5-step model for establishing relationships with customers and prospects. To Attract and engage a community of company followers by giving them the information and actionable insights they seek. After reading this guide, you’ll understand how to apply this 5-step model to your social media strategy on LinkedIn.Proven Model for Social Media Success 1. Establish a Company Presence 2. Attract Followers 3. Engage Followers 4. Amplify Through the Network 5. Analyze and Refine
Company Pages and Followers Relationships That Drive Results 5 Steps to Engaging Followers on LinkedIn
Transcript
Company Pages and FollowersRelationships That Drive Results5
Steps to Engaging Followers on LinkedIn linkedin.com/companies |
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Table of contents i STEP Intro 03 03 Engage Followers 08STEP
STEP01 Establish a Company Presence 06 04 Amplify Through the
Network 11STEP STEP02 Attract Followers 07 05 Analyze and Refine 14
linkedin.com/companies | 2
LinkedIns premium audience at a glance1Relationships countmore
than ever $86k average household incomeRelationships mean more
today than they ever of a LinkedIn memberhave for
companies.Consumers are in control of their onlineexperience and
can easily tune out irrelevant orpromotional messages. On the other
hand, theyare increasingly interested in connecting withcompanies
that can provide useful information 93%and engaging content. more
likely to be college graduatesFor years, LinkedIn has helped
marketers forgemutually beneficial relationships with the
worldslargest community of business leaders andinfluencers. These
relationships build brandequity and convert social actions into
newbusiness opportunities. 3 4 OUT OFMembers also benefit as these
relationships members use LinkedIn towith companies offer
actionable insights and keep up on business news orsolutions that
enhance members careers and research companiesprofessional
decision-making. LinkedIn Audience 360 Study, August 2011
linkedin.com/companies | 3
Build relationships A proven model for successthat drive
business Our research shows that leaders in social media are
embracing a high-level, 5-step model for establishingresults
relationships with customers and prospects. They are attracting and
engaging a community of company followers by giving them the
information and actionable insights theyOur research indicates that
members are nearly seek.50% more likely to purchase from a company
After reading this guide, youll understand how to apply thisthey
engage with on LinkedIn.1 Further, nearly 5-step model to your
social media strategy on LinkedIn.80% of LinkedIn members want to
connect with Proven Model for Social Media Successthe companies in
their lives.2 By tailoring yourconversations with members according
to their 1. Establish a Company Presenceprofessional interests,
youll improve the image 2. Attract Followersof your brand and fuel
purchase intent for your 3. Engage Followersproducts and services.
4. Amplify Through the NetworkIn this guide, well show you how to
use your 5. Analyze and RefineCompany Page and other tools to
attractfollowers and turn them into passionate brandadvocates.
LinkedIn U.S. survey-based Follower report, January 2012 LinkedIn
member surveys, January and February 2012 linkedin.com/companies |
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Organize your teamfor success Dont go it alone!Whether youre a
company of 2, 10, or 100,000employees, its important to establish
clear roles The key to building relationships is continuousand
responsibilities for managing and optimizing communication and
relevant content. Get help managing this process to ensure your
company always has engagingyour Company Page. content to share.Here
are some different strategies to consider: Enlist colleagues who
understand customers needs or have specific skills in content
creation (e.g., video production,Centralize infographic design).
What expertise can they offer?Appoint a single social media
champion to coordinate Create a spreadsheet calendar with campaign
themesall page content and track performance globally. This and
posting timelines, and work with colleagues to decidechampion
should work with individual product or brand what they can best
contribute and when.managers to reflect the variety of interesting
things your Break up large themes into a series that you publish at
fixedcompany is doing. intervals, to get followers into the routine
of tuning in forScatter new content.Rotate ownership of the Company
Page between Highlight company or industry milestones to grab
memberseach brand or business unit with a central or global
attention with timely information.marketing lead setting and
managing the schedule.Divide & ConquerSplit ownership between a
global social media team andyour companys HR or recruiting
department to addressmarketing and hiring needs equally. Leads from
eachteam should work together to manage posting schedulesand shared
goals. linkedin.com/companies | 5
Step 1: Establish a STEP 01company presence Showcase Products
& ServicesBefore you build your follower community,
itsimportant to lay the groundwork of a great Weve found that
marketers who build out their free Products &Company Pageyour
companys home on Services Page tend to have twice as many company
followers.LinkedIn. Heres how to get started. Located as a tab
within your main Company Page, Products & Services allows you
to showcase everything your company does best and, most
importantly, gives members a compelling reasonCraft a compelling
story to follow you.Provide a great narrativeClick the Admin tools
button in the upper right of Connect members with solutionsthe page
to edit your company description, specialties, After youve added
products to your page, youindustry, website, and more. Use rich,
descriptive language can design multiple configurations based
onthat helps readers understand your vision, purpose, and one or
two of the following criteria: membersthe value you offer. What
makes you unique? Make sure geography, company size, seniority, job
function,the spirit of that story lives within all the content and
or industry. With this feature, you can select to feature relevant
products to a specific audience.conversations you publish on
LinkedIn.Include a description, 1-2 paragraphs long Go beyond
productsCompany Pages are very SEO-friendly, and your You can link
to just about anything on your LinkedIn Company and Products &
Servicesdescription and company name are prominent data for pages.
