4 Tips for Building a Brand Presence on LinkedIn – What to Know

Many people know LinkedIn as a tool for networking. However, it is no longer just a place to deposit your resume and connect with people. It has also become a space where you can build your brand.  According to LinkedIn, they currently have about 675 million professionals on the platform, with four out of five in key positions in their companies. 

This makes LinkedIn marketing a good start for businesses that want quality lead generation. Businesses can open a LinkedIn page, and build brand awareness through their content and advertisements. Keep reading to discover ways you can engage on your profile or your company’s page and help audiences get to know your company more.

1. Write better native posts

In a LinkedIn post, you have 1,300 characters to expand on an idea. Long-form updates thrive on this platform; they reportedly receive ten times more visibility compared to a link or a shorter post. When planning your update, don’t write a long post for the sake of it. Provide value to the audience and respond to a timely issue, or write in-depth about initiatives from your company that you know your audience will be interested in.

If you must post a link, be purposeful about it. Write about why you think people will want to read it and provide the context for what you are sharing. Do not plainly state it either; be engaging and tell a story. That way, they are more likely to read to the end and click. You should also remove the link preview; this sounds counterintuitive, but removing it makes people slow down and pay better attention to what you are saying.

2. Be active in your network

When you’ve written a timely and relevant story, tag connections who are mentioned in it, especially people or groups you have worked with in the past. If you tag people in your post, their connections will also see your content. These people, who might be outside your own network, can make the reach of your post bigger. Any sort of engagement on LinkedIn—a comment, a reaction, or a share—can be seen by your network.

Build connections with your network, and have individuals in mind when writing posts. Strive to be meaningful rather than go viral. Aside from mentioning people in posts, engage actively with theirs as well. DM your contacts, invite them to events, and make sure that you get to know them so they will want to know you.

3. Use hashtags to get discovered

Hashtags have content about a certain topic that users are interested in. This is helpful for when people would like to follow news and insights on a subject but do not follow specific industry leaders or influencers. Spend time going through hashtags and noting ones that you think you can write or make a video about. 

LinkedIn also has a Recommendations feature, which lets users add automatically-generated hashtags based on their post’s topic. Target hashtags that are active in your industry, or have more than hundreds of followers. You can also learn which hashtags get plenty of posts and at what hours they do.

4. Know your target audience

Once you have an established audience for your brand, you can venture into paid advertising. LinkedIn Ads might be a bit on the pricier end, but this platform is the best channel especially for B2B or consulting services. The networks on LinkedIn are grouped around businesses and industries, so if you run an ad, you are sure to have leads that are a better match for your brand. 

You have to also choose among Cost-per-Click (CPC), Cost-per-Impression (CPM), or Cost-per-Send (CPS) advertisements. Each of these are suited for particular goals; ads that generate CPC are best for generating leads or driving traffic to your website. CPM is more for creating awareness of your brand. Finally, CPS ads are best for existing users or people who are subscribed to your service.

Frequently Asked Questions on LinkedIn Ads

Many people are much more familiar with paid advertising on the Google Display Network or through Facebook or Instagram. LinkedIn’s ads feature first came out in 2005, preceding Facebook paid advertising. It is only recently, though, that the company ramped up its efforts in providing marketers with tools for their campaigns. Here are a few things people may be wondering about LinkedIn ads.

How much should be spent on CPC or CPM Ads?

LinkedIn marketers establish their ads’ CPC and CPM on a case-to-case basis. Companies’ targeting criteria and their competition are taken into account, as well as their baseline sales numbers. Use tools like AdStage Join, which calculate millions of data points from surface median impressions and clicks and compile these into Benchmark Reports. 

The platform is not the most affordable option for displaying advertisements. However, the quality of leads it brings back will be worth the monetary investment. With recent additions such as Account Targeting and Conversion Tracking, there will be more data available to managers to help them refine their campaigns.

What are LinkedIn impressions?

This works the same as it does on other advertising platforms. This refers to the number of times a post is shown to users. Since impressions only record the most surface-level form of audience reach, it should not be the sole basis for determining the effectiveness of a campaign. Engagement, for example, takes into consideration both impressions and interactions. This is a more detailed look at how your ads are performing, as it records actions from people.

What are LinkedIn Ad Credits?

LinkedIn Ad Credits work like coupons that can be used to buy LinkedIn advertising products. These credits are sent through e-mail or during other promotions. These are usually offered to new advertisers but are occasionally sent to existing ones as well.

If you receive LinkedIn’s coupon code, you can input the code while you are setting up your campaign. This will take the indicated amount off the cost of making the ad. If you use up the coupon or if it expires, though, normal fees will apply.

Conclusion

LinkedIn is fast becoming a viable platform for businesses, especially B2B companies and consultancies. Getting your brand in front of users on the platform involves relationship-building and a keen awareness of what your network is thinking about.

If you are looking for LinkedIn marketing in Montreal, get in touch with us to see how we can help.