Linkedin was
launched in May 2003 and today it boasts more than 364 million users in more
than 200 countries and territories; an impressive number of users by any
measurement. Its users interact with the site regularly to network, receive
content and share information with their own networks. What’s more impressive
is that the users are all business professionals actively seeking business
solutions, services, information, trending topics and looking to expand their
own professional networks.
Linkedin has
been praised for its usefulness in nurturing business relationships and is
regularly seen as an important tool by businesses to attract potential new
customers and attract new talent into a business. In short here at Purple, we
think it’s great, but here’s what you need to know to think it’s great too.
- There are two uses to LinkedIn; the first is your own personal profile, this can be seen almost as an online C.V and is a simple and easy way to share your details and experience with new and existing contacts. Secondly LinkedIn allows you to give your business or organisation an online presence, giving you a platform to share company information, updates and content as well as providing an easy if not rudimentary way to network with peers, colleagues and potential customers.
- LinkedIn contributes to your search engine rankings, both Google and Bing use LinkedIn company pages in their rankings so posting regular company updates that are SEO optimised can help to drive potential customers and employees to your company blog and website.
- LinkedIn provides an outlet to differentiate yourself from your competitor’s, giving you the opportunity to develop the story telling about your company and generate a positive view of your company in your network.
- LinkedIn is a great place to find job candidates that may not be referred to you by recruitment agencies, giving you both as an employer and potential employee invaluable information that can be used to gain a better understanding of each before an interview. Helping you to ensure that you hire the right person for a job and equally making sure that the company you are considering joining has the type of culture and opportunities that you would like to join.
- LinkedIn also allows you to keep track of market insights, looking at competitor pages, trending articles and contributing to group discussions allows you to keep track of, and identify social media content strategies that you should be adopting yourself, as well highlighting potential growth areas for your organisation.
- LinkedIn even provides helpful hints and tips as to how you can drive engagement in your network, helping you to develop engaging and eye catching content that can help your organisation develop an audience.
LinkedIn is
a social media tool that continues to grow and attracts new users daily, particularly people that you as a business want to be talking to. Newer and more popular
social media outlets such as Whatsapp, Instagram and Snapchat offer a real
challenge to marketers when trying to figure out how to use them for marketing
and company storytelling purposes, but LinkedIn is a tool that you should be
actively using, engaging with and developing content for.
For more
information about LinkedIn and how it can be used in your marketing activity contact sayhello@purple.agency.
Holly Waite
Holly works in the business development and marketing team, helping to
drive Purple's new business strategy. She has worked with Purple for over two
years and supports Purple's teams in delivering engaging experiences for our
clients.