Benecomms is proud to announce we have been shortlisted as a finalist to PR Daily's Digital Marketing & Social Media Awards, for our work with The Climate Service.
Through creative storytelling, powerful visuals, video, and more, we worked to highlight our client's remarkable approach to measuring the impacts of climate change, and how diversity is critical to finding solutions to this crisis. Over the course of the year we significantly increased brand awareness and grew the company’s LinkedIn audience. We also worked closely with LinkedIn to support our client’s diversity and inclusion hiring strategies. During 2020, we saw a 460% increase in LinkedIn followers and 140,000+ organic impressions (both organic).
With the number of companies in climate tech and sustainability continuing to grow, cutting through the clutter to be seen on LinkedIn is key to brand-building, recruiting, and sales. Here are a few tips that can help as you build your brand:
Tagging People on LinkedIn - What's the Etiquette?
Tagging others in your posts can help to expand the reach of your content, and it is especially pertinent if the post involves the person you tag (an interviewee, co-author, they appear in the photo, etc.) Tagging people who might be interested in the topic to alert them to a post is common and encouraged. But be careful not to inadvertently divulge private information (for example, if this person is seeking a new position, etc.) because remember, when you tag someone, people in their network may see the content, including their current employer.
Given the potential value of tagging, should you tag a lot of people in posts to get more attention? The short answer is no. Spam-tagging can result in alienating your audience and the LinkedIn algorithms; if few of those people reciprocate by liking or commenting on your post, your strategy will backfire and your post (and future posts) may be penalized by LinkedIn.
Are hashtags important? what are best practices?
Hashtags are used across social media to categorize content; LinkedIn was later to the game than other platforms, adopting the use of hashtags around 2017. Still, only a fraction of platform users employ them, which is a missed opportunity.
- Use 1-3 hashtags, at the end of content, is best. Use one broad hashtag (with a large search volume) and one niche (less viewed but less competition)
- Employ LinkedIn search to identify hashtag frequency
- For more, see LinkedIn's hashtag best practice guide.
How Do I Get My linkedin Post Seen?
One of the most important things that the LinkedIn algorithm looks for is interaction with a post in the first 40 or so minutes of its publishing. If you have a particularly valuable piece of content you want seen, alert friends and colleagues to the post as soon as you publish it, and ask them to interact with it; the more interaction the better. Likes are good, comments (that are more than a few words) even better.
Good Reminders for Personal Pages
- It's bad form to reach out to people only when you want something. This is relationship building 101 but bears repeating. If people in your network secure a new job, congratulate them. Comment thoughtfully on posts.
- Educate yourself before reaching out. Should you choose to reach out on LinkedIn to ask for someone's time in a meeting, be sure to personalize the message in a way that shows you have done your research. Review that contact's experience, read their articles and their website. Apart from anything else, this research reduces the upfront time it takes for your new contact to educate you. If you have committed time to educate yourself, that speaks volumes.
- Be sure to study who views your profile; they may be excellent candidates for connecting or other actions.
- Maximize your profile page with, at the very least, a professional headshot, and insightful, easy-to-read content employing relevant keywords.
- There are now more than 2 million groups on LinkedIn; joining relevant groups is an excellent way to get active on the platform and build your network.
Low Hanging Fruit for Business Pages
Per Linkedin's resource page: "We’ve seen that once Pages gain 150 followers, their opportunity for growth becomes exponential. Follow these best practices and you’ll be on your way." To this end, LinkedIn grants users the ability to invite 100 contacts per week like a business page. If your contacts accept, you are granted opportunities back and you can invite more. Use your "invite to follow" button every week, and encourage others in your company to do the same.
Ideas for Winning Content
When drafting your company's social media content, there is a line to be weary of crossing when it comes to being too self-promotional. What's most important to keep in mind with every post is "would my target customer be interested in what I have to say here?" If the answer is "no", then it's best to leave off of your content calendar.
We've adopted the Rule of Thirds when developing content for our clients.
- 1/3 of your updates are about you and your content
- 1/3 of your updates are for sharing content from others
- 1/3 of your updates are based on personal interactions that build your brand
Using social media for Sales enablement
...And finally, how does this result in sales? Well, we put an emphasis on nurturing ALL leads down the sales pipeline.
83% of executives that choose a vendor on behalf of their company use social media in their decision-making. That's why we keep an active eye on our clients' corporate page social interactions, ranging from new followers to frequent engagers (likes, comments, shares) and report to their sales team on a regular basis for their use in outreach.