LinkedIn B2B Marketing: 10 Things You Should Know
Are you struggling to reach your target audience with B2B marketing?
If so, you’re not alone. Many businesses find it challenging to reach their target audience on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking platform.
But what if there was a way to use LinkedIn to reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals?
In this article, we’ll discuss the top 10 things you should know for LinkedIn B2B marketing. We’ll cover everything from optimizing your company page, creating effective content, and running ads.
By the end of this article, you’ll understand how to use LinkedIn to reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals.
Learn about the benefits of incorporating LinkedIn into your B2B marketing strategy with these valuable advantages:
- LinkedIn has a large and engaged audience. There are over 830 million members on LinkedIn, many actively looking for new products and services.
- LinkedIn is a highly targeted platform. You can target your marketing messages to specific demographics, industries, and job titles.
- LinkedIn is a great way to build relationships with potential customers and partners. You can connect with people in your industry, share content, and participate in discussions.
Read till the end to uncover some proven expert tips for LinkedIn B2B Marketing.
10 Things you Should Know for LinkedIn B2B Marketing
1. Work on the Header Image
Ensuring that the header image of your LinkedIn profile resonates with your target audience is the primary step towards acing LinkedIn B2B marketing.
The header image is the first impression of your company to your target audience, which is why it is essential you create something that is catchy as well as informative of what your company is doing.
For example, you could take inspiration from Neil Patel’s LinkedIn profile. They have a header image which clearly shows what they do and who their prospects are, and why value do they bring to the table.
Some other ideas for an on-point header image are:
- Add the feature image of a case study or a guide that reflects your services
- An achievement that also reflects your USP (you can take inspiration from HubSpot)
- Something you can do for free – like maybe an SEO audit.
The key is to advertise indirectly. There are many ways to advertise indirectly on LinkedIn. You can create informative content, offer free trials, or sponsor events that your target audience is interested in. The key is to find ways to show your target audience that you understand their needs and that you have something valuable to offer them. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success on LinkedIn.
2. Draft a Compelling Company Description
Let’s be honest. Most of the people that actually click on a company’s “see more” tab in their description are job seekers.
So, if you want your potential clients to hit that “see more” tab, you need to write those first two lines of the company description in a way that compels them to continue reading. And as mundane as it may sound, you need to make your company stand out. Which clearly means not stating the usual how many employees your company has or when was it founded. If you must, you can include these later in the paragraph, but not in the first two sentences.
Your first two sentences should clearly define three things:
- Your target audience
- Your value proposition, and
- What services you provide
For example, if you are a B2B company providing financial consulting your first two lines could be something like this:
We specialize in providing comprehensive financial consulting services (services provided) to businesses (target audience), helping them optimize their financial strategies and achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experts combines industry knowledge and cutting-edge solutions to deliver tailored financial solutions that drive results and add value to our clients’ bottom line (value proposition).
This will drive your target prospect to not only continue reading your whole company description but also visit your website. Hence, ensuring that your website is updated with all the latest information is always a good practice.
3. Utilize Showcase Pages
For businesses that have multiple subsidiaries offering different services to the same target audience, LinkedIn Showcase Pages are the best option. LinkedIn showcase pages are a great way to highlight specific aspects of your business or organization. They can be used to showcase your products or services, your team members, or your events.
Consider adding LinkedIn showcase pages to your strategy. They offer great benefits, such as:
- Increased visibility: Showcase pages can help you improve your visibility on LinkedIn. They can be found in search results and linked to your company’s website or blog.
- Targeted audiences: Showcase pages can be targeted to specific audiences. This means you can show your content to the people most likely to be interested in it.
- Brand awareness: Showcase pages can help you build brand awareness. They can show potential customers, partners, and employees what your company is all about.
- Lead generation: Showcase pages can help you generate leads. If you include a call to action on your showcase page, you can encourage people to contact you or learn more about your business.
To maximize the impact of your Showcase pages, consider the following strategies:
- Optimize for Conversion: Ensure your Showcase page is designed with conversion in mind, just like your company page. Create compelling content, incorporate persuasive elements, and provide a clear call to action to encourage visitors to take desired steps.
- Keep the Page Name Concise: A short page name is crucial to avoid truncation in the display sidebar. This ensures that the full name is visible and readily comprehensible to your audience, making it more effective in capturing their attention.
- Use Audience-Friendly Terminology: When naming your Showcase page, incorporate a word or phrase that resonates with and is effortlessly comprehended by your target audience. This establishes a connection and helps them quickly grasp the purpose and relevance of the page.
- Broaden Your Lead Generation: Consider Showcase pages as an additional avenue to expand your reach and attract more targeted leads genuinely interested in your product or service. By casting a wider net through these pages, you can capture the attention of a broader audience and generate more potential leads.
By enforcing these strategies, you can optimize your Showcase pages to drive conversions, increase visibility, and attract quality leads specifically interested in what your business offers.
4. Groups are the Star-Performers of LinkedIn B2B Marketing
LinkedIn offers a range of community features that facilitate seamless communication with other users, clients, or partners, ultimately expanding your network. The two primary types of community features on LinkedIn are groups and influencers.
Groups: Joining groups that align with your interests or expertise allows you to stay updated on industry developments and maintain connections within your network. Additionally, you can create a group for your company, providing a platform to expand your influence and engage in discussions with other members.
