Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
LinkedIn users exceeded forecasts.
Six years ago, Statista expected the base to grow to 746 million in 2023 and 828 million in 2027. But LinkedIn entered 2024 with over 1 billion members, including a 7.5% increase in the last seven months alone.
No longer a social platform for digital resumes and networking, LinkedIn has established itself as the online go-to destination for education, marketing and recruiting and is not slowing down any time soon.
In the latest CMI study, 84% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn offers the best value among social platforms and 72% have increased their presence in the last year.
How do marketers get the most out of LinkedIn? This is the question we ask marketers and agencies who use Qwoted's network of sources. Their answers – and their positive results – cover everything from underused, long-standing features to AI-powered lead generation tools.
These B2B marketers share how they've made LinkedIn an integral part of their and their clients' strategies.
Revisit forgotten features
Although showcase pages have long been present on LinkedIn, they are likely to spark renewed interest among marketers, says Sarah Blocksidge, director of marketing at Sixth City Marketing.
Marketers who manage a company page can create showcase pages for that brand. They act like microsites for the main site.
“Showcase pages allow you to do virtually everything you do on a regular business page, but allow you to post more niche content that you might not want to have on your main business page,” says Sarah.
These pages may be well suited to your company's different departments, segments, or locations. Sixth City Marketing uses Showcase Pages based on the geography of its office. Meta uses a showcase page to introduce its Meta for Business division.
As this screenshot shows, the page resembles a business page with a header image, a company name (Meta for Business), and a description. Visitors can scroll down the page to view posts and events published on the page. On the right, LinkedIn mentions the meta company page and links to it. (On the meta company page, the Meta for Business Showcase page is listed as a related page.)
“It's a great place to post more things that a brand might not find relevant or not relevant enough for their company's main page,” says Sarah.
By being able to publish content relevant to niche audiences, marketers can create a sense of community and expand opportunities for the brand to show up in searches.
Sarah explains that LinkedIn's search function doesn't differentiate between company and showcase pages. For example, if you search for “Women Who Code” and click “See all company results,” the listings will include the company page of the same name and some of its showcase pages – Women Who Code Delhi, Women Who Code Boston, and Women Who Code Python.
Increase your reach in an award-winning way
Like many brands, Numeric, an accounting SaaS provider, uses LinkedIn as a means of distributing content. The in-depth guides, templates and videos are designed to build authority with accountants.
“Over the past year, we have invested significantly in our LinkedIn presence, so we have seen an increase in engagement and followers, but this is largely due to consistent publishing and establishing high-quality content,” says Head of Growth Tierney Pretzer.
But one unique campaign worked exceptionally well. In 2023, Numeric gave out “awards” in standard LinkedIn posts to highlight the top users of its products. The aim of the game was to increase the brand affinity of its top users, congratulate them and actively use their social networks.
By tagging the winners (with their permission) and including a quote from them, Numeric increased its followers and achieved more than would have been possible with a standard post alone. In fact, an awards-focused post increased followers by 1.4%.
Here is an example:
“Next up for our User Awards for 2023 🏆….
documentation
At the heart of all the best closing checklists are detailed descriptions, links, and resources to align the team and create visibility.
Of all Numeric users, one user documented the most, added the most links and descriptions to tasks, and was a true advocate for a clear completion process.
Drum roll 🥁 …….
This award goes to Jessica Heisig from Everly Health 🎉”
Aim for long-form content
Laia Quintana, marketing and sales director at TeamUp, says the company focuses on publishing long-form content — typically 800 to 1,000 words — on its LinkedIn company page. The goal is to increase traffic to the website of the cloud-based calendar solution provider for the fitness industry.
“While short content has its place for quick updates or quick insights, we've found that our long-form content tends to drive deeper engagement and more meaningful interactions with our audience,” she says. With this content focus, average page engagement increased by 37% in 2023.
Mark McShane, managing director of AED Training, is also committed to long-form content. The B2B training provider for automated external defibrillators sees that long-form content gets 45% more views and 38% more shares on LinkedIn than shorter content.
“Using this format helps us build credibility and showcase our expertise – key reasons why interest from big brands has skyrocketed,” says Mark. They saw a 25% increase in demand for their training solutions driven by long-form LinkedIn content.
Her other effective LinkedIn strategies include:
- Hosted events: When TeamUp hosts webinars that are promoted in the Events tab on the company page, they increased website visits by an average of 23% during the promotional period, the event, and a short period afterward.
- Digital showcase: AED Training treats the company page as a digital storefront that highlights AED training programs, showcases customer testimonials, and shares leadership thought pieces. The strategy resulted in a 33% increase in page followers compared to the previous year.
- Newsletter: Since 2022, LinkedIn has enabled companies to create and send newsletters. AED Training publishes the same newsletter content to its LinkedIn audience as its first-party database. Mark says they find that newsletter subscribers across all company channels have a higher engagement rate than those followers who don't sign up for the newsletter.
Use the potential of AI
While TeamUp and AED Training find success with long-form content, they also praise LinkedIn's AI-powered Sales Navigator tool.
One of Sales Navigator's most powerful features is the AccountIQ feature, available to subscribers who pay for expanded access. The AI-generated tool provides an overview of a company along with a financial report, strategic priorities, business challenges and AI-generated updates. Typically, profiling works best for companies with more than 500 employees.
Laia Quintana calls Sales Navigator a game-changer for TeamUp in identifying and connecting with potential leads. Since using it, lead generation has increased by 19%.
Mark says Sales Navigator enables precise contact locating and tailored outreach. They've seen a 14% increase in response rates with Sales Navigator compared to traditional methods. (You define an answer as someone who responds with a yes, no, or a reference to a decision maker.)
Bring the human touch
Julia Voloshchenko, PR manager at Usetech, says that attracting and growing an audience on LinkedIn requires regular posting – two to three times a week – and the use of thematic hashtags – no more than three per post.
But the key to standing out is engaging with your audience through the business page. “People like to see that there is a real person behind the brand and telling real stories,” she says.
Renew your LinkedIn engagement
LinkedIn can play many roles in your marketing program – publisher, promoter, distributor, engager and finder. Before you add showcase pages, start a recognition program, focus on long-form content, or dive deep into the power of AI, make sure you have the resources and support this LinkedIn strategy. After all, you don't want to break a record with the shortest engagement to grow your business and your audience on the platform with 1 billion users and counting.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
