With 2022 on the way, neglecting LinkedIn is the worst choice you can make, not only for your business but also for your public persona.
This platform, created in 2002 as the social network for professionals and job seekers, has become, over the years, an essential tool to build relationships with individuals and other companies, boost your brand and – not forgetting – create your branding strategy.
In a nutshell: if you don’t have LinkedIn? You are cut off. Unfortunately, running a LinkedIn page without a compelling strategy will lead to the same result.
Importance of a LinkedIn marketing strategy
According to Sprout Social, business marketing on LinkedIn generate 277% more leads on average than those engaged in Facebook marketing alone. In addition, surveyed B2B marketers said that LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of their social media leads.
Falling into the temptation to push your business aggressively, spamming and obvious hard-selling will only serve to distance you from your goal.
You would need a plan specifically for LinkedIn to give you the consumer reach and results you want and appeal to your connections and other businesses. But above all, you should constantly update yourself about what’s happening to stay ahead of the curve.
Remain ‘Always on’
Adopting an ‘Always on’ strategy over short burst campaigns is essential. Continuous advertising is more effective than campaign burst followed by long gaps because it counteracts memory decay and builds retention.
Maybe it’s hard to admit, but marketing rarely changes behaviour. Advertising can influence, but ultimately the audience converts when ready. That’s why building brand salience keeps the brand top of mind until the audience is ready to buy on their terms.
In addition, if you are not there, your competitors will be – and you should consider that, if 69% of research of business products takes place during the workday, 73% are in the evening and 51% on the weekend.
The customer journey process consists of many stages (these are roughly: discover, explore, buy, ask, use, engage). The more frequent the reach and exposure, the more effective the campaign.
Maintaining your LinkedIn page 365 days a year is just the first step. Considering the time of the year is also crucial in creating a marketing strategy.
Take the chance to advertise on (Christmas) leaves
The holiday season, for example, could be a great time to maximise cost-efficiency while reaching your audience.
As shown by this LinkedIn report, over this period, even though there is a decrease in engagement of 19.6%, the CPC (cost per click) decreases by 6.7%, CPC (cost per click) declines by 1.2%, and CTR (click-through rate) increases significantly (+ 13.9%).
Therefore leaving a campaign to run and run means building reach and frequency over a more extended period, bidding less for impressions and making your budget go further.
In addition, advertising on Christmas will allow you to reach a more engaged audience, adding value to your brand – you may need to adjust your bids slightly to match them.
Build a solid brand identity
According to LinkedIn’s Vice President of Marketing Solutions Penry Price, forming trusting relationships with their customers is increasingly important for every brand.
“Although brand awareness is not anything new, in 2022 and beyond, we will find buyers that are less focused on buying a specific product and more interested in investing their dollars in a brand they trust, believe in, and that aligns with their core values.
Given that only 5% of buyers are in-market to buy a product at any given time, organisations need to spend the coming year focused on how they are going to stay top-of-mind for the 95% of buyers who are not looking to make a purchase”.
Know your community and community goals
When building a brand identity, understanding your ideal audience is a good starting point. Who are you trying to attract?
While anyone interested in your brand, including past, present and future employees and customers, can be part of your community, it makes sense to have an ideal profile in mind. You can then help yourself with LinkedIn’s Page Demographics and Visitor Analytics features to understand if you’re attracting and engaging the right audiences and how they’re interacting with your Page.
Blend organic and paid strategies
A study conducted by Steve Kearns, Head of Social Media Marketing for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, displays that when LinkedIn Page Followers are exposed to both organic and paid content, they become 61% more likely to convert compared to those who only received paid content.
If paid posts are needed to attract people, engaging them with authentic organic content will allow you to build a community, constantly adding value, helping them in some way, and deepening that interest.
Follow our tips
Sharing a post a day would be the ideal solution, but if you don’t think to be consistent, remember to post at least once per week at a minimum.
Serve content to relevant audiences, targeting them to specific segments of your community.
Take stock of your existing content inventory. Content like media releases, thought leadership articles, reports, guides and playbooks, could be quickly repurposed for social.
Use hashtags and Content Suggestions. Join ongoing conversations by using relevant hashtags. Another great LinkedIn Page feature you can leverage Content Suggestions based on what’s already trending with your community.
Mix it up. Not every post has to be net-new or accompanied by a creative asset. Consider resharing your brand’s best @mentions, for example, or a third-party article that’s relevant to your industry. You can also post a question or run a poll to start a conversation with your community — but also, text-only posts are worth it when done well!
Engage with your employees, and don’t forget LinkedIn stories. Test, try and don’t be scared to change direction when necessary.
Inclusivity matters
Last but not least: in 2022, inclusivity on LinkedIn is not an option. Now more than ever, it’s critical for marketers to use inclusive language intentionally. We covered the importance of specifying our pronouns previously.
Though some may be prepared to write this off as a passing trend or a post-modern fashion statement, we are convinced it is not. Despite the doubts and resistance, it is essential to recognise that language matters and “we can rewrite the rules of idiom use”.
