How to lay the foundations to your LinkedIn marketing plan

LinkedIn is increasingly becoming a strong platform for brands targeting other businesses.

At Marketing Angels we are consistently incorporating LinkedIn as part of the marketing plans we create and implement for clients.

As much as we can incorporate LinkedIn into a marketing budget, generate company content and use LinkedIn’s advertising platform to expose their brand beyond their followers, there are some key things that need to be done at an organisational level to make those efforts successful.

These include:

Training staff on how to use LinkedIn

Lots of people create a profile but have little understanding of how to use the platform.  Including sharing company content across their own personal linked in page, joining in groups and the importance of responding to comments.

Explain the “why”

Share with staff “why” social media is important for growing the brand and the part they play in that.

Share key metrics around number of followers, engagement, leads and sales directly from LinkedIn.

Set a goal

Set some company goals around growth in social media followings, engagement and sales directly related to LinkedIn, including information on how you will celebrate when the goal is reached.

LinkedIn is a social tool, however, we forget to extend “the social” aspect within our own team.

Get feedback from staff on the content quality and topics

Sometimes staff are reluctant to share content on their own platform, because they aren’t enamoured with the content. Make sure your staff are involved in generating content ideas, creating content and perhaps even scoring it or providing feedback loops for improving content.

If you are investing in LinkedIn, you will limit the return on investment possible if staff are not enrolled or motivated to share, like and engage with your own company content.

Since starting her outsourced national marketing consultancy Marketing Angels in 2000, Michelle Gamble has helped hundreds of SMEs get smarter marketing. Michelle helps businesses find more effective ways to grow their brands and businesses.