Social media is here to stay for a while and businesses need to learn how to utilize at least one of the many platforms available. LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing organizations and is specifically targeted to businesses. This makes it a great option for companies that sell business 2 business. Here are 3 social media marketing tips to help your business utilize LinkedIn.
Create and Promote a Group
LinkedIn provides the option for anyone to start their own group. By creating a group for your company you are creating one more way to reach new prospects. Be sure to promote the group throughout all marketing materials. That means have a link on the company website, include a link in marketing emails and provide a link in press releases. Any marketing that goes out the door should have a link to the group.
Don’t Sell, Just Share
People may be more willing to join a LinkedIn group because it doesn’t require they share anything nor do anything. They are not giving a company permission to send those emails or giving other details they may not want to share. It is important for a company to understand this level of commitment when posting to the group. This is a social media site and people are there to learn and share, not get sold to. LinkedIn has a special location for promotions if you want to let your members know about upcoming sales or events.
Share helpful information in the industry or items that your members may find helpful. Watch to see what people respond to and do more of that. Social media is about being social, not selling. Sharing information also helps make your business look like the expert in the industry, the go-to people. This will help sales grow over time.
Build Relationships
Part of being social is building relationships. Relationships drive sales as people are more likely to make a purchase from someone they trust. The nature of social media makes it easy to share information informally and get to know people on a personal level. Use this opportunity to build trust and in the long term the platform will provide leads for sales.
Social media has exploded in the last couple of years and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Businesses need to consider the best way to utilize this powerful method of communicating with prospects and customers. For more information on participating effectively in social media contact us .
