Of all the social media channels out there, LinkedIn might be the most difficult to use on a daily basis. You can post statuses to Facebook, send out tweets, and pin items on Pinterest, but how should you—or your company—be using LinkedIn?
During the PR & Social Media Summit at Marqutte University, I sat in on a session presented by Wayne Breitbarth, CEO of Power Formula, LLC. Breitbarth is the former president of an office furniture company, turned LinkedIn expert. He has written a book, “The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success: Kick-start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search,” that details best practices for businesses when it comes to using LinkedIn.
Employee Pages
Surprisingly, Breitbarth did not start his presentation by talking about company pages. Instead, he revealed that one of the first steps to promoting a company through LinkedIn is aligning the keywords employees use in their profiles. Most people use LinkedIn as a search engine. They look for people and companies with the skills and services to help them or their company succeed. If your company specializes in public relations, you want to make sure that those words, and the keywords related to that field, are present in the skills field of each of your employees.
The summary section of each employee’s profile also should include a company description. This too can be loaded with keywords to help people find your company.
Breitbarth also advises that employees include a professional gallery. LinkedIn allows user to post videos, slides and links to showcase their company’s latest case studies, presentations and other projects.
Company Pages
Having aligned the messaging for company’s employees, how do you beef up your company page? A company’s Linkedin page usually shows up on the first page of a Google search. Again, keywords are critical. Using keywords to describe what your company does will make it easier for the “right” people to find you.
One of the most important areas for these keywords on a company page is the “Products and Services” tab. This section should list anywhere from 5–15 items. Banner images should link to your website to drive traffic. It should also feature links to free resources, like case studies, so prospects can see whether or not your company is what they are looking for.
And while it may seem obvious, post content that is relevant to the audience you are trying to reach. Also post from a variety of sources to demonstrate you are in touch with the publications that cover your industry.
Following Breitbarth’s simple steps will gain more visibility for your company and hopefully, in turn, more followers.