Starting your LinkedIn Online Presence
In the world of social media and online presence, it is difficult to identify which opportunities your business should pursue. In your search, do not look over LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an essential tool to connect your business with other professionals in your field. Getting started may seem a little tricky, but with our guide, we ensure you will have a solid LinkedIn online presence.
Step 1: Update/Create your Company Page
To develop your LinkedIn Company page, follow this link. Please follow the following steps below to update your company page (please note all of these steps are found under the edit function of your page):
1.) Populate your company overview page: this is where you tell your soon-to-be followers who you are, what your business does, and what products you have to offer. Make sure to input your web URL in order to redirect the viewers of this page to your website for further information.
2.) Use the “Showcases” Page Option: The showcase page is an extension of your company page whereby you can put your primary products on display with videos and further information. To develop a showcase page, follow the link.
3.) Designate Managers of Page: After the previous 2 steps, please remember to designate someone from your company to manage status updates. To do so, simply hitting “edit” at the top right of your screen. You will then go to “designate admins” and type in the desired admins.
4.) Update Images: You will now select 3 images for your company page. One for your overview section, One for your employees LinkedIn Profiles (standard logo), and one for network updates (square logo). This can be all found underneath the edit section.
Once you have made the necessary updates to your company page, click the “Publish” button in the top left corner of the edit page.
Step 2: Gather Followers
The best way to gather followers is to simply engage with potential people. Start to engage with your employees updates or even people in your field of interest by sharing their content they post or commenting on their network updates.
Also reach out to other companies pages in your field and start to either share their content or their employees content. This is a great way to forge relationships and maybe even future partnerships. For now, we will focus on gathering followers.
Feel free to reach out to past clients to follow your page as well by simply asking for a follow within an email or marketing your newly formed LinkedIn page amongst your other social media pages.
Step 3: Engage Your Audience
Once you have amassed a solid following, start to engage with your following. This can be done through a number of ways such as:
1.) Ask Questions: Post network updates asking your following a question such as “What do you think of our new product offering” or “What would you like to see from us?”. This sparks a conversation amongst your followers and can lead to crucial primary market research
2.) Spark engagement by sharing interesting content: People will follow your company page if you post interesting content that they will find useful. A great tool in order to find interesting content is Buffer. Check it out today.
Step 4: Implement the 4:1 Rule
The 4:1 Rule states that for every 4 “staple” posts (information about your company and/or products), develop and post 1 interesting piece. Interesting articles are more likely to be shared and more representative of your followers. A great tool for finding interesting content is Buffer.
Buffer is a Social Media Management Tool that pools together interesting articles and other content that is related to your business and your personal interests. It also has the ability for post scheduling so you are able to develop a post beforehand and schedule it for a specific time.
Step 5: Analyze the Analytics
Once your company page is developed, you now have access to your pages analytics, including demographics of your followers and how many people engage with your page on a daily basis. We provide you a list of analytics to keep an eye on:
1.) Engagement %: Engagement = Interactions + Clicks + Followers Acquired. This metric measures how many followers are truly engaging with your page. You will notice peaks and valleys in your analysis. With the peaks, identify which people were targeted, the time of the post, and the type of content. This way, you will now know what works with your follower base and will develop your content around what has proven to work.
2.) Demographics: With these metrics, you are able to identify your followers positions at their respective companies, and size of their company etc. With this information, you can now tailor the content you share to match your followers.
We hope this guide has provided your business with the essential starting point for your LinkedIn Online Presence.
