You are probably on LinkedIn, especially if you’re a B2B company. If you’re not, the first step is to sign up – now!
LinkedIn has a 3X higher visitor-to-lead conversion rate than Twitter or Facebook, and is the preferred social network for business professionals. It is a critical platform for business owners and marketers to build a presence, connect with their audiences, and disseminate valuable content.
What Is LinkedIn Publishing?
Not too long ago, LinkedIn expanded their content publishing features to allow anyone (with an account) to publish an article, rather than only allowing specific “Influencers” to do so, as they had in the past.
This is a huge opportunity for small and mid-sized businesses to create visibility and credibility with a new audience.
Instead of just reposting content from your website, your blog, or articles from around the web, you can now publish a post specifically for LinkedIn. The article becomes associated with you, as the author, and will be displayed on your personal LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn pushes your published content to your contacts and anyone who has “followed” you. LinkedIn tracks how many views, likes, and shares your article receives.
How Can You Optimize Your LinkedIn Publishing Efforts?
A recent article from the Social Media Examiner describes 5 tips for maximizing your LinkedIn publishing exposure.
1. Understand LinkedIn “Channels”
LinkedIn channels are topic categories that members can follow to see the types of articles they’re most interested in. If your content is featured on a channel, it will be seen by many more people.
If you’re posting multiple pieces of content during a short period of time (say, a week), it’s best to post about different topics on different days. You won’t be likely to be featured in a channel for multiple articles at once, so spread your posts out for the best results.
2. Know Which Topics Are Most Popular
Which articles are getting the most traction? What are they about? What are their titles? What kinds of wording do they use?
Do research on LinkedIn articles in your niche to find out which ones are most well-received, and structure your own content based on this newfound insight. For example, practical self-improvement content does extremely well on LinkedIn.
3. Optimize Headlines and Images
If people don’t click on your article when they see it in their stream, they won’t experience all of the intelligent or inspirational things you’ve written!
Choose an attention-grabbing title that immediately provokes interest. Choose a captivating, high-quality image that complements the title.
4. Don’t Forget the Call-to-Action
Every piece of content you write should have a compelling call-to-action (CTA), usually at the bottom of the article. The CTA tells the reader what to do next.
You can use the CTA to ask people to visit your website, sign up for your newsletter, download your whitepaper, register for your webinar, or anything else you want them to do after reading your article.
Ideally, you will send these people to a well-crafted landing page, which will gather their information and allow you to continue communicating with them directly.
5. Get Your Timing Right
Don’t just throw content out there whenever it’s ready – approach online content development and distribution strategically.
You need to have the right timing, especially on social networks. Social networks are more active at certain times, on certain days, by certain demographics. You need to know when your target audience is most likely to be on LinkedIn to maximize your chances of them even having the opportunity to see your content.
If you don’t put your content out at the right time, it will be too low on people’s streams for them to find it in the first place.
According to the Social Media Examiner post, some of the best times to publish on LinkedIn are 7am-8am, 13:30am-12:30pm, and around 4pm. Of course, these numbers may be different, depending on the specific audience you are targeting (for example, people who do not work in an office may not be able to check LinkedIn at these times).
The Bottom Line
“LinkedIn publishing gives you the opportunity to reach members of the biggest professional audience in the social sphere.”
Stay ahead of competitors, establish yourself as a thought-leader in your industry, and connect with your target markets with a well-planned LinkedIn publishing strategy.
>> Core Online Marketing provides comprehensive online marketing services for small and mid-sized businesses. Let us take it off your hands! Contact us now.
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