LinkedIn is the world's largest online professional network. According to the company, more than 19 million users in the DACH region alone regularly use the platform to maintain existing business relationships and establish new contacts. It is the perfect platform for companies to generate leads using targeted B2B marketing. How can you create successful corporate communication on LinkedIn - and what are the stumbling blocks?
The benefits and challenges of LinkedIn for B2B companies
LinkedIn is not an advertising sprint. It’s a strategic digital marathon.
LinkedIn's network offers companies various marketing tools for brand awareness, traffic and lead generation. The possibilities range from creating a company page or focus pages to social selling with the Sales Navigator tool. It also offers sponsored content, sponsored messaging, text ads and dynamic ads that automatically adjust to the target groups.
Before placing ads and hoping for sustainable success, it's important to know that LinkedIn is not a sprint. LinkedIn will only be successful in acquiring new customers if you understand the platform is like running a marathon. First, you must define your goals, develop a strategy, and create an action plan. Then comes the hard work, which requires being disciplined, delivering strong content and actively networking. Without carefully planned goals, B2B marketing on LinkedIn is purely posting for the sake of having content. It may achieve short-term results but not sustainable success.
Plan your goals using the SMART strategy
First, ask yourself: What are my marketing goals with a company account on LinkedIn? Is it to present products and services? Or position the brand? Do I want to provide direct sales support or focus on employer branding? Or is it all of the above?
Whatever the case, your goals should be carefully thought out and planned from the very start to achieve sustainable success for your business on the platform. A SMART strategy helps to make your business goals measurable, verifiable - and thus, more successful.
Think strategically and blaze new trails with corporate websites
With a company page on LinkedIn, you can gain followers and increase brand awareness. What do you need for it? Informative and high-quality content and, ideally, as many visible and active employees as possible on your company page. An engaging and informative company page on LinkedIn is your digital business card with which you present yourself.
Here's what a company page can do:
- Present the company to the public
- Provide a point of contact for (potential) customers, business partners, employees and job applicants
- Deliver high-quality content tailored to different target groups
- Hub for events and webinars
- Recruitment and job listings
Ads and content posts on LinkedIn
High-quality content is essential for a company page. But did you know that only about three per cent of the unsponsored content a company page publishes is displayed in the timeline of private accounts? The reason for this is a LinkedIn algorithm based on user behaviour, such as likes, shares, and (especially) comments. The resulting bubble makes it difficult for target groups to see new, unknown content displayed on their feed. Moreover, LinkedIn shows personal content more often than corporate content. Therefore, building an active community and social selling is essential for the success of a company page.
How can a company increase the visibility of its target group under these conditions? Paid ads are one strategically important option (more on this in a separate blog post coming soon). Focus pages and social selling are another.
Focus pages as an extension of company pages
Focus pages play an increasingly important role in many LinkedIn strategies. As an extension of the company page, you can use them to focus more on a business area or a campaign, for example, and address different, sometimes pointed target groups. The focus pages are linked to the existing corporate account but are treated as a separate channel. Focus pages require a lot of planning, implementation and maintenance but offer numerous advantages:
- The content in focus does not cannibalise other corporate content
- Individual target groups can be analysed
- Improved communication with target groups within the customer journey
- Community building specific to a campaign, products or topic areas, enabling greater relevance to the target groups
Promote social selling
Another very promising method for B2B companies at the moment is social selling. Influencers on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok are essential in B2C marketing. In B2B marketing, employees act as brand ambassadors for the company with their accounts. Employees who share or post company-relevant articles on their accounts multiply the content reach by the corresponding networks. As a result, the company's visibility is also multiplied for an extended time. It's very promising!
Even better is when employees publish company-relevant content linked to the company's website. Your company can create customised content for employees, minimising the time and effort spent on content quality checks. The credibility of corporate influencers is much higher than the paid content posted by companies since people tend to trust people they have met and already know. We strongly recommend training for employees who want to become corporate influencers before they start posting. Our team would be happy to advise you on this.
Summary
LinkedIn offers you a wide range of possibilities to present your company. An active and well-maintained company page is always the foundation of a good strategy. With focus pages and social selling measures, you can effectively build awareness for your company, specific products and services. The type of content published plays a crucial role and should be aligned closely with your corporate strategy.
Stay tuned for the second part of our "LinkedIn for B2B companies" blog series to find out how and when to use paid ads or content posts. Or feel free to contact us today for advice on your LinkedIn company strategy.