LinkedIn is one of the most important platforms for B2B activities like lead generation, job searches and network propagation. 
If your company is not integrating a strong LinkedIn initiative into its B2B social media marketing strategy, it is ignoring one of the most powerful tools available.
While other techniques utilized in inbound marketing strategies like SEO and PPC may provide some inroads into the business community, few inbound marketing techniques can compete with LinkedIn in terms of cost-effectiveness and B2B market targeting.
Developing a successful LinkedIn strategy is dependent upon understanding how users leverage their time on this site.
- Easily digested information—Almost 40 percent of visitors spend less than one minute on the site and the average visit lasts about 2.2 minutes, according to Leadformix.com. The majority of visitors are seeking information about jobs or quick details about a company. When posting information about your company, make sure to display the most important information at the top and present it in a reader friendly format—short paragraphs, punchy sentences, and professional but accessible language.
- Establish relationships—It is important to grow your LinkedIn network as fast as possible. An effective way to do this is to add email contacts to your LinkedIn network. In your correspondence, be sure to mention that you will be contacting them on LinkedIn and ask them to accept your invitation. Once a relationship is established, provide valuable contact information, as well as positive recommendations.
- Thought leadership—Developing an authoritative image on LinkedIn reaches more than 200 million visitors around the world. LinkedIn has recently introduced a program to allow users to follow “thought leaders.” The easiest way to achieve this select title is to produce industry leading articles, infographcis, videos or slide shows on reputable online portals, as well as publishing in respected journals.
- Target-specific ads—Almost 59% of LinkedIn members are managers or executives with decision-making powers, which leads to the highest visit-to-conversion rate of any social network, according to Hubspot. Buying PPC ads on LinkedIn is likely to produce more high quality leads than on other social media marketing platforms. Make sure you are providing something of value to the market you are targeting.
- Senior manager profiles—Most professionals who research a company spend their time on managers within the company, so the profiles for executives should be detailed and current.
- Backlinks—LinkedIn permits three backlinks to a homepage from a user’s LinkedIn page. While not all company employees are willing to use these to link to the company webpage, making as many links to LinkedIn will dramatically improve the business’ SEO profile.
Phish for recommendations—Having a site that is overflowing with recommendations from other LinkedIn members is extremely beneficial in attracting new clients. While there are a myriad of ways to obtain recommendations, the most effective is by initially providing a recommendation for another member.
LinkedIn presents enormous opportunities for any inbound marketing team. It is the premier B2B social network that most professionals trust implicitly.
While your inbound marketing team is probably incorporating LinkedIn into their social media marketing strategy, they are probably not capitalizing on all of its strengths. Making your presence a priority should fuel a rise in the number of new clients and dramatically increase sales opportunities.
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