While other social platforms get more attention, LinkedIn has slowly been building out its marketing options, with the backing of Microsoft enabling a broader range of integrations and data tools to help optimize campaigns.
The platform has also increased its user base (rising to 530 million total members) and launched a set of new tools to help boost your brand message, and it’s worth taking note of these tools as you go about planning your 2018 strategy – particularly as more social managers look to diversify their traffic sources in preparation for Facebook’s coming algorithm shifts.
To help with this, here are five tips to consider in your LinkedIn strategy.
1. LinkedIn Video
Video is huge on social, and in 2017, LinkedIn finally jumped in on the trend.
Now available to all users (not company pages at this time), the ability to post video to LinkedIn adds another option to your on-platform content distribution, with the capacity to post engaging video content directly related to your professional interests.
There’s a range of ways you can use this – you could conduct a Q and A with a leader in your company, post your latest product development videos or showcase your office culture.
As noted, video is the most popular form of content across all social networks, and LinkedIn is no exception – LinkedIn says video content is shared 20x more than any other type of content on the platform. As such, it’s worth considering how it might fit into your wider LinkedIn approach.
2. Conference Frames
Tapping into another rising trend, back in October, LinkedIn released their new conference frames, which can be used to effectively brand images and videos at industry events.
Initially, it seems a little strange, but the addition actually makes perfect sense – attendees will likely be keen to showcase their attendance on the professional social network, while it also gives brands an opportunity to promote their functions through UGC, giving people an inside look at what’s happening, who’s attending, etc.
The option’s not available to all conference organizers as yet, but LinkedIn has said they may look to make the frames a self-service option (as Snapchat has), which could provide another worthy consideration in your event marketing plan.
3. Website Demographics
If you want to ensure you’re optimizing your LinkedIn campaigns and content, one aspect definitely worth looking into is Website Demographics, which the platform launched last July.
As detailed in the video, LinkedIn’s Website Demographics helps identify the types of professionals who are visiting your site, based on their listed LinkedIn data.
This could be particularly valuable for B2B brands – if you’re trying to reach, say, CMOs, Website Demographics can show you whether you’re currently getting those people to your pages, which can help you refine and improve your marketing efforts to ensure you’re connecting with the right audiences.
There are some limitations to the data, but still, it’s worth looking into, especially if you’re working to improve your LinkedIn targeting, and aiming for specific professionals and/or decision makers.
4. LinkedIn Groups
This may or may not amount to anything, but…
LinkedIn recently sent a note out to all group admins informing them that they’re looking to putting a renewed emphasis on Groups in 2018.
They’re also looking to add new tools, including improved navigation and notifications of activity, and video within groups.
It’s hard to say exactly what this means, whether it will actually make it worth investing more time in LinkedIn groups, but in the past, they have been a valuable tools for networking and connecting with relevant professionals. They still have the capacity to do that, but most LI groups became so spam-filled and junk-laden that they’re now of little use – they’ve basically become a place for link drops and not much else.
With Facebook also putting more emphasis on groups, maybe LinkedIn’s riding the same wave, and using this as impetus to improve and refine their groups offerings. If they can make meaningful changes, LinkedIn groups could become a lot more valuable – especially if, as expected, more marketers shift their focus to group interactions as a result of Facebook’s algorithm shifts, which may also form habits that they can better translate to other platforms.
5. LinkedIn Publishing
LinkedIn’s long-form publishing platform has gone through some significant shifts in its four years of existence.
At first, it was a great place to help build your personal brand and showcase your industry knowledge, with your LinkedIn posts being shown to all your professional connections, boosting awareness, reach, attention, etc.
But then LinkedIn changed the way posts are distributed – originally, all your first degree connections were notified when you published, but then the notifications became overwhelming for users, and LinkedIn reduced them to selected individuals, and they’ve further refined their distribution algorithm over time.
Now, your LinkedIn Publisher posts will only reach a select group of users, and their engagement will define further distribution. That drop in reach has caused some to abandon LinkedIn as a content option – though according to LinkedIn, some 130,000 posts were, at one stage, being uploaded every week.
Yet, even with the reduced reach, LinkedIn publishing is still worthy of consideration. The main potential benefit is the opportunity to be featured on one of the LinkedIn Pulse showcase platforms, which can give you massive distribution. But even without making the Pulse, you can still help build your professional profile, among a very targeted, professional audience of industry people you really need to reach.
Your posts are also linked to your profile, helping to further showcase your knowledge, expertize and engagement in your industry. And while it may be more difficult to get massive reach, in general, quality content will shine through – which is true of most publishing options. If you can produce great, insightful, engaging content, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to solidify your personal brand, and help boost your business profile, through LinkedIn publishing.
There are a heap of other ways to utilize LinkedIn to further boost your marketing efforts, with the platforms ad and data options improving all the time. Hopefully these ideas get you thinking about your options on the professional social network, and considering the wider ways in which you can use LinkedIn to broaden your audience potential.