How employees can make the best of LinkedIn
You may be surprised to learn that many prospective clients or potential employees scan your LinkedIn pages for information before making the decision to contact you. As a result, companies are recognising the importance of employees making the best of their LinkedIn presence in order to engage with clients and prospects and help share the company’s news.
An individual has connections which can lead to beneficial relationships with clients, suppliers and potential new employees, keeping your company at the front of people’s minds. Here our social media team give some of the reasons why your business can benefit from team members having a strong LinkedIn presence.
- Gives the business a positive image
LinkedIn is a great opportunity for a company to show off its personality and expertise. Potential customers can see the expertise of each of your key employees if their profiles are kept up to date with details of training, skills and experience. We also recommend that employees linked to the sales and marketing function post news about job vacancies, new staff, promotions and new contract wins, to demonstrate the growth of the company.
It is equally as important that individual employees maintain a strong LinkedIn profile as the Managing Director or CEO. The collective presence of your key employees on LinkedIn gives your organisation much more reach to individuals and businesses you may wish to target.
- Spreads content
As well as having a strong LinkedIn profile, it is important to share content and engage with others on this social media channel.
LinkedIn research says that on average, employee networks have 10 times as many connections as a business’s Company Page followers. This means that employees could act as brand ambassadors for your company on LinkedIn by engaging with and sharing posts, which greatly increases their reach and the company pages. When a post receives more engagement (likes, comments, shares), it will move up to the top of users’ news feeds. That means that even just by commenting on a post, employees can increase the visibility of a business throughout their network; who will also be more likely to read and engage with the post because people will trust information that is shared by someone they know.
- Increases visibility
Too often, the only time an employee updates their LinkedIn profile is when they start a new job. However, there are several ways that employees can regularly update their profile to increase the visibility and reach of the company.
Employees should include a brief description of the company they work for under Experience or the Summary section of their profile. They should use keywords in the job description and should link through to their company’s website. Employees should be encouraged to follow the company page, so it shows up in the Interests section of their profile. They should also share blogs, press releases, news stories and thought leadership articles produced by colleagues. All these things help to make a business more visible when someone lands on an employee’s profile - the keywords and expertise will help profiles appear in search engine or LinkedIn search results.
- Generates leads
LinkedIn is an important place to make professional connections. Research shows that 80% of B2B leads generated on social media are a result of LinkedIn. When you meet people at events or networking, then connecting with them on Linkedin will give them an insight into your company. When asking for their business card, let them know you would like to connect on LinkedIn, rather than just using it as a direct sales tool. It will also make contacting them easier should you need them in the future.
Being active on LinkedIn helps to build trust and share a more personalised experience. When your employees are active on the platform and keep their profile up to date in these ways, it creates a positive image for your company that could lead to more sales enquiries and networking opportunities.
- Drives traffic to a website
LinkedIn is one of the most prominent sources of driving traffic to B2B and professional services websites. As employees become more active on LinkedIn engaging with your company’s posts or sharing blog articles will expand your reach and drive even more referrals to your website.
- Attracts new recruits
LinkedIn is an important tool for job seekers. Prospective employees want to get a sense of your culture and to see who they would be working with. LinkedIn allows prospects to understand what it’s like to work for your firm, from an impartial perspective.
So, as you can see, marketing on LinkedIn really is a team effort. By keeping LinkedIn profiles up to date and inviting your staff to like and share posts, means your content will be seen and shared tenfold.
Management should also set an example by strengthening and regularly updating their own profiles and engaging with the company page, therefore encouraging others to do so.
Dragonfly PR is a Public Relations and social media agency with over 20 years’ experience in helping clients in the Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester areas. For more information about increasing your social media presence and generating leads and sales, contact our PR and social media team by emailing hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or calling 0114 349 5341.