Can LinkedIn Help Grow Your Brand’s Reach?

When most of us think of social media marketing, our minds tend to default to reliable standbys such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but surprisingly, many businesses ignore the importance of establishing a presence on LinkedIn. This vibrant social networking site mainly focuses on catering to professionals in the business world, and when used properly, brands and individuals of all stripes can develop a network of contacts that literally spans the globe.

According to the latest numbers, LinkedIn boasts over 500 million users in well over 200 countries. With such a massive user base, it’s easy to see how LinkedIn can be an excellent outlet for marketing your brand to a targeted audience of business professionals. If you would like to learn how to leverage the power of this business-centric social platform, below are five ways you can use LinkedIn to help grow your brand’s reach.

1. Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

While creating content under the banner of your brand is good, your influence as an individual can be compounded by crafting informative, insightful posts that highlight your knowledge, experience and expertise. As you become known for being a thought leader in your given field, it will cement your position as an influencer in your space, and this can create numerous opportunities to expand your business.

2. Harness the “SEO-ability” of LinkedIn

As a website, LinkedIn has tons of authority in the search engines. For an enlightening experiment, try publishing the same exact content on LinkedIn that you publish on your own company’s blog. You will find that the LinkedIn post will rank higher (and quicker) in Google’s search engine results than your company blog post, even though the content is identical. With a little bit of keyword research, you can “piggyback” off the massive authority that LinkedIn provides by including relevant, highly targeted keywords in your profile and articles. This will boost your discoverability on the platform and put you in front of the right audience.

3. Join Relevant Groups

Many users consider LinkedIn groups to be the “secret sauce” of the platform. Join groups that are relevant to your brand and your interests, but don’t focus on trying to promote your business within those groups. Be willing to participate in discussions, provide insight, answer questions, and make yourself available as a no-strings-attached resource that other group members can trust. This will build up tons of goodwill within your spheres of influence, which will pay great dividends in terms of establishing the credibility of your business.

4. Consider Advertising on LinkedIn

You would be hard-pressed to find a more qualified and targeted group of people to advertise to than what is present on LinkedIn. This holds especially true if you’re in the B2B space. This is what differentiates LinkedIn from other social platforms – for the most part, people on LinkedIn are focused on making professional connections, seeking knowledge and getting things done. They’re typically not casual viewers who are just poking around in between watching cat videos and taking “Which Disney Princess are You” quizzes. They’re on the platform to further their professional objectives and search for solutions that can help their business. With such a focused, intentional and engaged audience, all you have to do is put the right message in front of them, and you can turn your advertising dollars into highly qualified leads.

5. Keep the Updates Coming

Post regularly about your business activities on the site. Give people a glimpse into what type of work you’re doing, as well as who you’re doing the work for. Make sure your status updates include key points that highlight the types of solutions you’re delivering for your clients or partners. This will not only show what your business is capable of, but it can act as a magnet to attract new clients as well.

LinkedIn is the largest professional network on the planet, so as a business, it is absolutely essential for you to establish your presence on this immensely popular platform. Use the tips outlined above to increase your brand’s reach and influence, and watch it take your business to greater heights!