Yes, there’s an abundance of suggestions for growing a LinkedIn company page, but what are the right choices? A marketer needs focus, not fragmentation.
To help you prioritize which strategies to use, here are the main sections:
Why create a LinkedIn company page
Table stakes for growing your page
The consensus top 10 tried-and-true growth strategies
Six growth hacks from LinkedIn experts
An overall LinkedIn strategy for small marketing teams
Why create a LinkedIn company page? Because EVERYONE looks at it!
One of the most commonly asked questions we get asked is, “Do we need a LinkedIn company page?” The answer is, YES, without question! And there are three compelling reasons.
1. LinkedIn is the #1 social media platform for businesses in the world
LinkedIn has over 740 million members and more than 55 million companies (as of 2021). Facebook is nearing 3 billion, and Instagram has a billion. LI isn’t as big, but it’s much more focused, and global.
And let’s be honest: Not only is that still a lot of members; that’s a lot of companies. Many of whom are likely your competitors.
Source: LinkedIn
2. The volume of content and conversations on LinkedIn is rising
Conversations between connections on LinkedIn were up 55%, and content creation increased by 60% (as of December, 2020). COVID-19 likely boosted the engagement number, but that’s a huge increase for LI nonetheless. And content creation has increased significantly.
Our conclusion, anecdotal as it may be, is that people are sharing content and then reacting to it. We also conclude that you’ve got to get in the game: Even if you don’t, your competitors likely will.
3. Everyone looks at it: People will go to your company page after viewing individual profiles or advertising
We may not have a ton of quantitative data, but compelling snapshot data from a LinkedIn ad campaign supports this statement. And so does the reported personal experience from folks who use the channel a lot.
Look at what happened when we ran a LinkedIn ad campaign for another company. People viewed the ad, yes, but look at the visits to the LinkedIn company page while the ad was running (highlighted section)? That sharp spike indicates a big jump in company page views.
Think about what you do when someone reaches out to connect with you. If you don’t know the person, you view their profile. Then if you don’t know the company they work for, you click on the company link in their profile. And guess where it takes you? To the company page!
Takeaway: Given LinkedIn’s status as the #1 business platform, the ever-increasing volume of content and conversations between connections, and the natural viewership of a company page, you need to build YOUR company page!
Table stakes for a LinkedIn company page growth strategy
There are certain table stakes for getting in this game. These are things you must do and know, no matter what. Here are the big ones:
1. You have to create a solid LinkedIn company page
In researching top posts on this topic, there are many experts who list creating a company page and its elements as a growth strategy. To us, it’s not. It’s table stakes just to compete.
The goal here is to create a complete page, one that includes all the essential elements. The true growth comes from your content and how you distribute it. So we’re not going to spend time here on the basic elements you need.
Instead, we’ll direct you to some great resources on the topic, starting with LinkedIn’s own guide, on how to do it right:
The Basics: How to create a page (Source: LinkedIn)
Best practices (Source: LinkedIn)
Optimization techniques (Source: Hootsuite)
2. Stay current on LinkedIn algorithm updates
What do people want to see on LinkedIn? What types of posts will create the most shares, comments and engagement?
LinkedIn’s algorithm is always adjusting to answer those questions. So what does the current algorithm tell us? No one really knows for sure, even though you’ll find plenty of online articles telling you exactly what the algorithm wants. But who can you trust?
Really, the only way is to rely on the LinkedIn experts online. Think of them as a team of scientists, all conducting experiments and then publishing their findings. Pick a slew of the best, and then monitor their results.
One of these experts, Cory Warfield, summed up who to pick:
Those you respect, admire and trust — and especially who back their “findings” with results that corroborate them. I do all my testing myself and in small controlled tests and share a number of them freely and publicly, and then work with private clients while using my techniques personally. Best way, in my opinion, is to A/B test yourself based on patterns you see and assumptions you have.
Adhering to algorithms can be frustrating, as they’re ever-changing. Think of these experts as market researchers conducting studies on your behalf. Follow the ones we’ve featured in this post to stay on top of algorithm changes.
3. Set quantitative and qualitative goals for your approach and track your progress
A qualitative goal is your strategic goal. The quantitative goals you set will indicate if you’re attaining your qualitative goal. Here’s an example of a qualitative and quantitative goal.
Qualitative goal: Use your LinkedIn company page to get people to “know you.”
People will only do business with you if they know you, like you and trust you (as we’ve detailed in our Digital Twin Marketing Guide). We believe your LinkedIn company page isn’t a place for lead generation or sales. It’s designed to help people get to “know you.”
PRO TIP: We don’t advise using your page as a method for Lead Generation. Use this forum as a place to get people to know more about your company, and then direct them to areas where they can access more content that leads them further down the sales funnel.
Quantitative goal: Track activity level and page metrics to measure effectiveness.