Give members a reason to follow you bysearch engines. Google search
engine results pages show directing them to white papers, case
studies orpreviews of your page text (up to 156 characters in
length), how-to content. Rotate this content regularly.so be sure
your description leads with powerful sentences.Insert high-value
keywords Tell a story through videoOur search bar also lets members
search for companies Video is a proven method for increasingby
keyword directly from any LinkedIn page. You can engagement on a
site. If your company has a YouTube channel, embed product or
customerhelp your target audience find you by including targeted
testimonial videos that tell a compellingkeywords that describe
your business, expertise, and narrative about the value you
offer.industry focus in each Company Page field.
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Step 2: STEP 02Attract followers Join the discussion on
LinkedIn GroupsCreating authentic relationships is central
toachieving success on LinkedIn. Once youve There are over 1
million LinkedIn Groups serving asestablished your company presence
on LinkedIn, you communities for like-minded professionals
worldwide.can begin fostering these relationships by attracting We
have groups covering virtually every industry, andfollowers to your
Company Page. Here are some often the members youll find in groups
are also the members who are most eager to engage with
companies.simple, effective strategies for attracting
companyfollowers and getting those relationships off to a
Contribute to discussions in popular groupsstrong start. Target
groups that are relevant to the industries or customers you serve.
The search bar on the LinkedIn homepage letsEngage your colleagues
you look for groups by keyword.Employees are your most reliable
advocates. Encouragethem to complete their profiles and include a
link to your Post ideas and questions that reflect members
interestsCompany Page in their email signatures. Include a link to
your Company Page at the end of your post. Advise members to follow
your Company Page if theyreAnnounce your Company Page in an email
newsletter to interested in gathering more insights and helpful
information.existing customers or partnersAsk recipients to reply
to that email with feedback about the Share the mickinds of content
they want to receive through your Company Contribute to popular
discussions that members havePage. This will help you focus your
conversations. started. As people like and reply to your comments,
you have a chance to become a Top Influencer in the group.Add a
Follow button to your website You can also earn trust with members
by using the groupsYour web team can pull simple code for a Follow
button built-in sharing tools to promote their discussions on
majorfrom developer.linkedin.com that you can add to your blog
social sites.or website. This allows LinkedIn members to follow
yourcompany with a single off-platform click. Be a connector When
you post to groups, aim to drive responses thatCelebrate your new
page on the company blog will help members solve problems and share
insights withOnce you set up your Company Page and start adding one
another.content, drive traffic to it through a compelling blog
post. linkedin.com/companies | 7
STEPStep 3: Engage followers 03Once you have followers, its
important to nourish those relationships. The best follower
relationshipsare rooted in great conversationsand your tool for
developing those conversations is theCompany Status Update.At the
most basic level, its helpful to think of every update as a chance
to convey your brand promise. But its alsoimportant to think of
what LinkedIn members expect to receive from status updates. As a
rule of thumb, all content youpost to LinkedIn should help members
become more successful professionals. When you build a reputation
for wantingto help your followers, youll be more likely to convert
them into loyal customers.So, what makes a good status update?Keep
your content informativeA total of 68% of LinkedIn members say they
would like to receive relevant news articles or insights from
companies.Be helpful and friendly, not sales-yHave you ever had
dinner with someone who always talked about him or herself? Avoid
this pitfall, and dont post overly promotional messages.If you do
post occasional company-related news or product announcements, be
sure youre providing content that delivers a specific benefit
toyour followers.Say it succinctlyWe find that updates receive
higher engagement if you keep it short - a brief sentence or two
will do.Post at least once per weekdayIn general, companies that
post 20 times per month reach at least 60% of their unique
audience.Think about timingUpdates posted in the morning usually
earn the highest engagement, with a slight bump occurring again
after business hours. Experiment tosee what works best for your
company.Link to great contentStatus updates containing links can
have up to 45% higher follower engagement than updates without
links. Just remember to write acompelling sentence to accompany the
link, inspiring members to click through.LinkedIn U.S. survey-based
Follower report, January 2012 linkedin.com/companies | 8
STEP 03Tailor your content Audience targeting best practicesto
specific audiences Include your biggest brand advocates: your
employees! Employees are 70% more likely to engage with your
posts.What resonates most with followers? Content thats Dont target
ultra-granular segmentscustomized to their professional interests.
