While LinkedIn is often overlooked when it comes to social media, it is an essential part of business development. For both Business to Business and Business to 
Consumer marketing, LinkedIn gives incredible flexibility to help target your ideal client and increase brand awareness. As you get started, these tips will help you completely optimize your LinkedIn Business page and hit the ground running.
- Create Your Company Page and Add Your Contact Info
If you don’t already have a company page, navigate to the LinkedIn Homepage and then click the “Work” icon at the top right of the navigation bar. This will pull up a full list of options for you to select from. Click the “Create a Company Page” at the very bottom to get started. Select the category that fits your company best, then add relevant information like your company name, website URL, industry, logo, and contact information.
- Choose a Relevant Banner Image
The banner image is the first thing that someone sees when they navigate to your company profile, but many businesses neglect to take advantage of this prime real estate. I recommend uploading an eye-catching image relevant to your industry to start, but eventually, you should upgrade this to something more meaningful. Many companies hire a graphic designer to either create an image with their tagline, primary services, or relevant awards they have won. To stand out from the crowd, I encourage you to create a custom banner image when time and resources allow.
- Encourage Your Employees to Link to Your Page
What sets LinkedIn apart from other social channels is the completely work-centric nature of your marketing. Encourage your employees to tag your company as their employer in their work experience section and share the new content that you post. In addition to keeping your employees engaged, it helps to increase the brand recognition of your company and bring new viewers to your page. People who are connected to your employees can engage with the posts they share, and then their networks can see this engagement as well. This creates larger audiences than most social media sites, which focus primarily on direct contacts.
- Join Relevant Groups
Another unique aspect of LinkedIn are the professional networking groups that flourish there. These groups allow you to accurately target your ideal audience and share content that is relevant to them. Are you looking to work with Physicians over the age of 40 to help plan their retirement? Write a relevant article and share it in all the “Young Doctors” groups that you can find. Even outside of professions, you can find a plethora of groups for locations, interests, and developing skillsets. To learn the ropes of networking groups, add your University Information and join all the alumni groups that you can find to see what content is trending in each one. Additionally, sports fan pages and community groups are great for finding new contacts in your area!
As you expand your social media influence, LinkedIn should be an essential part of your marketing plan. Being able to target consumers by their job titles, interests, and locations makes it easy to deliver relevant content to your ideal clients. By optimizing your LinkedIn Business Page, you’re taking the first step towards a free marketing channel that can deliver excellent results using the content you’ve already planned out.
