The Best Practices For LinkedIn Company Pages
With over 500 million members ranging from CEO’s to undergrads, LinkedIn has become a portal for career development and all things business. Going beyond being a platform for your digital resume, LinkedIn offers businesses a new channel for showcasing their products and services. Through LinkedIn Company Pages you can establish yourself as a “Thought Leader” in your industry. By following these best practices for LinkedIn Company Pages you can take your LinkedIn Business Page to the next level by:
- Establishing an audience
- Building professional connections
- Increasing visibility
- Generating new business
- Becoming a “Thought Leader”
Fully Complete Your LinkedIn Company Page Profile
Your LinkedIn Company Page is an extension of your business and should be treated as an asset. A fully completed LinkedIn Company Page is likely to receive 2X as many visitors as that of an incomplete page. Fill out all information fields when creating your page. This includes:
Logo:
Use an updated company logo that aligns with LinkedIn’s logo dimensions.
Header Photo:
Your header photo should stay consistent with what you use on other social media platforms. Be sure to properly size the image for best quality.
LinkedIn Tagline:
Think of your Linked Company Page’s tagline as the title of a book. It should be catchy and related to the industry you are in. Like a book title, you want to catch a user’s eye.
Company Description:
Since the tagline is a book title, think of the description as the synopsis of the book. Your company description should give your users an overview of what your company does.
Company Size, Phone Number, Year Founded, Etc.:
Go through the “Overview” section when setting up your LinkedIn Page and fill in as many fields as possible.
Website:
If you have a company website, add the URL to your LinkedIn Company Page. Select a “Custom Button” type that users can click that will direct them to your company website.
Hashtags:
Create your own hashtags that can be added to your content. They are a way to brand yourself on LinkedIn.
Featured Groups:
Join LinkedIn Featured Groups that align with your industry or that your company may have an interest in. Every time you join a group, your LinkedIn Company Page will show up in the member’s section.
When completing your LinkedIn Company Page, stay consistent with any other social media profiles you may have. Remember to take your time when creating your page. LinkedIn is a professional platform. Half-ass work will generate half-ass results.
Encourage Employee Interaction
Encourage your employees to connect and interact with your LinkedIn Company Page.
Your employees will be the main resource for creating an audience and extending your reach. The ideology behind this is that LinkedIn has always been a platform for connecting with colleagues, friends and others within your industry.
Your employees most likely will have connections with people who will find the content on your LinkedIn Company Page interesting or relevant to their own professional career.
Encourage your employees to update their personal LinkedIn profiles by adding their role within your company. Doing this is the start for connecting their professional network to yours. From there, encourage your employees to share and engage with the content you post on your LinkedIn Company Page.
These simple tactics will contribute to increasing your following and visibility.
Connect With Other Industry Leaders
Once your LinkedIn Company Page is fully complete it is time to put yourself out there. Search for other industry leaders who are active on LinkedIn.
Establishing connections will, in the end, create relationships with “Thought Leaders” in your industry. Your main goal on LinkedIn is to get your company name in front of the right people. So, why not start with the elite?
Follow industry leaders and begin to slowly build a relationship with them through commenting, liking and sharing the content they post. You can even push the process by inviting them directly to follow your company page.
Join LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups are a playground where people and companies within your industry interact. LinkedIn Groups share similar interests and can be a place where you can add your own insight and expertise on a subject.
Joining LinkedIn Groups will also keep you on top of trending topics within your area of interest. Joining in the conversation through commenting, liking or sharing posts will get your company name out there and build your reputation.
Choose LinkedIn Groups that are of interest to you and chime in every once in a while with your own expertise. As a side bonus, each LinkedIn Group you join will display your company’s name in its member section.
Publish A Variety Of Content
LinkedIn’s algorithm judges content based on its overall quality and your LinkedIn Company Page’s reputation. Meaning, you shouldn’t be focusing on pumping out multiple “Updates” a day but should be focusing on creating content that is high quality and relevant to your target audience.
But what kind of content should you be posting?
It is easiest to create text posts, but LinkedIn is known to reward company updates that include images or videos. So, spice it up a little!
The most rewarded posts are the ones that contain infographics or short videos. Not only are these forms of content typically shared more, but LinkedIn’s algorithm is known to prioritize these types of posts, rewarding your LinkedIn Company Page with more visibility.
Sponsor Content
Like all other social media platforms, LinkedIn offers advertising opportunities that can help you extend your reach.
LinkedIn Sponsored Content is a LinkedIn update posted on your company page that you pay to have promoted to a target audience. They act in the same way as boosted posts on Facebook. Sponsored Content can make up for the loss in organic growth.
Before sponsoring content you want to make sure you are following the best practices that will guarantee the best results.
Create your Sponsored Content in the same way you would an advertisement. Include a catchy headline that speaks to the audience you are trying to reach. On LinkedIn, Sponsored Content tends to perform better when they offer advice, education or facts relevant to what you are sponsoring. Also, Sponsored Content with images or video tends to perform better than plain text.
Create LinkedIn Showcase Pages
Showcase Pages are a perfect way to highlight a product, company initiative or an individual aspect of your business.
LinkedIn Showcase Pages are meant to help you engage and interact with a specific subgroup of your main audience. Interacting with your sub-audience can be done through postings as well as discussions and questionnaires, all of which can be measured. They add a personal touch to your LinkedIn Company Page.
Think of them as an extension of your main LinkedIn Company Page. They are great for building and maintaining relationships with a sub-target market.
Share Content That Is Not Yours
It is not always about you! Nobody likes hanging around a person that only talks about themselves.
Share content that is relevant to your industry, but is published by someone else. Sharing third-party content helps with joining in on conversations surrounding your industry.
By sharing trending articles you have the opportunity to contribute your own insight, expertise, advice, etc. This contributes to establishing yourself as a “Thought Leader” in your industry.
When sharing third-party posts, include hashtags that are relevant and trending at the moment. Hashtags increase your chances of being discovered organically by new users.
Engage With Other LinkedIn Profiles
Probably the easiest and best practice on this entire list is to simply engage with other LinkedIn users.
Social media at its core is a place of interaction. Joining in on the conversation is a simple practice you can implement in an effort to increase your visibility and gain followers.
As little as a “like” can get your company’s name out there. Don’t be afraid to leave comments, likes or share content that is related to your industry. By becoming a part of the conversation you are taking your LinkedIn Company Page to the next level.