With Limit yourself to one or two targeting criteria per
updateLinkedIns Targeted Status Updates, you can reach to ensure
that your content receives many high-valuedistinct follower
segments with content theyre impressions.likely to find
interesting. Engage locally When you write an update, youll notice
a feature Your company has a presence all over the map. Use that
lets you share it either with all followers or a Targeted Status
Updates to let employees in regional offices contribute content
that speaks directly to your customers ortargeted audience.
Selecting the second option prospects in different areas. lets you
send your update to a subset of followers based on geography, job
function, industry, Target your ideal customer profile company
size, or seniority. Aim to reach followers who match your target
customer.Weve seen promising results from early tests ofTargeted
Status Updates. Philips, for example,saw a 106% increase in
follower engagementafter posting Targeted Status Updates duringa
six-week period. LinkedIn U.S. survey-based Follower report,
January 2012 linkedin.com/companies | 9
STEPCase studies: 03learn from the bestAcross LinkedIn,
companies are seeing the benefits of engaging their followers:
Recent research showsthat LinkedIn is 277% more effective at lead
generation than Facebook or Twitter.7How are leading marketers
engaging their followers? Here are some helpful case studies to
guide you:Enterprise cloud computing company HP wanted to engage
professionals and A relative newcomer to the HR
space,salesforce.com used Targeted Status gather recommendations
for its products. Reconverse wanted to raise awarenessUpdates to
promote its Cloudforce The company launched its own page, and
create conversation around its missionLondon conference to a U.K.
audience. inviting members to recommend and to change the corporate
recruiting model.During a five-week period, the company comment on
the items in the Products Speaking to an audience in the HR field,
theexperienced a 30% increase in the rate of & Services area.
The company also ran company used status updates to stage afollower
engagement. In addition, these LinkedIn ads to generate
recommendations contest, igniting a dialogue. The first
updatetargeted updates showed a 30% increase in at scale. The
results: More than 2,000 alone generated 1,403 likes, 120
comments,amplification (the ratio of likes, comments
recommendations, 20,000 new followers, and 87 new followers.
Reconverse attributesand shares to total update impressions). and
500,000 viral updates about HP 90% of its revenue to its LinkedIn
community- products in two weeks. building efforts.HubSpot Blog.
Jan. 30, 2012 linkedin.com/companies | 10
STEPStep 4: 04Amplify through the networkWhat is amplification
and why does it matter?Nothing impacts peoples perceptions and
behavior like the recommendation of a trusted friend, colleague, or
familymember. When you post content to your Company Page, your
followers can like, share, or comment on your updates,which
amplifies your messages to their entire first-degree networks.Each
amplification action is an endorsement of your content and brand.
As members amplify your posts acrossLinkedIn, you have the chance
to build relationships with even more members who discover your
company through therecommendation of a close contact.Amplification
plays an important role in engagement. A LinkedIn study found that
non-followers actually engaged withstatus updates 30% more than
followers did.1 This is likely because many non-followerswho saw
the updates once theirconnections liked, shared, or commented on
themreacted to the implicit endorsement.Also, a study of thousands
of company updates found that over one-third of all impressions
were due almost entirelyto amplification.2 Each additional
impression is a chance for your company to reach members and
convert them intofollowers.LinkedIn analysis of over 9,800 company
Status Updates that received at least 500 impressions, during
January 2012Based on a study of all company Status Updates with at
least 1,000 impressions posted June 1-15, 2012
linkedin.com/companies | 11
STEPMake your content viral 04How do you encourage followers to
amplify your content?Here are some ideas to get you started:Ask
coworkers to share your content with Post interesting videos Listen
to conversations that occur offtheir networks One recent study
found that when a status LinkedInEmployees can show their corporate
pride update linked to a YouTube video, followers Collect findings
from your various contactand shout out fellow colleagues. who
engaged with it took twice as many forms, call centers, and blog
comments, and amplification actions (likes, shares, or create
status update content around the most comments) compared to posts
that did not popular topics. When you post content that contain
videos. better reflects your communitys interests,Link to best-of
lists that focus on your followers will find your updates
moreindustry insights or relevant company news worthy of a share,
like, or comment.Research shows that, on average, posts can Ask
members for feedback about anboost their amplification rate by
nearly 40% industry trend, business problem, newif they steer
followers toward Top lists(e.g.: Top 10 social media tactics in B2B
product, and moremarketing). Your followers will welcome the chance
to respond to questions. On average, status updates received nearly
50% more comments if they contained questions.Invite customers to
write reviews on yourProducts & Services pageTheir
recommendations will get amplifiedthroughout the network.Based on a
study of all company Status Updates with at least 1,000
impressions, posted June 1-15, 2012. Viral reach measured in number
of uniques. Best-of list analysis based on updates that includedthe
words Top...: 10, ten, 5, five, 3, three, 100, one hundred, 50,
fifty, 30, thirty, 25, or twenty-five. Video analysis based on
updates with links to youtube.com/ or youtu.be/.
