You know the benefits of promoting your business on social media and have set up an attractive and informative LinkedIn page for your business. And that’s a good thing. But don’t think you can sit back and watch your business grow as a result. Your LinkedIn business profile needs to be as dynamic and current as your business if you want it to drive more customers to your website and help convince them to spend money once they’re there.
Updating your LinkedIn business page doesn’t have to be a time-consuming, costly effort, but there are things you may have not thought of yet that can make all the difference in your bottom line.
Your employees keep your business running, and, for many, if not most, of your customers, they are the face of your business. Let your best employees be a public part of your company’s success by:
Your satisfied customers are what make your business profitable. Involve them by:
Post relevant and timely information to your page on a regular basis to keep interested parties coming back. Continuously post solutions to your target audiences’ pain points, even if they do not directly correspond to your product or service. Providing what your audience needs will allow for a trusting relationship to be built.
You can also discuss new products and services your business offers, new product and process discoveries that will interest your audience, job openings and information about new or promoted employees if this information will enhance your customers’ experience with the company. Anything that makes your customers’ lives better or more interesting will keep them coming back to your site and, by extension, your business.
Promotions need not always be in the form of special pricing, but they do need to address your customers’ needs and interests. Post announcements about things your business is doing, such as holding product demonstrations or workshops, manufacturer incentives such as special pricing, extended warranties, manufacturer-sponsored training classes and any other creative ideas you come up with. Work with your vendors to see what they have found particularly effective and what they are willing to do in conjunction with your business that will promote both your business and theirs.
LinkedIn’s Company Profile plugin will allow you to further customize your profile. Use the LinkedIn Follow Company Button to make it easier for people to follow your business and become part of your business network. Use the LinkedIn for Outlook Connector to keep apprised of your network members’ announcements and to more easily reach out to them directly from your Outlook email.
Don’t be shy about inviting potential customers to join your LinkedIn network, but be judicious in your invitations. Avoid the template invitation by including a personal note that lets the person know why you’d like to include them. And make certain the person has demonstrated some interest in what your business has to offer.
Your customers will gladly share their successes, their challenges and how they worked around the problems they encounter. By providing them with a forum on which to share their experiences, you are not only providing them with a place to get and give valuable information, you are essentially bringing them onto your business team. If your company is handling its customers properly, the feedback you’ll get will be predominantly positive. And if the feedback is negative, you have an action plan to help your business thrive.
LinkedIn allows administrators on a page to access the analytics tab, which shows how many hits your pages have gotten. When you see a pattern indicating a certain type of posting draws in more hits, try to add more of the same type of posts. And when a specific type isn’t grabbing viewers, try something different. Check your analytics tab regularly or assign a trusted employee to check it and report the results back to you.
By using the tools available on a professional network like LinkedIn, you not only expand your customer base, you can establish your business as a valuable resource to your existing and future customers. And so long as you provide valuable products and services and other resources that buyers need, your network—and your potential profitability—will continue to grow.
What are your top tips for updating LinkedIn business profiles? Share your tips in the comment section!
This is a guest post by Sarah Brooks from people search. She is a Houston-based freelance writer and blogger. Questions and comments can be sent to brooks.sarah23@ gmail.com.
