Where Facebook is the
friends network and Twitter is the quick information network, LinkedIn is the
professional social network. It is where people have display profile pictures
of themselves in a suit and post about articles that make them appear professionally
involved and switched on. Aside from this it is an invaluable tool to network,
engage in discussions and plant your professional services right where your
audience are the most alert.
LinkedIn by the numbers
LinkedIn is the second
most used social media website in Australia, rising above the likes of Twitter.
Due to its professional user base and purpose, the content and interactions
here are of a different nature to that of other social networks.
- LinkedIn is home to over 65 million professionals, around 4 million are Australian
- Over 50% of users have decision making authority within their business
- Over 15 thousand Australian businesses have a LinkedIn page
- When it comes to professional skills, there are 108K members with health care listings, 55K in community and social.
Courtesy of SolomoIT
When should I put my Business on LinkedIn?
The short answer – if
your services are of interest to the professional world, and if your content
can help them better assimilate the ideas that drive value to your business. Just
like other social networks, if the effort you’re putting into providing
insightful knowledge does not result in clients appreciating your offering
more, there’s not much point.
Hopefully the above
statistics give you a fresh perspective to the opportunities available for your
business regardless of size or niche. If you don’t have oodles of time (who
does?) you can still get some visible results from just an hour a week. (See
our Investing in Social Media article)
Company Pages – Best Practice
Tell a brand story, then connect
Even on LinkedIn people
will skim over the details. In your company description tell a story of what
your business means and how it came to be. Don’t go too overboard and leave
some room for people to want to find more information. Once you’ve done this
and have added your logo you should be following likeminded ‘influencers’ and
popular thought-leaders within your industry. Learn from their delivery, learn from their sympathetic language, and then add your
own thoughts!
Scope your content and audience
Don’t be afraid to
reuse sections and content that has been previously successful, several topics
have seasonal interest and will be all the talk again in the near future. Scoping
your audience also means sharing your LinkedIn page link on other social properties,
your website, and outgoing emails. Friends, colleagues, other departments,
clients, they should all have something interesting to read when they get to
your page.
Don’t oversell it
LinkedIn is not the
place to constantly tout promotional details or discounts, it is an opportunity
to get your professionalism out there on a more personal level. Company updates
and information are fine, especially when you’re able to connect it to some interesting
advice content or a hot topic, but you need to give back before you receive. Think one directly company related
post for every four pieces of strong value creating content for your readers.
Thank you for the good post.
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