linkedin.com/companies | 12
STEP 04Dive into thecomments Encourage amplification off-siteAs
you post engaging content, certain followers While your followers
spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, yourwill leave comments below your
updates. relationships should continue off the site as well. With
this in mind, weve provided you with tools to let you startDont let
these comments go unrecognized conversations with members in
multiple settingsnot justor unansweredas a page admin, you can dive
on LinkedIn.com. Here are a couple of plugins (available atright in
and start interacting. This will help build developer.linkedin.com)
that will help you further amplifyloyalty among members, keep the
discussion members enthusiasm into endorsements for your
brand.going, and amplify conversations throughoutthe network.Here
are a few ideas for capitalizing on Recommend plugin: Embed this
simple plugin on your website, on all pages that showcase the
products youve alsocomments: added to your LinkedIn Products &
Services page. With one click, your site visitors can recommend a
particular productPraise to all their first-degree LinkedIn
connections.Use the comments section to thank followers who
contributethoughtful remarks about your products or
industry.Showcase Share plugin: When you add a share plugin to your
site, youConnect with your most passionate, prolific commenters and
empower all readers with LinkedIn accounts to share yourinvite them
to write a guest post on your blog. Link to the post content with
their networks. This turns every visitor into ain a status update.
potential champion for your brand.OrganizeAppoint a team of
coworkers as ambassadors to your followercommunity, empowering them
to respond to comments. linkedin.com/companies | 13
STEP 05 Take note: what content drives conversation? The best
way to improve follower engagement and amplification is to
experiment with different kinds of content. Once you understand
what works, you can easily refine your approach. Page admins can
see statistics (engagement rate,Step 5: impressions, likes, shares,
and comments) below each status update starting 24 hours after they
post.Analyze and refine Measuring Engagement An important Key
Performance Indicator (KPI) is a postsIn any marketing campaign,
success depends Engagement Ratethe ratio of clicks, likes, comments
and shares to total update impressions. This is an importanton your
ability to measure performance and global metric for understanding
how often members takeoptimize resources. LinkedIns analytics tools
action on your updates. If you include a link in an update,
beempower you to do just that, ensuring you sure to generate it
with a link-shortening service like bitly orhave the insights you
need to strengthen Ow.ly. This way, you can keep track of total
click-throughs.follower relationships. Measuring Amplification As
you post updates, note which subjects and formats seem to drive the
highest amplification ratethe ratio of likes, comments, and shares
to total update impressions. This helps you understand how often
members are sharing your content. For example, you might notice
that you drive high amplification whenever you post about your
companys philanthropic initiatives. This might tell you that many
of your followers are interested in learning more about your
companys values and culture. linkedin.com/companies | 14
STEPTrack your progress 05Your Company Page includes helpful
Follower Statistics and Page Statistics tools that let you
viewchanges in the size and composition of your follower community,
as well as activity on your page.Here are a few best practices for
getting the most out of these features. It may be helpful to create
asimple spreadsheet to track these KPIs over time.Establish goals
for growing your Measure lead generation and Set engagement
targetsfollower community follower conversion The Follower
Statistics page also displaysUse the Follower Statistics page to
Are your updates driving leads? Find out by monthly engagement
metrics for all yourunderstand how your follower community is first
tracking sign-ups from your LinkedIn posts collectively. As you
optimize yourgrowing over time and what kinds of followers landing
pages (e.g., webinar and event updates based on individual
performance,youre reaching. Set targets for acquiring
registrations). Your conversion rate is the you should see an
uptick in the overall month-followers who match your ideal customer
number of leads generated from these pages to-month engagement
rate.profile. divided by the number of visits. Remember, you can
track click-throughs if you use a service like bitly or Ow.ly to
create links forGet to know your recent followers your updates. You
can also estimate how wellYour Follower Statistics page displays
three youre converting followers to leads: Divideof your most
recent followers. Click through your number of new monthly or
quarterlyto their profiles to learn more about them. leads by the
number of new followers youveRecord info like job function,
location, acquired during that time.company, etc. This will help
you understandhow your audience is changing at the margins.
linkedin.com/companies | 15
Let your followerrelationships thriveLike any good
relationship, your followers requirecare and attention. By
following thefive-step model in this guide to deliverconsistently
high-quality content that addressesmembers professional needs, you
will notonly grow your follower community, but alsoforge bonds and
foster honest conversations withpotential customers.As always,
please keep in touch and stay ontop of the latest news and advice
by visiting ourCompany Page [linkedin.com/company/linkedin],or
check out our blog [blog.linkedin.com]. Thankyou for reading, and
happy posting! linkedin.com/companies | 16