Rethinking How You Spend Time on LinkedIn

With over 950 million users, and considering it’s 2024, we’re going to assume you already have a LinkedIn profile. If you also have a professional headshot, a headline that hooks, and a summary – you’re way ahead of most. If you’ve summarized your career highlights and experience, then I’m definitely impressed!

But are you really using your LinkedIn profile to your advantage? Or is it just kind of sitting out there collecting dust? I know you. I was you. And now I am here to enlighten you.

Did you know that 89% of B2B marketers find LinkedIn most effective for lead gen or that 69% of users in the US alone visit the site each day for about 7.5 minutes? You heard me! That’s a captive audience in today’s very-low-attention-span market.

If you’re in sales and marketing especially, taking a little time every day to optimize your profile, develop yourself as a thought leader and nurture connections can seriously open new doors and here’s why:

Reason #1: LinkedIn is the World’s Largest Business Network

Since LinkedIn is largely focused on B2B, it should be an integral part of your company’s social marketing strategy, from the top down. How, you ask?

First, it’s important to understand and define your target audience. What is their role, what are their and pain points, and how do they go about solving them? In other words, what keeps them up at night? Then take a little time to research relevant and unique content to share with them that speaks to those pain points. When you offer your targeted connections nuggets of information, you come across as helpful rather than salesy and you’ll keep them coming back for more! That’s the key to driving demand with LinkedIn, and why it helps drive over 89% of B2B social media leads.

Reason #2: Your Participation on Social Media Builds Trust

Gone are the days when we picked up the phone to get information about a company’s products or services. Instead, we all do our due diligence online when it comes to buying decisions, because well… we can. Everything we need to know is literally at our fingertips, which is exactly why we’re all vying for the top spot in searches. But beyond just finding info, we want to do business with people and companies we trust.

So how do you earn trust online? It begins with a complete, professional, and consistent presence, and for the reasons mentioned above, LinkedIn is an effective and simple place to start.

What’s more, there’s power in numbers. Help your team demonstrate a shared and consistent value proposition that represents your brand. Everyone from the CEO, to sales, marketing, product management and technical support should contribute with an optimized profile and active engagement through social. Whether you’re a vendor, or a partner, it’s important to showcase a company culture that builds trust.

Reason #3: Set Yourself Apart from the Rest

You’ve gone with the flow long enough. It’s time to focus your efforts on ways you can stand out as a thought leader. Consider incorporating more video. It’s so easy to consume, especially in our over-tasked, visual-centric world. Plus, you’re already carrying your production equipment in your pocket. Use your smartphone and take the opportunity to share a quick recording of something you learned, or while you’re walking around an event. Keep it casual, friendly and short. Then, watch the likes and comments roll in!

Still Skeptical?

Are you still skeptical about the power of LinkedIn? Well, let me just say that the results speak for themselves. At 360insights | Elevate, our Channel Marketing team has witnessed some incredible success stories on LinkedIn with the executives we collaborate with.

Take for example a CTO at a large hardware company. Over the course of 14 months, his LinkedIn followers grew by a staggering 40%. Not only that, but he also achieved an impressive average engagement score of 224 per post. And hold onto your hats, because one of their posts garnered a mind-blowing 971 interactions!

But that's not all. A channel leader at a data platform company client of ours experienced a remarkable 209% growth in followers. Their average engagement score reached an admirable 130. These are the kind of numbers that build trusted relationships through social.

And it doesn't stop there. We've seen similar outstanding results across the board. Picture this: a sales executive at a prominent software company racking up a whopping 6,230 engagements on a single post. That's the power of LinkedIn when you consistently share relevant, interesting, and inspiring content.

So, if you're still on the fence, I urge you to give it a go. Post a few times a week, engage with your colleagues' and peers' content, and watch the magic happen. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

In Summary:

Don’t overthink it. Keep it simple. Tackle your LinkedIn strategy in small steps. Optimize your profile to showcase a complete and professional presence. Help others on your team do the same, with a consistent brand message that demonstrates you and your company’s value. Then share relevant content on a regular cadence and engage with your audience to build trust. In less than 15 minutes a day you can leverage one of the most powerful B2B platforms to build brand awareness and trust and set yourself apart from your competition. Refocusing your LinkedIn activities to be time well-spent will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your company’s bottom line.

Interested in learning how to optimize and improve your own personal or company LinkedIn profile? Contact us directly  to see how we can help!