We’ll take a “cause and effect” approach to monitor our success at getting more people to know us. Think of the activity level as the cause, and then your LinkedIn page and website metrics as the effect.
Your activity level:
- How often you post
- The types of posts you create:
-
- Original content (text, video, documents)
- Shares of other people’s content
Your page metrics:
The metrics for monitoring this all can be found in LinkedIn insights. These boil down into three main areas:
Visitors – The people who view your page
Updates – Where you can deep dive into Likes, Shares and Clicks to your page
Followers – The number of people who follow your page
Your website metrics:
Then you can turn to Google Analytics to really see what posts are getting people to your website, and what types of actions they’re taking from there:
Website visits from your page (Google Analytics)
Website conversions from your page (Google Analytics)
The Consensus Top 10 LinkedIn company page growth strategies courtesy of…Google!
Wait, is Google recommending strategies for LinkedIn Company pages? Well, not officially.
But it’s organic search results reveal the top articles on the subject. These articles are ranked based on the Google algorithm, which includes such factors as keyword mentions and inbound links to the respective articles.
Those inbound links constitute authority in Google’s mind, so you have the most sophisticated algorithm on the planet doing the research in finding the most authoritative articles on the topic.
What Google doesn’t do is aggregate and rank all those articles and strategies. So we did it for you!
We reviewed all the LinkedIn company page growth strategies recommended in the top 10 ranking posts on Google, then tabulated what was most commonly recommended. The number of articles that mentioned a given strategy is indicated by the number in parentheses.
Also, if the strategy had a stat that could back up its effectiveness, we included it.
What we think you’ll find is that these strategies are slightly more advanced table stakes. These, unless noted otherwise, are tried and true, and you’ll want to use them no matter what.
1. Link your Company Page URL on other promotional items (8). Including a link to your company page on items such as your email signature, annual reports, business cards, personal profiles, and newsletters was mentioned time and time again.
We would add that you should give people a reason why they should follow your page as well, because if you want people to just learn about your business, you can link to your website.
2. Curate and share insightful content (7). This strategy isn’t just table stakes, like creating a profile. It will take hard work to do, day in and day out. If you want growth, which means more followers, then you need exceptional content. And the content should also spur interaction. Ira Bowman nicely sums up what this should include:
Give them information that will help them. Ask questions about how their business is doing. Speak about popular trends, celebrate special days of your vendors, clients and employees. Speaking of employees, don’t forget to give them an incentive and encourage them to interact with your company posts. Most importantly, social media posts are conversation starters, so don’t forget to respond to every comment to help build a rapport.
3. Publish consistently (7). People will take the time to follow you if they see you’re a steady, reliable source of information. According to LinkedIn, if you post weekly, you’ll see a 2x lift in engagement.
4. Add a Follow button and encourage people to follow (7). This is mentioned often, but we’re honestly not big fans. Intero Advisory, which trains people on LinkedIn, actually puts it on its homepage above its logo.
When you click on it, the company page opens up in another window. But you can then easily get distracted with that company page, losing track of the original reason why you came to the homepage.
If you’re going to use a button, we’d recommend putting it in the footer, right by the newsletter subscribe button.
5. Use employees to grow your LinkedIn audience (6). We think this is actually the #1 reason to maintain a steady company page. If your sales team is hungry for great content to share, keep them well fed with a steady stream. They, in turn, will distribute to potential new followers.
6. Share interesting visuals — infographics and SlideShare (4). Visuals do well on LinkedIn, as noted below by our experts. According to LinkedIn, pages with images receive 98% more comments than those without.
7. Create engaging video content (3). According to LinkedIn, video does well, driving 5x more engagement.
8. Participate in LinkedIn groups (2). We were surprised to see this one mentioned. LinkedIn groups seem to be waning in popularity. Most groups we visit seem to be ghost towns.
9. Invite connections to follow your page (2). If you’re an administrator on a LinkedIn page, you can invite all your personal connections to follow the page. This new feature was added in 2020 (and is mentioned in the expert hacks below).
10. Use relevant hashtags. The use of hashtags seems to be ubiquitous. Expert Tim Queen, featured below, is a big advocate of this.
Ok, we’ve touched on the top strategies as aggregated by the Internet. Several, such as posting insightful content and publishing consistently, are the hallmarks of great content marketing and should be followed.
As for the others, unless they’re proven by data, we’d say proceed with caution. The big winners are what our experts have to say.
So now what do the LinkedIn experts say?
Consider the endorsed items you’ve read about above to be solid, established approaches to improving your LinkedIn company pages.
But here are some additional top hacks from LinkedIn experts to really speed your progress. These are the folks spending a ton of time researching the algorithm and documenting what works:
Tim Queen: Master LinkedIn Dwell Time with native content posts
Instead of sharing links, take advantage of LinkedIn’s native content types, also known as LinkedIn posts. There are four main LinkedIn post types: text-only, photo, video, and documents such as PDFs.