Influencers: LinkedIn influencers are thought leaders who share valuable insights and discuss trending topics. Engaging with these influencers by commenting on their posts allows you to participate in meaningful discussions and gain visibility within the LinkedIn community.
By leveraging these community features effectively, you can establish connections, stay informed, and actively contribute to discussions, enhancing your professional presence on the platform.
5. Identify your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience in LinkedIn B2B marketing involves segmenting professionals based on industry, job title, company size, and location. Creating buyer personas helps tailor messaging and content to resonate with the audience’s needs. LinkedIn’s analytics and audience research provide insights for refining targeting strategies. Understanding the target audience allows for more effective B2B marketing, relevant content delivery, and meaningful connections on LinkedIn.
If you want to learn more about generating leads through LinkedIn, read this blog: 11 Steps to Use LinkedIn Marketing Platform for Lead Generation.
6. Publish Relatable Content
Stating the obvious but utilizing LinkedIn’s robust content publishing platform is essential for effective LinkedIn B2B marketing strategies. By creating high-quality content, you can shift from outbound marketing, which relies on ads to grab attention, to an inbound strategy that attracts genuinely interested users.
To achieve this, publishing content as an individual and as a company on LinkedIn is recommended. A notable example on the company side, Adobe sets a great example by sharing colorful and inspiring stories about their employees rather than adopting a dry and purely corporate tone. This approach draws attention to the brand without being pushy or overly sales oriented.
If you have publishing access on LinkedIn, leverage this platform to increase your exposure. Many LinkedIn members who have utilized the publishing feature have reported experiencing considerable success.
7. Save Search
When conducting a highly specific and targeted search, it is essential to save your progress to facilitate ongoing prospecting efforts. Acing LinkedIn B2B marketing requires consistent activity to maintain a steady sales pipeline.
To save a search, simply access the “Save search” option in the upper right corner of your advanced search interface. Creating a saved search allows you to quickly retrieve the exact search parameters in the future. Also, it enables you to set up alerts for new relevant results.
Although, you can only save up to three searches if you have an essential subscription. Therefore, upgrading your subscription may be necessary to save a more significant number of inquiries and enhance your prospecting capabilities.
8. Optimize Page Performance
If prospects do not click through to your company website from the company information section, you can still reach them by posting updates. As long as you post updates regularly, you will have an active and engaging feed. The best way to generate leads from this section is to post updates that are directly aimed at your target audience. You can post blog updates, link to your infographics, and share other information, but keep in mind that you are looking for click-throughs from information-seekers.
These are the basic steps to optimizing a company page. If your industry has broad appeal, you will likely see quite a few leads by incorporating in your LinkedIn B2B marketing strategy. However, if you are in a very small niche, you will need to focus on other strategies to generate leads.
9. LinkedIn Ads for LinkedIn B2B Marketing
LinkedIn Ads offers various campaign options that effectively drive brand awareness and generate leads, presenting marketers with diverse opportunities. The commonly utilized ad formats include Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, and Text Ads. The latest and highly anticipated addition to this lineup is LinkedIn Video Ads.
Sponsored Content is LinkedIn’s native advertising, allowing publishers to boost regular posts with an allocated ad budget.
With Sponsored InMail, marketers can send personalized messages directly to their target audience using the platform’s private messaging system, enabling direct content delivery.
Text Ads appear at the top or right side of users’ feeds, typically consisting of concise text accompanied by optional small images. They are often used to drive leads and promote specific offers.
LinkedIn Video Ads automatically play within users’ feeds, offering an effective means to increase engagement and views for your content.
10. Testing is the Key
Determining your business’s most effective tactics and strategies and conducting A/B testing is crucial. This process allows you to identify and implement the optimal solutions, ensuring that your campaigns are executed effectively, targeting key prospects, and saving time and budget by eliminating ineffective methods.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for B2B marketers. Using the tips and strategies outlined in this blog, you can increase your visibility, generate leads, and grow your business.
Here are some more bonus tips for you:
Maximize your LinkedIn presence by showcasing your identity and making a positive impression. Adjust your visibility settings in the Privacy & Settings section to allow others to see your profile. Additionally, take advantage of the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” feature to gain insights on visitors and identify potential connections.
To further enhance your profile, utilize LinkedIn’s media features to add videos, images, documents, links, and presentations that showcase your work. Utilize SlideShare integration to create interactive presentations. By leveraging these tools, you can effectively showcase your accomplishments and skills, making a lasting impact on LinkedIn.
Stay tuned for more such information.
FAQs
Is LinkedIn an effective platform for B2B marketing?
Absolutely! But its benefits go beyond that. LinkedIn perfectly showcases profile information and shared content, making it an ideal platform for refining business searches. You can access members’ interests, education, and experience with just a click. LinkedIn is tailor-made for B2B marketing, offering unparalleled targeting opportunities.
How frequently should B2B marketers post on LinkedIn?
For optimal results, B2B marketers should aim to post two to five times per week, totaling up to 20 monthly posts. It’s advisable not to exceed one post per weekday to maintain a consistent and engaging presence.
Why is LinkedIn a must-have for B2B marketers?
LinkedIn campaigns produce impressive results. The ability to target professionals based on specific companies or industries and filter by job title empowers B2B marketers to reach decision-makers effectively. This makes LinkedIn an indispensable and potent tool for B2B companies, driving impressive results.