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<\/p>\nLinkedIn may not have the same numbers as Facebook or Twitter, but that doesn\u2019t mean that it should be ignored, especially if you\u2019re in the B2B sector. LinkedIn has become the news source for professionals. It\u2019s the social media site that focuses on business only, without all of the other noise. If used properly, it can be a very powerful tool.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s obvious that your business should have a LinkedIn page where you share all of your company news and updates along with informational content on a regular basis. Yet, your LinkedIn presence shouldn\u2019t stop there. When it comes down to it social media is about connecting people with people, and on LinkedIn business professionals don\u2019t just want to follow a company, they want to connect with real people that work at that company. This is why it\u2019s important to encourage your employees to use LinkedIn.<\/p>\n
At the very least, employees should have updated LinkedIn profiles that list their place of employment (your company), their current role, and what their duties are. When a prospect is browsing a company LinkedIn page, it\u2019s nice to see a list of the people that work there. It truly puts a face (or faces) to the brand name. A company logo is great, but it\u2019s nice to be able to see the people that are there working behind it. It humanizes the brand. Prospects can get a feel for the company culture by looking at the profiles of the people who work there.<\/p>\n
Beyond an updated profile, it\u2019s important to encourage employee advocacy on LinkedIn. A LinkedIn company page is useful, but when it comes to being social on the site, that\u2019s up to individuals. For example, you can\u2019t share company updates to Groups as the company page. If you want to share your content with relevant Groups (which you should be doing!), it needs to be done via personal accounts. Sure, you might get a few shares from outside parties, but if you want to guarantee that your content gets posted within a Group, someone from your company is going to have to do it.<\/p>\n
Now, there is a blurred line when it comes to an employee\u2019s LinkedIn account. It is their personal account, and you can\u2019t mandate that they do anything with it. However, the chances are good that an employee will be happy to be an advocate for the company if they enjoy their jobs. If you offer a great place to work and a superior product or service, employees will absolutely want to help spread your message. What also makes an employee more inclined to become an advocate on LinkedIn is if they have a hand in the strategy. For example, an employee might be more likely to share a piece of content that they worked on personally or a blog post that they wrote that includes their byline. They feel a personal connection to this content and will be more likely to share it. Employees will also benefit professionally from the increased exposure on LinkedIn. <\/p>\n