You can add up to 1,300 characters (or about 200-220 words) of text to each post. I highly recommend taking advantage of this, especially if you are sharing photos, videos, or PDFs. Every second that someone interacts with your post adds to your LinkedIn Dwell Time. The more you have, the more frequently your post will show up in other people’s newsfeed.
Mastering LinkedIn Dwell Time is extremely powerful, especially when paired with carefully selected LinkedIn hashtags. This will allow your post to be discovered by people who follow industry-specific hashtags, which further increases relevant views from potential customers.
Download Tim’s free LinkedIn Hashtag Guide!
Wayne Breitbarth: Invite 100 of your connections to follow your page
Use the new ability to invite 100 of your connections to follow your page with just the click of the box. Consider passing this ability on to other people in your organization such as the sales leaders. Once someone agrees to follow your page, you earn back another credit so it really can be many more than a 100 per month. Best new company page feature ever!
Learn more about Wayne’s approach here.
Jared Wiese: Mix it up
Typically company page visibility is worse than personal profiles.
For better company reach, mix it up. Literally. Post as a company and tag/engage as an employee. Then reverse it. Maybe do both.
And engage with all activity back. Company page stats are much better, so see what works.
To learn more about Profiles That ???!™, see @Jared J. WIESE’s personal and company pages!
Spencer X. Smith: Use analytics to see what is working, and who is viewing your content
1. Add the UTM parameter to the button (e.g. http://www.AmpliPhiBiz.com/?utm=LinkedInCompanyPage) so you can track visitors from LinkedIn.
2. Use the viewer data given to you on LinkedIn company page video posts.
By default, LinkedIn doesn’t share (under Analytics | Updates) who is seeing your company updates…only numbers.
When you post a video, you’ll see a blue hyperlink appear under the column video views. Click that link, and you’ll see the company name, job title, and geography of those who have seen that video post. This can be used for both sales enablement efforts and to validate that the right people are seeing your content.
Check out Spencer’s 16-lesson LinkedIn ads course. Free to anyone who registers.
Sarah Best: Use a social media management tool to make cross-posting time efficient
LinkedIn constrains the organic reach of company page posts, so one hack is to cross-post your updates to your company page and the personal accounts of leadership or sales staff at the same time.
Tagging the company page on the personal accounts can help build awareness, and cross-posting can extend the reach, so you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck with your content. Using a social media management tool can make cross-posting time efficient.
Learn more about Sarah’s approach here.
Ira Bowman: Don’t treat a page like PR
If you want to get the most out of your business social media page, do not simply treat it as a press release or a public relations outlet. You want to create engaging content with questions and calls to action that elicit a response. The idea they don’t care what you know until they know that you care is very much alive and well.
Another great tip is to make sure your cover photo helps communicate clearly what your business does. I recommend you actually put 2-3 key words (typed out) on the right-hand side of your photo on LinkedIn as sometimes the profile photo (should be your company logo) is on the right or in the center depending on the device they are using. This helps reduce bounce rate and set the hook as it reinforces the visitors are in fact in the right place. Then of course with that great content you’ll be able to draw them in even more.
Check out Ira’s own profile photo as an example:
An overall LinkedIn strategy for small marketing teams
Ok, you’ve now seen all the top strategies for growing a LinkedIn company page. Winbound focuses on helping small marketing teams, who typically tend to be strapped for time and resources.
So how do you create a manageable but thorough LinkedIn strategy for your organization?
1. Start by helping your top sales producers use LinkedIn the correct way.
LinkedIn can be a gold mine for building your network and expanding your referral base. Instead of spamming people for leads, your sales team should use it to meet people. Period.
Create that mindset with them, and train them on the approach. The results won’t come overnight. No great referral network is built in a day. But if you create the long-term approach, the results will snowball. So help individuals in your company with this approach.
2. Use your company page to get people to “know you” and also provide content for your sales team.
You can build brand awareness, distribute your own content, and keep your sales team happy by actively publishing and sharing exceptional content on your company page. And you can grow it using the strategies above.
Use the company page as a method to keep your sales team active and engaged on LinkedIn by tagging them and sharing their posts back on your page.
3. Follow the top LinkedIn experts and share their content.
To stay ahead of the curve, follow the top experts listed in this post, and then follow others on LinkedIn. Share their content on your own company page as you educate yourself. That will not only make you smarter but will also enhance your own page’s popularity. Success begets success!
So what’s left? Have we covered it all? Heck yeah! Now, it’s up to you to employ the single most important, critical, effective, amazing, results-generating, success-ensuring, empire-building tactic of all time:
GET STARTED!
None of these will work until you get started. So quit reading already, and start building and growing that fantastic LinkedIn company page!