Extend Your Reach: Use a LinkedIn Company Page to Increase Exposure

LinkedIn, an online professional networking site, has over 120 million members and is continuing to grow. Having moved away from its early model, today LinkedIn is much more than a way to connect with your professional network. While most professionals are familiar with its traditional use, and most likely have a personal profile, many organizations are not taking advantage of the additional tools LinkedIn has to offer. Unused by many organizations, LinkedIn has a variety of promotional tools which can be leveraged to increase business exposure, including advertising, event pages, groups and the focus of our article, company pages.

What is a LinkedIn Company Page?

A LinkedIn Company Page is a free and effective way for companies to showcase their organization to the LinkedIn community. Equipped with a variety of promotional opportunities, a LinkedIn Company Page has multiple places for professionals to provide information on their organization, including separate tabs to feature a company overview, products and services and careers (to include the careers tab requires a paid subscription). In addition to providing a place for an organization to self-promote its business, a LinkedIn Company Page also provides a forum for LinkedIn members to add credibility to an organization by showcasing recommendations at the product and service level to the entire LinkedIn community.

Tips for Optimizing the Impact of a LinkedIn Company Page

1. Keep Company Information High-Level. When it comes to company information featured on LinkedIn, less is more. To increase readability, create a short company overview that provides a clear and concise description of what your organization does. Be sure to keep this description high-level and limit its contents to only include key information about your organization. Think of this as an introduction to your organization, not a comprehensive company profile. If readers are looking for more detailed information, your LinkedIn Company Page will have plenty of links to drive them to your website.
2. List Key Products and Services. The LinkedIn products and services tab is an excellent place for individuals to find out more about what products and services an organization offers. Not only will visitors be able to filter listings by categories to easily find items of interest, they will also be able to visit individual pages for each featured product or service where they can access more detailed content specific to that offering.When creating content for a product or service page, follow the same tips for creating a company description—make sure it is high-level, clearly states the focus of the product or service and lists key benefits. In addition, to provide readers an easy way to gather more detailed information on the product or service, list a knowledgeable contact from your organization for visitors to reach out to and include a relevant link to a corresponding page on your website (versus linking to your homepage).
3. Take Advantage of Additional Page Customization Features. As with any online resource, it is important to make sure content is presented in an interesting and reader-friendly format. In order to set your organization apart and break through the clutter, when developing your LinkedIn Company Page, be sure to take advantage of all the available customization features. While you are limited to the LinkedIn templates, there are many optional formatting and customization features in place to help spice up your pages. Specific ways to do this include:
   • adding logos
   • using image thumbnails for each of your products and services
   • creating spotlight banners to feature products and services
   • including videos
4. Use Key Words Throughout Content. Not only is a LinkedIn Company Page a great place for people to learn more about an organization, it can act as a way for people to find an organization. While your company page can be easily found through your network of followers or through a quick name search, it is also important to ensure that it can be found by anyone who may be searching for an organization with your specialty. This means that when you are developing the content for your company page, to increase search optimization on the LinkedIn site, it is important to include relevant keywords throughout that are specific to your areas of expertise and product and service offerings.
5. Add An Offer/Call-To-Action. Lead generation is typically a top priority for an organization. In order to maximize the lead generation potential of LinkedIn, it is important to add a relevant call-to-action to each of your product and service pages that will appeal to your targeted audience and drive interest. Good examples could include offering whitepapers, case studies, webcasts or even free consultations. To increase response rates and generate qualified leads, make sure that each offer is targeted to your audience and relevant to the page it is listed on.

Leveraging LinkedIn Beyond the Personal Network

It is commonly known that LinkedIn is an excellent source for networking on a personal, professional level. It is a little less known that LinkedIn also offers a variety of opportunities for showcasing a business. While some of the promotional capabilities offered have a cost associated with them, a LinkedIn Company Page is offered at no cost, making it an accessible promotional medium for organizations large and small.

Ensure you are taking advantage of all LinkedIn has to offer, sign your organization up for a LinkedIn Company Page today (if you have not done so already) and follow the tips above to make the biggest impact possible. It’s free, it’s fast and it’s beneficial.

Need help creating or sprucing up a LinkedIn Company Page? Contact Launch Marketing today.

Photo via: http://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2015/03/11/the-latest-round-of-linkedin-changes-what-you-need-to-know/#12672e8918b2