Our Experts | Claudia Schieve
LinkedIn isn’t just a social network for job seekers anymore. More than 3 million companies have created company pages on LinkedIn, and for good reason.
LinkedIn has proven to be the best lead generation tool for B2B social media marketing, driving over 80 percent lead conversion compared to other social media platforms.
You can use LinkedIn to spread the word about your company, share content, drive traffic to your website and build relationships along the way. Read on for some tips on how to optimize your manufacturing company’s LinkedIn experience.
Tell your company story and establish your public image
Take the time to customize your company profile page and make sure to fill it out to its entirety. Your message will help to establish your public image.
This is where you have the opportunity to tell your company story and explain what services or products you offer. Be creative with your word choice. Describe your mission and values and what makes you stand out from your competitors. Don’t forget to include a link to your website, contact information, industry specialties and a professional header image. You may also choose to include testimonials about your company.
Share content to drive traffic to your website
Use your LinkedIn company page to share content and manufacturing industry news. Reports show that LinkedIn is the best social media platform to drive users to your website, so share your website content on LinkedIn often.
Post your company’s blog articles and become a resource for the latest manufacturing news. You can also utilize the “Share” feature on LinkedIn by posting links from other manufacturing blogs and news sources, however, don’t post too many articles from other sites. Your main goal is to get users to your own site, so remember it is a best practice for the majority of the content to be your own.
Launching a new product line or service? Post about it! Have you won any awards or honors? Post about that too! Share pictures of your factory, workspaces and employees. Your LinkedIn company page gives you a chance to showcase the culture and environment.
LinkedIn company pages and posts are rated highly in search results by Google and other search engines. Be sure to use keywords in your posts to improve your rank in search results.
Build relationships and network
Are you looking to network and build relationships? A great way to do this is by joining manufacturing industry groups on LinkedIn. You can do so by searching for the manufacturing keywords related to your specialties in the LinkedIn search bar and filtering your results to show only groups.
When posting in groups, make sure to evaluate the culture of the group and adjust the tone of your message. It is important that your posts read as conversational and not like a sales pitch. In addition to posting your own content, take part in the group discussions by leaving comments. Engage with other group members and share your expertise. This is a great way to build your network and promote yourself and your company at the same time.
Your company page can also be a useful tool to connect with potential employees. Use the Careers section of your page to post open positions.
Analyze results and adjust your process
If you are an administrator of the page, you have access to LinkedIn company page analytics. Once you implement the strategies we discussed in this article, you can gain insight into what works and what doesn’t. Use the analytics to track your progress and measure your success. You can see how engaging certain content is as well as learn about your followers. Use this feedback to adjust your practices and find out what works best for you.
LinkedIn states that 80 percent of LinkedIn members want to connect with companies, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect with your audience. Practice these tips and you will surely enhance your LinkedIn experience by building relationships, generating leads and promoting your image.
Follow Alliance Technical Solutions on LinkedIn for the latest industry news, tips and hiring best practices!