LinkedIn is taking off. Make sure you’ve got your tickets

The famous social network for professionals, LinkedIn, now has more than half a billion users registered. They are not going to stop there, as they aim to have every single employee in the world connected to their network. Besides, according to Omnicore, 40% of monthly active users are logging in daily. LinkedIn is the most interesting social media for professionals to scroll through. It provides high-quality business-related content.

As a marketing expert, you should definitely include LinkedIn in your digital marketing strategy. According to Demandwave, 92% of B2B marketers are doing it. They are succeeding much better than with any other social media. In fact, of every 5 leads, 4 come from LinkedIn (80%). Twitter and Facebook are only responsible for around 13% and 7% respectively (source: Kissmetrics). Moreover, leads from LinkedIn generate three times more conversion than the two others.

The decision makers you are looking for are connected

Even more important for you is the fact that of all these users, 40 million are those who make crucial decisions (source: LinkedIn marketing solutions blog). That means the target you are looking for is more than likely to be reachable on LinkedIn. And it is certainly open to talking business. Besides, most of these C-level employees, managers and directors connect with their mobiles. They are even easier to reach anytime, anywhere.

If you are not convinced yet, note that LinkedIn makes up around 50% of all traffic to your company website or blog from all social media. In addition, LinkedIn has a Moz domain authority of 100 out of 100. This makes the network the best tool for improving your company’s visibility.

Reaching out to decision makers is your best chance to generate leads and find new prospects. They are all over LinkedIn, within easy reach, unsurprisingly expecting your message. All you have to do is establish a proper strategy, create and share great content and build a strong network. Linkedin is undoubtedly the ideal social network for your digital marketing strategy. If you haven’t considered it yet, it is high time you did invest the necessary amount of work and effort into it. It will be rewarding, rest assured.

On LinkedIn, only quality content matters

Every week, LinkedIn feed content is seen 9 billion times. The professional network is the number one channel to upload and share content. Indeed, marketing executives almost all (91%) agree with the following fact: LinkedIn is the best place to find quality content. Way above Twitter (29%) and Facebook (27%).

Content on LinkedIn includes two main things:

• Articles are the main type of content published on the network. As of now, only 1 million users (out of the 500 million users) have published an article. That means uploading regular quality articles is a great way of standing out. Indeed, the competition remains rather low. And the other users are keen on reading quality articles weekly. Besides, most article readers are high-ranking persons. They are those you are expecting to gain interest in your company.
• Posts are another type of content. Striking, short, valuable posts to catch the reader’s attention and act as a call to action. The goal is to make them visit your website or check your articles and profile. The more interest you provoke, the higher your chances of succeeding are.

Whatever content you think about, it must be worth reading (or viewing) and share. You want to achieve meaningful results every time you create and publish something. As was said earlier, many LinkedIn users are employing their mobiles to check their feed. On mobiles, and online overall, what works best is visual content. You can improve your content a lot by using additional images and videos.

Video content is eating the Internet, don’t miss the boat.

By now, you should already be aware of the huge importance of videos online.

• They will make up for 79% of online traffic by 2020.
• According to Wyzowl’s survey, 97% of companies use explainer videos for their customers
• 81% of those using video content saw their sales increase.
• Videos are known for being able to catch the viewer’s attention more effectively than text or images.

If you are a B2B marketer, videos on LinkedIn will fare a lot better than on Twitter or Facebook. Not even talking about Instagram. LinkedIn is performing 19 times better than Instagram to generate revenue. That explains why it is only in the digital mix of 15% of companies.

For businesses, having recourse to videos for the marketing strategy is fundamental. Videos are the sine qua nons of a successful online campaign. Before LinkedIn, finding the best place to reach decision makers with video content was challenging. After LinkedIn, things are different and you know what your targets are up to.

Spoilt for choice

You might wonder what videos you can make (or request) and upload. Good news: plenty of them.

• You can add an explainer video to your LinkedIn profile to make it stand out and interactive. Thus, people checking your profile will instantly get a chance to understand who you are and what you can provide them with. Only a few companies use this feature as of now, you might as well be an early bird.
• It is also an excellent idea to give updates about your company and your offer in the form of videos. Filling your feed with fresh content about your firm is important.
• Using videos to improve your employer brand is an excellent idea as well. Nowadays, most talents looking for a job are more than likely to check your company’s profile. Before even checking your own website. If they see a colorful, detailed and welcoming profile, they will definitely be encouraged to make a move.  In the same way, don’t hesitate to share the content made by your own employees too.
• Behind the scenes and making-of types of video are also to consider. They give a great, humanized and personal image to your company.
• Videos about your employees and interviews are a great option. The interactivity provided by such videos is always an advantage.
• More generally, what works already very well on LinkedIn are how-to posts, rankings and lists. They are already better in images than in plain text and it is safe to say that they are even better in the form of videos. If you are making a list, here’s a tip that proved to be worth knowing: lists of 5,7 or 9 items perform better.

LinkedIn, the ideal business tool

As you are aware of now, LinkedIn is the best social network for any company or professional. Whether to be more known or to make contact with other professionals around the world. In an all-connected era, this application is unmissable for anyone to succeed online.

Facebook has a family side to it that makes it unsuited for business connections. Twitter is too fast-paced. Great for news and inspirational thoughts but bad for quality content regarding business. Instagram is useful when you want to share great visuals and quotes but has a very low return on investment.

LinkedIn might be about to outclass classic email solutions with the excellent InMail. Other things like B2B communication and marketing are to take place on LinkedIn. Maybe exclusively, in a not too distant future.

There are no doubts: LinkedIn is the place to be. Video content is certainly able to perform very well for multiple tasks. However, keep in mind that what works best on LinkedIn are long articles. Providing high-quality information and great value. Hurrying towards the new opportunities is an excellent idea. But don’t forget about the classics!

Author: Timothé Ameline
Graphics: Alba Fernàndez Gonzàlez