Many B2B marketers use LinkedIn as part of their content marketing strategy. In fact, 94 percent use it to distribute and share content. But what happens when you’re sharing content on LinkedIn and not getting the results you expect?
It’s possible to get excellent results using this powerful tool by taking actions many other marketers are missing. Check out our podcast episode “The Essential Organic B2B Marketing Strategies for LinkedIn in 2018” to learn more!
Here are five simple actions for capturing more attention from your target audience today.
1. Post status updates with greater frequency
Posting a status update is powerful because it helps you stay in front of your target audience consistently. Consistent communication ensures your brand is top of mind when a prospect does finally need your products and services.
Once posted, these updates are sent to all first-degree connections, but you also can strategically select groups of people in your network and send updates to only those individuals.
What is the true impact of these updates?
According to LinkedIn, if you post a status update every weekday during a month, you’ll reach 60 percent of your target audience. Not bad, right? But what type of content should you post as updates? Here are a few suggestions.
- Post an article tailored to your target audience. For example, let’s say your target audience is B2B marketers. You could include an update sharing the link to an article that interests this segment, such as this article recently published on Forbes titled “The No. 1 Factor Affecting Content Marketing and PR.”
The goal is engagement, so share articles you think would provide great value to the audience.
- Post an image. Another type of content you can post to capture attention is images. For example, you can post a meme that interests your target audience. Or you can share a visual, such as an infographic that would educate the audience about a relevant topic. For example, the Content Marketing Institute recently created “The History of Content Marketing” infographic, which showcases the evolution of content marketing from the early 1700s until today.
- Write insight about what you’re posting. LinkedIn updates allow you to write a quick comment on what you’re sharing. For example, you might share a link to an article and pull out a statistic from the piece. Take, for example, this report on B2B content marketing benchmarks.
When sharing this link, you might write, “Only 30 percent of organizations say they’re effective at content marketing. Check out this report.”
You can also post content your company has created in-house, such as customer success stories, white papers and blog posts, and then promote that content through LinkedIn status updates. Test out this strategy, and see how it affects engagement for your brand.
2. Use LinkedIn Pulse to harness greater results
LinkedIn Pulse allows content marketers to reach millions of users. When an article is posted, not only is the article made available to everybody, but it is also easily viewed by your contacts. Like status updates, this helps you stay in front of your audience. Here are a few steps to successfully post on this platform.
- Write long posts. Posts that are shared the most are typically about 1,600 words, yet LinkedIn posts must be even longer. In fact, posts that have the greatest number of comments, views and likes on LinkedIn Pulse have about 2,000 to 2,500 words.
- Write a headline that captures attention. Most people will read your headline, yet only a small percentage will read your content. Capture more readers by designing headlines that will drive greater engagement.
- Make content easy to skim. When writing long-form content on LinkedIn, it’s important to make it easy for the reader to consume, especially since the majority of readers skim content. Use bulleted lists and short paragraphs.
- Use visuals to keep readers moving through content. Most readers are visual. By strategically placing visuals throughout your content, you can keep them engaged until the very end. Plus, it’s important to note using visuals helps you capture more likes and shares.
Once the content is designed and you’re ready to post, select the day and time that provides the greatest impact. For example, LinkedIn reports it receives the highest traffic Monday through Friday, mornings and midday. Start by posting during these times, and then track your results internally to better understand the ideal posting time for your target audience.
3. Use LinkedIn groups for greater impact
Most B2B marketers belong to at least a few LinkedIn groups, but not all are maximizing results from this tool. One of the major benefits is the ability to understand what topics resonate best with your target audience.
For example, let’s say you post a question about a pain point your audience is facing. Posting the question yields dozens of responses and engagement. At this point, you have some valuable information. You know there is enough interest on the topic to invest resources in developing a piece of content such as a white paper, blog series or report. Here are a few tips for using LinkedIn groups more effectively to harness more interest in your brand.
- Start a conversation. For example, let’s say your target audience is marketing managers. You could ask, “What is your biggest challenge when it comes to creating content?”
- Encourage your team to get involved. Have you ever posted on LinkedIn and then nothing happens? Get the conversation started by asking others on your team to start commenting. Once they start commenting, the post will capture attention from others, and they will start engaging, too.
- Share valuable resources. Once the conversation gets going, look for additional ways to provide value to those participating. For example, share a link to a white paper that addresses the pain point or a case study that shows how a similar problem was recently solved.
- Keep the momentum. After making connections with new contacts in your target market, it’s important to keep that momentum moving. If you haven’t already, connect with individuals who are engaging and start looking for ways to provide mutual value. For example, someone may have valuable insight to provide to others in your target marketing. Interview this person for a guest post on your website, and then promote their work.
4. Refresh your company page
A LinkedIn company page highlights basic facts and details about your company, but it’s also a conduit for potential leads. When prospective companies want to learn more about your company, they often arrive at your LinkedIn page. Many marketers, however, set up this page and then forget about it — which is a lost opportunity.
For example, check out Microsoft’s LinkedIn page. They share updates related to their brand, such as the article “Reinventing Business Processes,” which received 1,107 likes and 54 comments.
GE is another good example of a company that regularly updates their company page to tell their story. For example, they recently posted an update related to the workplace titled “Break the wheel of monotony… Go #Beyond Usual.” The update captured 554 likes.
You can also add showcase pages to your LinkedIn page to help you focus on niche areas of your business. For example, GE added a page called “Future of Work.” Having this separate LinkedIn page allows the company to communicate relevant messaging and talk to a specific target audience.
5. Get the frequency right
Post too little, and you’ll lose the attention of your target audience. But if you post too much, you risk becoming an annoyance. So, what is the right balance? For maximum results, you should produce about one post per business day, or at least 20 posts per month. Here’s a quick guide.
Status updates. Post about once daily. People are busy, so not everyone will view every update, but if you post at this frequency, you’ll reach a large portion of your target audience.
Group postings. The content you post to groups should be relevant and add value, so post only your very best stuff here. Post in relevant groups about once a month. Create a schedule to help you track what you’ve shared where, and the results of that marketing effort. Here’s an example provided by the Content Marketing Institute:
Company page updates. Share updates about your company once every few weeks. By keeping this page updated, when a prospect is searching for information about your company, this page will be current and up to date.
Capturing Attention with Greater Success
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for B2B marketers, allowing them unprecedented access to their target markets instantly. But to get the most from this platform, marketers must deploy a highly-targeted strategy, and test out that strategy to ensure it is performing.
With greater focus, however, this platform provides excellent results as your brand engages and communicates with prospects with greater impact, driving more leads and more profitable results for your organization.