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LinkedIn transformed the way businesses perform marketing. Today, it’s the top social media channel for B2B sales and is changing how you connect with decision-makers and sell products and services online.Explore how LinkedIn business marketing works and some top tips from experts on building your marketing strategy for the platform.
B2B marketers are flocking to LinkedIn for running their social media campaigns. One of the main reasons is that the platform is built around business networking.Because of the business and career focus, the platform attracted over 65 million business decision-makers. In addition, there are over 57 million companies on the platform. In total, you have an audience of over 830 million globally for your marketing content.With four out of five members driving business decisions, you can network with key players in purchasing when marketing your brand and products on LinkedIn. You can also invest in relationship building with these decision-makers which improves the outcomes of your marketing channels on other platforms.
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LinkedIn marketing works at every point in the buyer’s journey, from awareness through conversion. Here are a few specific ways you can use LinkedIn for marketing.
One ad on LinkedIn can reach 14.6% of the world’s adult population. LinkedIn reach is continuing to grow as the platform expands. In 2022, LinkedIn’s ad reach increased by 22 million.Not only are you reaching a large audience, but you’re reaching the right audience as most of the members of LinkedIn are professionals or key decision-makers in their business.
Even though LinkedIn is a professional site, it’s still considered social media because it encourages social interaction. Features like commenting, liking posts, sharing content, joining groups, and sending private messages encourage community interactions.These features also help you engage your audience. Engaging your audience is a key part of building a relationship with potential customers, understanding their needs, and answering their questions.
About 97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn in their strategies. Additionally, 79% of marketers say LinkedIn is a good source for quality leads, with some saying the platform brings in about 80% of their B2B leads.LinkedIn is a greater source of leads than even Facebook or Twitter.Generating quality leads versus merely generating leads is an essential differentiation to make. When you generate many leads, they don’t necessarily turn into customers. However, quality leads are prospects that are able and willing to purchase from your company with the right incentives and proper nurturing.Because LinkedIn has multiple filters for targeting your audience, you can ensure your content gets in front of those leads that are most likely to buy.
According to LinkedIn, the average conversion rate for landing pages is 2.35%. Meanwhile, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms have a 13% average conversion rate. You can add these forms to any of your ads or organic content to give your audience the next step after interacting with your content.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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LinkedIn is designed with business marketers in mind. Here are a few LinkedIn marketing solutions you have at your fingertips on the platform to enhance your next B2B marketing campaign.
LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager is your dashboard for managing all your content and campaigns across the platform. While a manager account is free, you do pay to run ad campaigns through the account.In Campaign Manager, you can create a new campaign by first designating your objective. Your objective options are awareness, consideration, or conversions.Next, you target your audience and set criteria for your content to ensure it appears in front of the right people to attract quality leads and maximize the results from your investment. LinkedIn offers over 20 different attribute categories to help you direct your campaign to the right market segments.With your audience and criteria selected, you are ready to run your first campaign with your choice of a paid ad format. Your ad manager lets you choose the format, budget, and schedule for running the ad.Then, as viewers begin interacting with your content, you can track and analyze your results right from your manager dashboard. These reports help you optimize your strategy based on what works best.
LinkedIn offers several different formats of paid ads for LinkedIn advertising companies. These are ads you can create and manage through your Campaign Manager account.Here are the five options you can choose from:
Not all your marketing efforts need to be paid campaigns. You can also build an organic LinkedIn marketing strategy. Organic marketing attracts viewers to your content or page without sponsoring the content.For example, SEO helps posts you publish on LinkedIn appear in search engine results. You can also use hashtags and join groups to attract people to your business profile.
Use these six strategies to create and run a successful LinkedIn business marketing campaign.
While there are 830 million people on LinkedIn, you don’t want to market to that entire audience because your products and services aren’t relevant to everyone. That’s why targeting is an essential first step of any successful marketing campaign.Targeting your audience ensures your content reaches prospects who might purchase from you, and you waste fewer resources on low-value leads.Create several buyer personas that list the demographics, pain points, and behaviors that influence these buyers. Then, to target that persona, create content using images that relate to those buyers, phrases they will connect to, and post in locations they frequent.For example, if most of your buyers are females in their 30s, you might use images of females in that age range when creating content. In addition, if those buyers are also marketers, you would write to the reader as if they are a marketer. For instance, you can use phrases like “your marketing team.” These phrases alert other readers that the content isn’t relevant to them, and they are less likely to fill out a form. Whereas marketers that might buy your products will read that phrase and pay closer attention because they know from the start the content is relevant.
LinkedIn also allows you to perform account-based marketing (ABM). ABM targets specific high-value accounts and is often used in businesses with high-value products like tech companies selling subscriptions. To create a target accounts list, research potential buyers and reach out to them individually or in smaller groups. LinkedIn is one platform that allows you to engage with those accounts during your ABM campaign.
If you’re using social media, you must be ready to be social. Your content shouldn’t be one-sided interactions where you post content and gather responses. Instead, you will want to build relationships with leads and start conversations around industry topics.One of the most important ways of interacting is through the comments on your content. For example, if you post an article on LinkedIn and receive comments, you should take the time to respond to those readers.You can also join groups in your industry. These groups are opportunities to get to know professionals on the platform that might become future customers. For example, if anyone asks a relevant question, you can answer with authority content that builds trust around your brand.
Search engine optimization will help your articles rank in internal LinkedIn searches and organic search engine results. Since searches are the primary way people come to your content on LinkedIn, SEO isn’t an optional strategy. It’s a necessity for running a successful marketing campaign.Search engine optimization requires research into keywords your audience often searches for. Then, incorporate those phrases in your profile and organic content to rank higher in search results. Also, consider using hashtags in your content so that those following or searching industry-related topics will find your profile and marketing content.
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Your marketing campaign doesn’t have to be just one strategy. You can use a mix of organic content, paid content, and social interactions to accomplish your goal. Mixing up your strategy will increase the number of people you reach and improve your results.
The profile your business uses matters as much as the content you create. Optimizing your profile adds more authority to your marketing campaign and encourages your audience to interact more with your business.LinkedIn reported that salespeople with complete profiles have a greater chance of exceeding their sales goals by over 200%. In addition, 79% of buyers say they are more likely to consider purchasing from a brand with a complete and informative profile on LinkedIn.Use these tips for creating a profile that pops:
LinkedIn is your source of quality leads and customer relationships. Our LinkedIn marketing agency can help you successfully create a strategy that reaches customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey.Contact us to get started with your next LinkedIn business marketing campaign.
As an Associate Strategy Director I am responsible for leading the development and execution of organic and paid social media and content strategies for our clients at Kubbco.
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