All About LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn is the seventh most popular social media platform. It is often used for professional networking purposes, and the platform can also be an effective tool for social media marketing, especially when targeting business-to-business sales.

Personally, I use LinkedIn at least once a week to connect with industry professionals working in fields or with companies that I am interested in. I update my profile as often as possible and write posts when something interesting career-wise happens. I also like to comment on my friends’ posts when they have a cool opportunity, such as an internship or other experience. Lastly, I use LinkedIn to read about current events in business. LinkedIn features an article and news feature where you can read articles about social media best practices and networking advice. I also follow accounts that post about the current social media or marketing trends. I find the platform very useful, especially as an online resume and list of professional connections.

The platform was created by a Stanford graduate, Reid Hoffman, with the purpose of being a professional platform. While most users are seeking professional connections or information about current trends or companies, the platform alone creates 80% of B2B leads and generates 5.93 billion in advertising revenue.

Most of the social media marketing that occurs on LinkedIn is from companies that want to directly reach professionals and are marketing B2B products. There are many different forms of advertisements on LinkedIn; a few unique ones include sponsored articles or news articles, live streams, posts that include meaningful thoughts like a blog post or connected TV CTV advertisements. Each of these advertisement formats focuses on increasing awareness, conversation and consideration.

A few best practices from our textbook and Ad Espresso are to know your audience, as you can personalize your advertisements to find what best interests them and how to reach them effectively. Another is to add many CTAs. CTA stands for call to action. Including many in your advertisements encourages users to seek more information and adding external links makes it easy for users and reduces friction. Lastly, marketers are encouraged to test their advertisements and discover what works best to reach their target audience and to generate the most engagement possible.

LinkedIn is not only a professional networking site but also incredibly useful when advertising for a B2B company, as it is often used by professionals.