LinkedIn is one amazing social network for business. According to LinkedIn’s press kit for May 2015, LinkedIn has over 364 million members, in over 200 countries and territories.  There is much you can do with a free personal account, but for the purpose of this site I want to talk about LinkedIn “Company Pages.” You can design your page so that you build a loyal following of individuals that want to hear insider tips on what your company is selling or promoting.  How many sites can you build a brand page and build a loyal following of both internal and external teams? Not many. With LinkedIn Company Pages you can share about your brand, your business goals, successful products and successful sales and marketing campaigns. You can also inform customers and business partners about new developments in your business.  Tom Humbarger a writer for socialmediatoday.com, estimates that about 64% of your followers will follow your company forever…  Forever that’s a long time! But let’s get back to helping you build your brand with a compelling and useful LinkedIn Company Page. The most important key is to focus on posting great content. 

Here are some other keys to a great LinkedIn Company Page:

Timing.  Research shows that the best time to post to your Company Page is Tuesday through Thursday. Monday’s are good days for people to get organized. Friday’s can mean meeting a deadline before the weekend. By making your posts timed to people’s calendars you will show them that you value their time and energy.

B2B vs. B2C:  Analyze your LinkedIn following. Determine which people are business-to-business and who is business-to-consumer. Speak to your consumers as a friend would. Make the postings relevant and informative. Build a loyal following of consumers who love to hear about your product or service AND want to engage your company in a meaningful dialogue. As for business-to-business, keep the postings helpful, irreverent, and entertaining.  Your posts can create industry buzz, where your suppliers and vendors are excited about partnering with you on your next big project.

Graphics. Your company page is your “digital business card.” This means that your Company Page must look visually compelling, like your website.  This Company Page can be your digital store front. Make time to invest in quality graphics. You can use proprietary images, or buy images from stock media sites like Getty Images.

Write an article. This is where your images and written content can work together to use LinkedIn as a powerful publishing tool.

Analytics. You can now use your Company Page to gather the following metrics:

·      * Number of profile or article views

·      * Age range of readership

·      * Graphical location of your audience

·      * Industry niche of readers  and their job titles

·      * Percent that viewed your Company Page through mobile browsers

In summary, a LinkedIn Company Page is an amazing way for you to build out your web presence. You can find followers, educate consumers, connect with business partners and drive traffic to your website. Keep your posts engaging, helping your audience to learn more about your industry. With high quality graphics and high quality written content you will be surprised how many of your followers will be happy and thoroughly excited about your posts!