- 09 May 2024
- by Andrej Fedek
- Blog, Business, Social Media
- 0 Comments
Back in 2003, Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn with the mission to help the world’s professionals connect with other people and become more productive.
Over this period, LinkedIn has evolved into a powerful communication channel and the idea of using LinkedIn for marketing is common and widespread. With the focus on business connections, LinkedIn remains the top social media platform for B2B promotion.
Why Should You Use LinkedIn for B2B Promotion?
LinkedIn has always been the main social media network for B2B promotion and it still keeps popular among B2B marketers. As specified in the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 84% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for business promotion, 75% of them still want to learn more about the platform, and 65% are ready to improve their LinkedIn video marketing knowledge.
So, what’s behind the popularity of LinkedIn for B2B promotion? Why do B2B marketers see great potential in this network? Here are five main reasons to use LinkedIn for B2B companies:
- Establish a strong brand image. As one of the most popular social media networks these days, LinkedIn has a great user base of potential B2B buyers who may be interested in your product or service. What is more, the platform has in-built features to help users tell more about themselves and establish a strong brand image for their B2B companies in-app.
- Show your niche expertise. Not only can you write the in-depth description of your business and explain more about your B2B products and services on Linkedin, but you can also make good use of the platform and its features to prove your niche expertise: from regular posts, events, and private groups to collaborative articles and live sessions, there are many ways to show off your expertise and gain trust.
- Get in touch with C-level executives. LinkedIn is a popular social media network for building professional connections and most people opt for having a presence on the platform. With the accurate profile information, it doesn’t take much time or effort to scan profiles and do research to find out more about people behind their avatars. And the best news is that C-level executives are active users of LinkedIn.
- Generate B2B leads. Most B2B owners and marketers would agree that LinkedIn is the most effective social media network for business lead generation. With LinkedIn influencer marketing for B2B brands, businesses can leverage the platform’s professional environment to reach a targeted audience. Since users are on LinkedIn for business purposes, they are more likely to interact with your brand, leading to faster conversions and more qualified leads.
- Shorten the B2B sales cycle. It’s no secret that for B2B buyers the sales cycle is complicated and long as it includes various decision makers. The good news is that LinkedIn is designed to provide as much business information as possible to help businesses make the right purchase decisions. As a result, it’s possible to shorten the B2B sales cycle when you have a LinkedIn presence.
Yes, using LinkedIn seems to be a great option for B2B companies of all sizes and niches. And once you’re ready to invest time and effort into this social media platform, let’s find out more about five best ways to use LinkedIn for B2B promotion that deliver fast results. And if you’re already using a CRM like Salesforce, you can actually connect it to LinkedIn with a CRM LinkedIn Integration.
Build a LinkedIn Content Strategy
If you opt for using LinkedIn for B2B promotion, the first and foremost thing to do is to develop a LinkedIn marketing strategy. LinkedIn content is what tells viewers more about your company as well as attracts and engages users in meaningful conversations on the platform.
There are several must-have elements on the way to build a LinkedIn content strategy that works best for your company:
- Understand your target audience and create a customer profile
- Define your business goals
- Find your competitors and do marketing research
- Choose the best content types (articles, polls, videos)
- Create a content marketing calendar
- Post regularly and interact with hooked users
- Analyze and implement changes
To gather valuable insights about your audience to build the right LinkedIn content strategy, you can make good use of GenAI services and analyze your business data and turn it into ideas for your strategy. With the right LinkedIn content strategy, you help your company achieve business goals, whether you want to raise brand awareness, capture more leads, or close sales.
Create a Descriptive LinkedIn Company Page
During the B2B customer journey, B2B buyers also want to learn more about options on the market, so they pay close attention to companies’ details to make sure that selected products align with their views and values.
When it comes to LinkedIn marketing, having a dedicated company page on the platform is one of the distinct features. When done right, a LinkedIn company page includes all important and relevant information about your business (name, logo, description, list of products/services, story behind your company, etc.). Check out an example below:
Plus, a LinkedIn business profile shows all associated members and current job openings which can help B2B companies acquire new talents.
Invest Time in Networking
The main purpose of LinkedIn has always been an ability to help people build a network of relevant contacts. Simply put, it’s the most popular social media platform for networking. Since its community has over one billion users, the potential for a network is great.
With the power of social media, people discover and connect with relevant people, exchange information, and influence purchase decisions of each other even without realizing that. For B2B marketers, LinkedIn is a great source of potential partners who can help to spread the word about your product among their contacts.
Having a LinkedIn presence, it’s a must to invest time in networking. And here are several proven ways on how to do it:
- Send invitation requests to relevant people
- Contribute to collaborative articles
- Take part in LinkedIn events
- Follow niche leaders and interact on their profiles
- Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups
The days when people used internet forums to get in touch with like-minded people are long gone. Today, people create and join relevant groups around a specific topic, industry, or interest on platforms they use often.
To achieve B2B promotion, you can join relevant linkedIn groups that include your potential customers and tell more about yourself or your B2B company to raise brand awareness and grow interest in your company.
There’s no need to focus on LinkedIn only. It can be a valuable cross-promotion platform if you have interest in another network as its user base is huge and people share business insights. For example, even if you have an online store and you want to sell on Etsy to B2B marketers, you can still browse LinkedIn groups and find something suitable where your potential B2B customers are active.
Run LinkedIn Ad Campaigns
Practically every social media network collects personal data like gender, age, interests, habits, and hobbies. It allows networks to offer advanced ad settings to advertisers who want to achieve business goals faster.
In other words, when you invest in LinkedIn ad campaigns, you can reach the right target audience who is more likely to have interest in your company and its products. As a result, you get higher brand awareness, more leads, and sales. But it’s also important to know your potential clients and offer them something valuable in your ad campaign to grab their attention.
Let’s draw inspiration from Salesforce. As one of the world’s popular B2B companies, Salesforce knows how to run LinkedIn ad campaigns that deliver results. To attract a wider audience of potential customers and generate leads, the company made an ad that offered a handy marketers’ playbook in the form of an ebook to interested viewers.
The above-mentioned ad campaign worked as people are ready to take simple steps like sharing contact information in exchange for an access to valuable and handy niche documents that can help to achieve business growth. Win-win for both parties.
So, Are You Ready to Use LinkedIn for B2B Promotion?
Over the last 20 years, LinkedIn remains one of the most popular social media networks. Its functional and features make it easy for B2B marketers to get in touch with potential B2B buyers, market products, and even generate B2B leads. Moreover, there are various ways on how to use LinkedIn for B2B promotion and get in front of your target audience in an interesting and engaging way.
Once you start using LinkedIn B2B marketing, you invest time and effort, but the payoff is huge over the long haul. So, don’t waste your time and lay a bet on LinkedIn for B2B promotion.
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.