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How to Use LinkedIn If You’re a B2C Business

We all know that LinkedIn as the ‘social network for professionals’, but does that mean it’s not suited to your business? Maybe your target market doesn’t spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, so there’s no point in you or your company being on there, right? Well, not necessarily...

It’s true that LinkedIn isn’t the place for all your updates. We’ve heard tales of people being openly scolded for posting their holiday photos on their page as their connections didn’t see it as “what LinkedIn is for”. LinkedIn is primarily used to make business-to-business connections, which is where it differs from the other platforms.

Depending on the nature of your business you’d be excused for thinking that you’d be wasting your time updating your Page with all the latest happenings at your company, but I’m here to tell you that there’s a better way to use LinkedIn, and it’s applicable for everyone!

Company News

Your Company Page is like your homepage on LinkedIn. This is where all your information lives, readily available for anyone to look at. Instead of updating your LinkedIn Company Page with the usual daily B2C content you’re sharing on other platforms, keep your Company page for updates you think will interest a B2B audience. This could be company news (are you expanding? Relocating? Have you just raised some money for charity?)

Not only is this the place that people can go to find out what you’re up to, it also houses your ‘About Us’ section, as well as details about your company such as how many employees you have, industry and company type. Someone may be looking to do business based on your size and location, so having that sort of information available is invaluable.

Networking

Using your personal profile in partnership with your company page is key for getting the most out of LinkedIn. It’s all about creating a positive relationship with people as yourself and representing your company well. It sounds obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t use social networks to do some networking! It’s a golden rule that you should treat any social network as a two-way mode of communication, making sure you’re not just spamming out the same boring sales message, and this is especially true if you want to make any strategic partnerships or just make some quality business contacts. So make sure you’re talking TO people, not AT people.

LinkedIn Groups are an easy win for finding people that have the same interests as you, and there are bound to be plenty of localised groups made up of businesses on your doorstep. Join up and start taking part in conversations, build relationships, and as long as your personal profile is linked up to a well-optimised company page, it’ll be good news for the profile of your business. Remember, people like dealing with people, so they’re more likely to engage with “Bob Smith” than “Smith & Co. Ltd.”

Becoming a ‘Thought Leader’

Establishing yourself as an authority on your industry sounds like a daunting task but it really needn’t be. LinkedIn has the facility to publish Articles right from your personal profile and does a pretty good job of making your content stand out in the feed. For example, If there have been any changes in legislation that affect your industry, write an article and give your opinion about how it might affect businesses. Do you have knowledge in a particular area that other people may find useful? Answer some frequently asked questions in an Article on LinkedIn and invite people to enter in to a discussion with their own tips. This will demonstrate your skills and when it comes to people needing your services in the future, they’ve already seen that you know what you’re talking about.

Creating consistent, quality content is tough, but if you become known for publishing helpful articles, the more people will engage with it and your content will reach people outside your connections.

 

So, although you might not offer business services, we’re sure any type of company can find value in using LinkedIn. It might not be selling your product directly, but it’s all about selling your company ethos and the people that work there as people to do business with in the future.

 

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