LinkedIn continues to expand as a social media network and as of 2020, it has 700 million active users, making it one of the world's most popular social networking sites. In the UAE, there are 4 million monthly active users on the platform - and this number keeps growing.
Today, many business professionals throughout the world and in Dubai use LinkedIn to market brands and post thought leadership articles, while some use the platform to search for the job of their dreams. As LinkedIn has evolved, it has become a significant space for marketing and advertising, and it has grown into one of the most used platforms for B2B marketers.
However, LinkedIn is not like other social media platforms and you cannot simply create a profile and expect to make quick connections. In order to grow your professional page or even your personal page on LinkedIn, you need to be strategic and follow best practices and this way, you are able to optimise the platform and use it to its full potential. It's important to note that at present, the organic reach available on LinkedIn is considerably higher than other platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. So if you don't have high advertising budgets, LinkedIn can offer you incredible visibility - just make sure you you follow the best practices below.
A LinkedIn company page is the face of your brand and your page needs to be constructed with the goal of building a valuable online community for the purpose of lead generation. Your company page needs to be as professional as possible as this your audiences first touch-point with your brand.
Professional Content
Your page must contain the most useful and relevant information regarding your business and show what it is you have to offer. Construct a detailed company summary at the top of your profile, clearly state what your company does and mention any significant business accomplishments. Make sure to stick to simple language so that all LinkedIn users have the opportunity to understand what your business and your brand offers - you do not want to alienate your audience with too much industry jargon as this can be intimidating to those wishing to engage with your business.
Images
Always use high quality images of your brand in the banner space at the top of the page, and a professional logo or photo for your profile picture. Your profile picture should be between 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels and 7680 (w) x 4320 (h) pixels while your banner photo needs to be 1400 x 425 pixels.
Make sure to update your page regularly to keep up with any possible business changes. Essentially you need to treat your LinkedIn page as an evolving professional brochure!
LinkedIn is actually one of the top 5 platforms that Google indexes regularly and this makes it vital that you apply Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to your company profile if you want your LinkedIn page to gain greater search visibility. LinkedIn SEO is similar to the way you would apply SEO to your website.
So, how do you go about doing this?
Backlinks
A backlink is an incoming hyperlink that takes you to another website.
Quality backlinks will give your profile a huge boost on the platform, begin by linking your LinkedIn profile to your website or your website blog page and always look for opportunities to link back to your profile page, for example, if you guest blog on another person's page.
By always inserting links to your other pages in your LinkedIn content, you may rank higher on Google which results in more views, activity and endorsements, increase your LinkedIn profile score and get your LinkedIn profile to rank higher than your competitors.
Publish Quality Content
One of the most effective ways to use SEO on your LinkedIn profile is through content marketing. This is done by publishing high quality, relevant, and thought leadership posts to your profile. To publish a post on your profile, simply open your page and click “start a post” and begin sharing your content with your audience.
You also have the option to write long-form articles, and LinkedIn is also a great place for you to share a blog you have written that links back to your website.
A few popular posts for LinkedIn content include:
Use Hashtags
LinkedIn is an important and more serious social media channel, but it still uses hashtags and many LinkedIn users follow hashtags to point them toward content that they are interested in.
This is a great way to optimise your content and reach your target audience, as those who follow the hashtags that you use on your posts don't have to follow you in order to come across your content and this is how you find more leads.
In summary, for a well-optimised LinkedIn company profile you need to create back-links, publish quality posts and articles and use the relevant hashtags alongside your content.
It is best practice to engage with other profiles within your industry as this betters your chances of being found by others, and helps you establish yourself as a trusted industry thought leader.
Only connect with groups and people who are relevant to your industry and check in with these groups frequently. Post relevant and insightful comments and responses in discussions within these groups as this creates more engagement and will provide you with more quality leads - also feel free to post questions of your own and create conversations around topics relevant to your knowledge and industry.
Also make it a point to connect with valuable connections regularly and send these contacts valuable content and engage with their posts. If you receive a message in your company profile, try to respond as quickly as possible, that is, within 1 - 2 working days and make sure to keep your contact list open, you want to be as transparent and trustworthy as possible on the platform.
Of course you want people to purchase your services or products, but you cannot simply make sales pitches on LinkedIn. When a user comes across your page they want to be able to personally connect with your brand, feel free to engage and ask you questions without being sold to immediately. LinkedIn is a place to nurture relationships as opposed to simply forcing a sales pitch on someone.
Work on building a trusted relationship with your leads before you begin the sales pitch, and of course, this doesn't mean you need to shy away from posting your recent products or new products. It just means that you don’t want to start with a hard sales pitch on your first encounter.
Your company profile should not appear to be a robot, and you need to personalise your brand. You can do this by creating a warm more personal tone when it comes to your content, and this is done by using simple words and not focusing too much on industry jargon and overused business cliches. You need to humanise your brand in order to engage more openly with potential customers, and this kind of communication builds trust, helping you convert potential customers into paying clients.
When it comes to the digital realm, users are not always interested in long winded content unless they are actively searching for it. They prefer information that is fast and if people land on your company page only to be met with complicated articles and nothing more, they will probably click off and visit another page.
It is great to post long form articles but make sure to also post quick and easy reads such as video content, infographics and lists.
Whether you are using LinkedIn to enhance your brand reach, find new talent or explore various opportunities, LinkedIn in Dubai is one of the best business networking and marketing platforms. However, the social networking site is constantly changing and evolving and you need to keep up to date to ensure you keep up and continue to build a powerful network and community.
The key is to always be helpful, engaging and insightful and through this you will connect with the right people, gain leads and grow your business to greater heights.
Are you interested in growing your business through LinkedIn?
Nexa has successfully implemented Content Marketing and LinkedIn strategies for businesses for over a decade. Book your meeting with Nexa today and begin your social media journey to success.