Banyan Branch

While marketers might focus their time and spend on Facebook, Twitter and other major social sites, there’s still something to be said about LinkedIn. Though maybe not as press-worthy, LinkedIn has persevered as the social network for business professionals. Many who spend time on LinkedIn do not generally spend much time on other social networks, and are definitely there strictly for business purposes.

With over 119 million users and counting, plus recent upgrades to brand resources, LinkedIn is a potential gold mine for target marketing as well as recruiting.

Let’s take a look at the various resources now available to brands on LinkedIn.

Your official company page

This might be a no-brainer, but in case you haven’t logged on to LinkedIn since before summer 2011, take the time to create and fill out your brand’s official company page. Make sure all of the info, from your company’s description, employees and links to other properties are correct. Put some time and care in filling out your product offerings, and select the keywords you want to associate with your products & services (this will be helpful not just for potential employees, but vendors, clients and SEO purposes as well.)

Ads

Just like with Facebook ads and sponsored stories or Twitter’s sponsored tweets and hashtags, LinkedIn’s beefed up its brand offerings by allowing self-serve advertising. Taking your all-time CTR and bids, LinkedIn creates a quality score for your apps similar to Google AdWords. You can target, split test and adjust your LinkedIn ads just as you would with other online ad buys, and your minimum daily spend is only $10.

Linked apps

If your brand makes use of Google Docs, blogging, SlideShare, online portfolios and more, you should definitely connect LinkedIn Apps to your company profile. This is an easy way to integrate things you’re already doing as a brand with your company page. Those who follow your brand on LinkedIn can see your latest blog posts, speaking presentations, webinars and more.

Twitter

Another small but impactful tip: if you’re making most of your updates over on Twitter, connect it with your company page on LinkedIn so your LI followers will see the latest too.

Answers

LinkedIn Answers, like Quora, is a way for your business to get answers from the public as well as a way to share knowledge and expertise on various topics.

Groups

The oldest and most popular feature on LinkedIn, Groups are an easy way to engage in discussions with consumers, bloggers and other professionals who have interests in product and service categories that matter to you. If getting involved in forums is useful but difficult to work into your schedule, use LinkedIn groups to find out what people are saying about topics your brand is interested in.

Events

Use your online activity to expand your networking offline too. LinkedIn Events are a good way to find industry events, meet potential partners or clients, and promote your brand’s upcoming events or sponsorships.

Just like you’re doing with Facebook, Twitter and the like, make sure you are making it easy for your LinkedIn audience to understand your brand’s offerings, read about your latest news and communicate with your brand.vWhether it’s for making your next great hire, improving your SEO or expanding your lead generation opportunities, LinkedIn is no doubt a valuable resource.

Have any questions on using LinkedIn for business? Email us at info@banyanbranch.com!

Follow Banyan Branch on LinkedIn.

Resources: SocialFresh & LinkedIn