posts with interesting new angles. Posting about current events will ensure that your company looks like it’s ‘in touch’ with the latest developments in your industry. Growing your audience through engagement on message boards is simple and a great way to communicate with relevant people. You can also become an influencer via the new long form content opportunities.
Anyone can share their wisdom with other members on LinkedIn. Everyone in their network can see a post – the LinkedIn algorithms will also recommend the post to other professionals who are interested in similar topics, this way you can build your followers.
Your LinkedIn timeline will now consist of long form articles which have been recommended for you, as well as the usual new job alerts, work anniversaries and interesting shares from members who are in your network. Being an influencer is not a phenomenon which is unique to LinkedIn. You should use all of your social networks to grow your online influence. Post your long form content to your blog, twitter and Google+ accounts to develop your following.
How is this great for SMEs?
The great thing about LinkedIn is that it effectively levels the playing field. Your small start up can go shoulder to shoulder with established and well known businesses. You have the ability to tell stories about your company and industry happenings, establishing yourself as an expert within your sector. The great thing is that your content will always link back to your company information as well as your website – word of mouth has always been a superb marketing tool and LinkedIn is the next development. LinkedIn really allows you to prove your credentials, displaying to others just how established and important you are.
Participating in discussions and sharing engaging information can accelerate your business’s development as an influencer, post about hot topics and have thoughtful debates.
By publishing unique content to LinkedIn, you can get featured in ‘LinkedIn Today’ and by sharing articles of interest you can even get yourself noticed by others within your specific industry.
Consider this
LinkedIn generates the most money for companies who are signed up when compared to other social networks. The network actually generates more leads than Facebook, Twitter and Blogging and generates much more B2B business overall when compared to the others. You should never just stick to one network, but if you are a small to medium enterprise, sign up and engage with people on LinkedIn now!
The changes to LinkedIn mean that users will now experience an increase in user-generated content online. The LinkedIn ‘Influencer’ list has seen lots of growth recently and now totals around 500. All users will soon be able to publish their content along the established influencers, starting dialogue and using the publishing platform to grow their following – so if you have something important to say, write it, post it and become an influencer.
It is important to post important content, make it simple, smart and engaging – the average influencer post receives around thirty thousand views, the publishing platform is incredibly powerful.
How to become an influencer
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Find influencers to follow
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Subscribe to channels
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Engage with influencers
Conversations can be started by writing great blog posts, sometimes the comments below the post are actually more interesting than the post itself. Discussions will definitely develop if you post great content which is relevant to your industry or followers.
The influencer initiative was launched in October 2012 and included well known figures like Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Barack Obama. The top influencers have been posting interesting content on a consistent basis since then. Your small business may be a long way of being as established as Microsoft or Virgin, but that shouldn’t stop your content creation. We have posted before about Content and its growing importance in the world of online marketing, so get to work…but what if you are new to LinkedIn altogether?
Where to start
Being able to share insights and experiences with other LinkedIn members means users now have a growing ability to be creative a become proficient self publishers. As of February 2014 there were 25,000 members who were offered the ability to publish content on Linkedin, the company is looking to steadily increase this number to all members in multiple different languages.
Whilst not everyone can publish on LinkedIn yet, users can apply for early access here, there application must include examples of previous professional content. Your original content will be able to grow virally around LinkedIn, users will become aware of each other through the new publishing platform – LinkedIn is vying to become a one-stop-shop for all professional publishing.
Other ways to use LinkedIn
Inshare buttons
Much like the twitter and facebook share buttons you find on most web pages these days, you can also include a LinkedIn sharing tool. It lets users share articles and content which will appear on the streams of your followers, you can share articles you have written yourself or those penned by others. They then have the ability to go viral, much in the same way publishing your own content on the site would do.
Company Pages
A company page is much like a homepage for your business, it works in a similar way to a Twitter or Facebook page in that it is an outlet for any marketing communications or content to be shared. Setting up a company page means your employees can post an official link on their LinkedIn CV which will include your company logo, it looks much more professional all round. If you are in control of the company page or are a social media manager you can then get to work on becoming an influencer but sharing and posting your engaging content from your company page.
A personal page
Usually the first port of call for any LinkedIn user, setting up your own brand page is a great way of marketing yourself for the professional world. You can list your accomplishments, achievements and skills. Employers will see that you are in touch with the latest technologies and can get more of a feel for you than a plain old CV. Once you are set up and have chosen a relevant photograph (usually a clear headshot), you can then begin to network.
This means connecting with current colleagues, past workmates and also begin to look for vacancies. You can gain a headstart on your competitors in the employment market by keeping tabs on the business articles which are posted on LinkedIn Today or stories which appear on your stream.
Utilising social networks can really help your SME become a real online force, the new LinkedIn publishing platform is another weapon in the armoury of companies in the modern digital age. There are many important people on Linkedin who you could benefit from, by engaging by writing thought provoking content about key industry topics you could even become a key influencer. The company is currently rolling out its support for long form content and the update is turning LinkedIn into a key publishing platform for it’s community of professionals.