Is LinkedIn right for my business?
Although Social Media Marketing is on everyone’s lips lately, LinkedIn is something of a forgotten cousin at the table. Many of us see it only as an ‘online CV’, and nothing more. While it has a reputation as a ‘boring’ and high-brow site, it has a thriving content platform and can be a valuable part of the online marketing toolkit for the right business. How do you know if that’s you? Here’s some top tips from the Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency team.
Match the mood
LinkedIn isn’t exactly in the same boat as Facebook or Twitter. Its reputation to date has been more about networking and finding jobs, and it retains that ‘serious business’ vibe way more than popular social media platforms. All the same, it has a vibrant series of updates that target both serious industry discussion and the growth of content related to your industry. It’s a generally underutilized space, but can be powerful for the right brand.
What does that company look like? Visually orientated brands and those chasing youth engagement probably won’t thrive here, nor will a brand that wants relaxed social engagement and content-share. LinkedIn instead caters for brands that need ‘street-cred’ in their industry, follow a more traditional business model, or work ‘B2B’ (business-to-business) rather than direct to consumer. Being a quieter space, it’s easier to stand out here, too.
LinkedIn’s unique features
Demographics aside, what does LinkedIn bring to the table that other social media management can’t? Its unique system allows you to build separate profiles for consumers and employees, meaning you can headhunt talent and stay visible to consumers both.
Likewise, most LinkedIn marketing focuses on its stellar networking opportunities as a way to build a word-of-mouth client base. Getting noticed by others in the same, or complementary, fields can be invaluable. Imagine as a graphic designer, for example, how you can build a strong network of web designers, printers, and holiday merchandise vendors who may need to leverage your services.
They’ve also updated to allow a platform that’s perfect for ‘serious’ content that wouldn’t get traction on other social media marketing sites. From building a portfolio of industry-relevant content to enhancing your reputation, this could be the key to your business success.
Lastly, the recent addition of the LinkedIn Ads feature brings it into line with pay-per-click advertising on other forms of social media. Yet here you can leverage a very different audience, depending on your industry.
Who markets on LinkedIn (and do I need to)?
Even a quick flip through LinkedIn will tell you that all sorts of industries have a presence there. However, the demographic it caters to tend to be older, and with a more tech-orientated leaning. Think non-retail work and B2B industries. If you’re in the financial, science, design, tech, IT, business, or marketing industries, it could be invaluable to you.
That said, it probably won’t be your primary social media advertising platform, even in those fields. Yet it has immense potential as a secondary source of online marketing that will build brand recognition and establish your industry expertise among your peers and industry leaders both.
Does social media management seem baffling to you? Don’t worry! The pros at Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency can leverage their expertise to help you choose the right platforms to showcase your business and experience as well as craft effective, holistic, marketing campaigns. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team today!
