Making Your LinkedIn Page More Personalised
When it comes to your business LinkedIn page, as you’re representing your organisation, you may try to avoid making it too personal. But while this is a good idea in theory, you need to remember that people probably don’t want to work for, or with, a faceless corporation! LinkedIn is primarily used by businesses to employ someone, or by individuals hoping to find a new job, so it’s important to appeal to candidates, showing them a more human side.
That’s not to say you should be as informal on LinkedIn as you would be on other social sites. Most people don’t really think about LinkedIn in the same way as other social media platforms anway, as the others tend to be about people connecting with each other socially, while LinkedIn is about professional networking. Your business may therefore only use the LinkedIn platform when actively hiring.
The trick is to strike a good balance between the informality of other social media platforms, and the formal or corporate image you may wish to present. LinkedIn can be used in a similar way to platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you simply have to put more thought into your posts.
Using LinkedIn as a Social Platform
LinkedIn shouldn’t just be something you log into when you’re looking to hire someone. Just like with other social platforms, LinkedIn should also be an asset when building your brand and expanding your audience. You can use similar methods to those you would with other social media sites, such as making your online presence more human.
Being seen as a faceless entity won’t endear you to prospective candidates, so it’s essential to personalise your LinkedIn page, as well as demonstrate your company culture. And if you’re worried about spending too much money on LinkedIn campaigns and social media outreach, you can rest assured that there are cheap ways to compete with even the biggest brands. One of these strategies is utilising influencer marketing.
LinkedIn Influencer Marketing
Most people have at least heard of influencer marketing. But people tend to associate influencers with platforms like Instagram, not LinkedIn. You can in fact use influencer marketing for LinkedIn, though maybe not in the traditional sense. Influencers act more like brand advocates, and can be anyone in your business who is able to endorse your brand well. It can also be helpful if your brand advocate stands out – perhaps they’re a bit quirky or have particularly interesting opinions.
Finding a suitable brand advocate for LinkedIn can be quite tricky. The person who takes on the role needs to be transparent about the company and themselves, which means they have to be willing to be vulnerable. The individual also needs to be fairly outgoing, and stand out from the crowd.
Then once you’ve found someone to be your brand advocate, you have to allow them enough time during the working week to produce engaging content. This may be difficult to fit around a full time job! And if the individual is unable to provide regular social content, you may have to reevaluate your choice of brand advocate.
Brand Storytelling
Ever since the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world has worked a little differently, especially when it comes to doing things online and remotely. This can also be said about digital marketing. Instead of venturing out to shop or find entertainment, many of us now do this online. We therefore rely heavily on virtual recommendations and imagery.
As a business trying to market your products online, you need to become a storyteller. Shouting your message out into the ether is unlikely to be a successful strategy, so you need to use storytelling to draw your audience in, and then market to them. Stories can be a great way to show users how your products can solve problems, and can also humanise your brand.
You might even be able to improve your profit margin through storytelling. Headstream conducted a study that showed people are 55% more likely to buy a product from a business if they are engaged by the brand story.
Creating Consistent Content
When it comes to brand advocates, and other methods of LinkedIn marketing, it’s also important to remember to be consistent. This applies to both the content itself and how often you post. Spending weeks crafting the perfect thing to post may sound like a good idea in theory, but in reality, would probably result in your followers getting bored and unsubscribing. You need to be putting out content at least a couple of times a week with any social media strategy, and preferably more than this.
While you need to remain consistent, this doesn’t mean you can’t mix things up. You should vary your content, in terms of format and theme, while staying on brand. So perhaps try using infographics and videos alongside your text, and discuss tangential topics rather than just things directly related to your business.
Building Your LinkedIn Network
If you’re investing a lot of time into your LinkedIn profile, you want your posts to be reaching a wide audience. One of the best ways to build your network is to reach out to the right people. You need to get in contact with industry influencers, such as public speakers or people high up in their field.
Once you’ve found the right people, you’ll need to send regular, personalised outreach messages. It’s helpful to treat these individuals as you would a potential customer, by engaging them through storytelling and then outlining the benefits of working with your business. The idea is to build strong relationships with these influencers, which over time will bear fruit.