How To Use LinkedIn To Effectively Market Your Brand

Linkedin has over 570 million accounts.

260 million are actively using the platform on a monthly basis.

Even more impressive, is 40% of those active accounts are used on a daily basis.

This makes Linkedin one of the most widely used professional social platforms. But, are you harnessing the power of Linkedin correctly?

In this article we will give you tips on how to network, grow, and market your brand using Linkedin. 

The Benefits of Linkedin

Despite the fact there are so many active Linkedin accounts, many aren’t using it to its full potential.

The site went live in 2003 and was created specifically for professional people and brands to create connections, increase brand awareness, and drive website traffic through content sharing. 

Whether you’re on Linkedin for business or personal, it has a plethora of benefits.

Some of the top reasons for using Linkedin in your marketing strategy are:

• Increases your visibility 
• Connects you to like-minded people
• Generates leads for your business or for personal
• Opens potential business opportunities
• HR and recruiters are both plentiful which can help in job hunts or filling open positions
• Position your brand as a thought leader
• Research potential connections or brands

Building Your Brand On LinkedIn

Whether you’re building your personal or company brand, there are quite a few ways to leverage Linkedin effectively.

• Customize your URL: When you begin using Linkedin, you get a personal URL, which directs traffic to your profile. When it is assigned to you, there is a string of numbers attached to your name. By customizing your URL, you will be able to eliminate those numbers and you’ll be left with your name. You will be able to do this right from your Edit Public Profile in the View Profile section of your page.
• Optimize your Linkedin headline: Mention the industry you’re in or targeting. Your headline is searchable, and a fully optimized one will reach the right people. 
• Use the banner image space: That’s a great piece of real estate to enhance your profile, company, and industry. You could include your logo, website address, or a few explanation bullet points.
• Make your profile searchable: Adding industry keywords to your summary, and work experience adds SEO to your profile. This will increase the likelihood of being found when someone is searching for related keywords. 
• Humanize your brand: People connect more with other people. Even if your brand is computer software, put a human element behind it. Images of the faces behind the software can make it more relatable. 
• Use the “About” section: This is the perfect space to add tidbits of context to your brand. There is a 250-word character count, but you are able to edit it as often as you’d like. 
• Use those hashtags: To make your posts more discoverable, use the generated hashtags that appear at the bottom of the post. There is no hashtag limit, but don’t go over five or your post will be clunky and look like spam. 
• Turn profile views into connections: You will receive notifications when your profile has been viewed. If that viewer doesn’t reach out to connect and is someone potentially relevant, make the first move. Send a connection request. 
• Build your brand: Create thought leadership articles, comment on or like shared posts, and interact. Actively participating on Linkedin is free advertising. Besides, you never know who you’ll ‘meet’. 
• Join Linkedin groups: If you can think of it, there’s a group created for it on Linkedin. Some are full of very self-promoting people, but there are many groups that offer ample opportunity to connect and learn with like-minded individuals. 
• Create your own Linkedin group: Set yourself up as a thought leader by creating an industry-related group. Doing this will allow you to connect and interact more closely with others in your industry. 
• Use Linkedin’s publishing platform: Linkedin now lets anyone publish articles to the platform. You could syndicate old blog posts or write new ones and share them with your connections. This is an important step if you are trying to become an industry thought leader.

Picked for you: Becoming a Linkedin Thought Leader 

Marketing on Linkedin

Once your Linkedin page and profile are set up, you are ready to begin your marketing campaign.

Plan on spending a total of an hour throughout the day networking on Linkedin for optimal effectiveness.

Some people spend a lot longer there, but you have to do what works for your schedule. 

To reach more people, try experimenting with sponsored content and native ads.

Linkedin allows you to target based on job titles, functions, industries, and more. This makes reaching people most beneficial to you much easier. 

As with any other type of marketing campaign, you will need to pay attention to your Linkedin insights and refine what you’re doing based on those results.

With the insights, you will know what type of reach your posts have, how much interaction they are receiving. The benefit is, you will know what type of content resonates with your connections and you’ll be able to tailor your messaging more effectively. 

There is no such thing as an overnight success. It’s normal to have ups and downs; traffic and interactions will vary depending on the day and time. 

Linkedin is getting noisier as more people are discovering how truly effective it is for business.

Patience and perseverance will be needed.

But, with the right strategy in place, you’ll find Linkedin to be the perfect platform for you.