LinkedIn company pages can help you grow your business and generate new opportunities. Here’s how you can start converting your efforts into tangible results for your brand.
LinkedIn company pages, now called “LinkedIn Pages,” are one of the last hidden marketing gems for brands that are looking to expand and conquer online, but how do you turn passive lurkers into real, paying clients for your business? Let’s dig into some of the proven ways to crush your conversion rates using LinkedIn company pages.
First, let’s talk about why you should actually care about LinkedIn Pages at all.
For one, LinkedIn recently introduced big changes to company pages, now calling them “LinkedIn Pages,” and adding valuable features like the ability to share documents (PDFs, Powerpoints, and doc words), employee advocacy tools, and even built-in content suggestions. With so many new features being rolled out, now’s the time to pay attention to Pages.
Second, there are unique capabilities that come with company pages that you don’t have with your personal profile. Your page has a feed that your audience can actually scroll through, you’re able to target specific segments of your audience with each post, and there are enhanced video capabilities, like the option to upload a custom thumbnail, add a title, and upload an SRT file for captioning.
But perhaps the biggest reason to consider LinkedIn Pages is because it’s a place for your brand to share information with the right people that have “put up their hand” digitally and have requested your content.
Convinced that you need to learn more about Pages? Here are some the ways that you can use them to generate new leads for your business.
Add a Call-to-Action to Everything you Post
Let me be clear, a call-to-action doesn’t need to be a sales pitch, it is about sharing what you’d like your audience member to do next. If you want to nurture relationships with your followers, it’s important to incorporate a candid, conversational tone, and give them an opportunity to engage with your content, rather than just consume it.
If you publish a video, post a question in it, and ask the viewer to share their thoughts in the comments. If you share curated content, ask your audience members to add their opinion.
If you post educational updates, ask your followers to share their challenges and answer each comment with your expert advice.
A great example of this is L’Oreal’s LinkedIn Page, which not only shares their missions and values, but also encourages their million+ followers to get off the sidelines and join their movements.
Use your Personal Brand to Nurture Relationships
We buy from people that we like and trust, which is why it’s so important for businesses to consider not only how you can leverage LinkedIn Pages, but also build a strategy for your personal brand that will augment your corporate efforts.
There are a few ways to do this. One strategy is to start sharing and mentioning your LinkedIn page whenever you post content from your personal brand like I’ve done in this post:
This is an incredibly effective tactic if your follower count on your personal brand is higher than your company page. In my case, I have over 125,000 followers on my personal brand, and only 4,253 on my LinkedIn Page, so my goal is to convert some of my personal brand followers into new company page followers. This strategy has helped me grow my follower count on my LinkedIn Page by 740% in two months.
The other way that you can use strong personal brands to grow your LinkedIn Page is by featuring well-known personalities in your content. Adding faces to your brand will dramatically increase your engagement. Coca-Cola is absolutely rocking this strategy by using President and CEO, James Quincey, as the face of all their native videos, and sharing links to his commentaries.
Embrace Native Video
LinkedIn video is trendy right now, but it can also be super intimidating for businesses that have never hit record. But video doesn’t have to be a perfectly stylized production unless you’re selling video production services. Yes, LinkedIn is a professional networking platform, but no, that doesn’t mean that your company videos can’t be candid, creative, and fun. Your followers want to feel like you are speaking to them, like they are part of your community, so don’t be afraid to use your smartphone and imagination to engage with your audience.
For example, Publishing Concepts (PCI), uses native video to post candid style talking head videos, slideshows, and recordings from local events, a strategy that adds a human touch to their Page content.
Share Your Customer Stories, not Just Testimonials
One of the most common content types that companies post on their LinkedIn Page is testimonials from clients. It’s great to prove that you’re competent, and social proof can be powerful, but it’s important to think BEYOND the text testimonial. How can you put your audience into your client’s shoes and show them the process of working with your business?
One way that you can do this is by sharing a before and after, or sharing the improvements your business has made in a more visual way that’s easy to understand, like this:
Serve Different Segments using Showcase Pages
Sometimes, the best way to serve your audience is to divide and conquer. Showcase pages are niche pages of an overarching corporate brand. You can create showcase pages for different products, like Adobe does here:
Or, you can create showcase pages to cater to different buyer personas, like Salesforce.
By adding the right calls-to-action, leveraging strong personal brands, embracing native video, telling customer stories visually and considering showcase pages for niche markets, you’ll be well on your way to building the brand presence on LinkedIn and driving the tangible results that you’ve been striving for.
[box]Michaela Alexis is a Millennial LinkedIn Strategist, Speaker, and Author of “Think Video”. She has built a community of over 120,000 followers and now travels the world teaching others how to leverage the platform. She also works with brands like Crowne Plaza as an expert in their Meeting Mentor program.[/box]
Read next: LinkedIn Launched “Student Voices,” Its Own Take On Stories