B2B: LinkedIn – is there a point to it?

Why should you use LinkedIn? In short, why not? LinkedIn is a powerful tool for marketing your business and professional skills. Theory: LinkedIn is the professional social media platform – it doesn’t ask for photos of your kids, your family relations, or who your exes are. It centres on your professional credentials, achievements, and expertise, making it an ideal tool for marketing yourself.

Maximize LinkedIn's Power: Unlock Industry Insights and Build Meaningful Connections

There aren’t as many users on LinkedIn as there are on other platforms – in early 2024, LinkedIn had a reported 700m-1bn users, compared with over 3bn on Facebook. But, if you maintain a decent number of connections and understand how to filter them (which I can show you in around 30 seconds), you can tap into the most up-to-date industry-relevant news, keep in touch with linked businesses and professionals, and possibly generate leads with meaningful connections.

Boost Your Visibility: LinkedIn’s Secret to SEO Success

The most compelling argument for using LinkedIn is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Your regular activity on LinkedIn will undoubtedly boost your business ranking in Google searches. Google first changed its core algorithms in c.2015 to remove the trickery of clued-up marketing professionals who knew how to come up top in searches. Then again, in 2022, the algorithm changed once more to respond to AI. Essentially, social media platforms can spot AI-generated content, and your sites will be penalised for posting it unedited.

The most important thing required online is relevant content – as original and edited with your business’s voice and engagement to boost results. The easiest way to do that is via social media.

Maximize LinkedIn: Build Your Brand, Network Smarter, and Stay Ahead

Your page will always be your page. It will never be owned by anyone else; you take it with you wherever you go. You build your own brand in it.

Logic of LinkedIn

1. The work/life/location balance has changed for most employees since the pandemic, with current trends pointing to a 3/2 split with office vs. home working. If this sounds familiar at all, you will have at least four commutes each week and probably some downtime at home. Why not use it to network on LinkedIn?
2. It is a social network. Entrepreneurs establish a great deal of their success by networking. LinkedIn is the only social media site where you can be certain (or fairly sure) that you are doing it with the right people.
3. It’s free.
4. It’s very easy to refine your connections into groups and select the ones that are useful to you. You can’t do that at most events.
5. It may not directly get you new business, ever. But if you’re about to secure some, and that lead looks you plus a competitor up on LinkedIn, what happens if your competitor has a better profile than yours?

In Practice

Not everyone wants to be on LinkedIn every day (a daunting prospect for most!), but it’s very easy to start small:

• Use a professional photo: The most important thing is to have a decent, recent, professional photograph. My profile picture was taken on an iPhone.
• Detail your career history: Your career history will be more interesting if it isn’t just job titles! Give a few bullet points of detail.
• Engage with content: Like, share, and engage. Search hashtags relevant to your interests, find articles, and read. You might like it.