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If you focus on staying up-to-date and strategic in your approach, LinkedIn could very well be your most successful marketing tool this year.
82% of B2B marketers see their greatest success with LinkedIn compared to other social channels.
And it’s no wonder. As the world’s largest professional network, boasting over 1 billion members, it’s an absolute goldmine for B2B brands. LinkedIn saw so much success for B2B businesses that it even started celebrating the top B2B brands on its platform using a new B2B index. (Congrats if you’re on that list!)
So, how did brands make it on the list? Being savvy about what you say, how you make it look, and where you put it. While there’s a separate strategy for using paid ads effectively on LinkedIn, you can employ several timely trends to your advantage for organic success on the platform.
Let’s chat about the visual, content, and distribution trends that will enhance your marketing on LinkedIn and put you up top of your competitors.
Visual Trends & Tips
Play Around with Different Graphics
LinkedIn, like many social platforms, is shifting towards visual appeal as brands and B2B influencers are increasingly sharing more visual posts. LinkedIn even says images net a 2x higher comment rate and image collages perform exceptionally well.
studioID Tip
Develop a consistent cadence of graphic trends like carousel posts, quote graphics, or infographics. A popular visual method gaining popularity is the micro-essay. You upload these like a document and it populates as a carousel, like this one from Very Good Copy’s founder, Eddie Shleyner.
Experiment with Video Content
Just as static graphics are having their time in the sun, videos are appearing more and more on LinkedIn as of late. Research shows video gets 5x more engagement on LinkedIn, live video gets 24x more members, and members are 20x more likely to share a video on LinkedIn than any other post type.
Over seven in ten B2B marketers say video positively impacts their marketing ROI.
(Now that’s convincing.)
studioID Tip
Post native videos with captions (LinkedIn notes that’s the best way to broaden your reach) and play with short- and long-form videos to see which length resonates most with your community. And be sure to include subtitles for a great user experience. How do other brands do it? Here’s an example of Gong, who posts video teasers from their podcast episodes with experts.
Refresh Your Company Page
New year, new company page. Review your company’s LinkedIn page, ensuring, first and foremost, that it’s 100% complete.
Completed Linkedin company pages get 30% more weekly views.
studioID Tip
Consider swapping out old visuals for fresh ones, like your hero image. Check your sub-pages (Product, Life, Insights, etc.) and make sure they’re up-to-date with the company’s latest info. For example, HubSpot uses videos on its page to showcase culture stories and business insights.
Content Trends & Tips
Make your Copy Easily Scannable
Do you enjoy reading one big block of text? Probably not. The same goes for LinkedIn followers. Break up your text so that it’s easy to read. But don’t confuse that with posting only short captions.
According to independent research, people like to read long-form content on LinkedIn (from 1,900 to 2,000 words long).
The same independent research found that “list” posts and “how to” posts perform the best, whereas posts where the headline asks a question perform the worst.
studioID Tip
Use headings (H1, H2, H3 tags, etc.) to break your post into digestible sections. The same goes for caption copy — separate your sentences, play with emojis, emphasize text by bolding or italicizing, and make your copy visually appealing.
Empower Employees to Be Brand Advocates
Expand your reach by tapping into employees’ networks.
The click-through rate on content is 2x higher when an employee shares than if your company posts it.
There are many ways to lean into this strategy, whether you create an employee brand ambassador program or tap into tools designed for this, like Gaggleamp.
studioID Tip
If you build out a program, start with employees already active on the platform and be ready to tell them what’s in it for them. You could also start by celebrating employees’ achievements, like Glossier. Or you can reshare company updates when employees share them, like Google. One brand that known for proudly sharing employees is Starbucks.
Mix Up Content Types and Themes
Gain organic success by engaging your audience with different content types.
LinkedIn points to these three themes that work best on the platform:
- Make work personal by showing what it looks like to work — and grow — at your organization.
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Share professional advice and tips to develop work-related skills (including how your products or services help).
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Keep users informed about insights, trends, and launches.
studioID Tip
Add variety to the themes of your content. For example, don’t only post promotions or employee anniversaries. Avoid too much of the same and have a healthy mix of text-only posts, videos, graphics, documents, and even polls (this one got 6K votes).
Note: LinkedIn tends to favor content without links, so share a healthy mix of self-promotional and educational content with all the information a member would want — without having to exit the platform.
Distribution Trends & Tips
Use Keywords for Discoverability
Since 2018, LinkedIn members can search for others’ contributions using keywords. This is an underutilized feature that might soon become a game changer. LinkedIn trainer Tom Baeten predicts that LinkedIn’s search engine will be used more this year to find relevant content.
studioID Tip
Ensure your posts and company page include the keywords you want to be known for, and add targeted hashtags to your posts. (LinkedIn suggests 3-5.) Take this further by joining topical conversations with your select hashtags to build credibility and authority on the keywords.
Tap Into Industry Networks
You don’t have to do everything on your own to succeed on LinkedIn. Engaging with others on LinkedIn is super helpful in distributing your perspective and generating a following.
studioID Tip
Think of your top customers who’d readily recommend your business, and ask them to post with an @mention of your page. (Repost with a thank you, of course.) Mention other brands to rave about something they’ve done, impressed you with, or taught you. Publish content in niche and industry groups and engage with that community. Lastly, collaborate with B2B influencers in your industry to get seen by their networks.
Related Reading: B2B Influencer Marketing: 3 Essential Steps to Build a Strong Strategy
Post Consistently
Content isn’t king. Consistent content is. According to LinkedIn’s research, when you post daily, you can grow your followers 8x faster than posting weekly.
studioID Tip
Develop a steady posting cadence of 1-2 times per day to establish trust. Doing so could get 2x the member engagement. Experiment with how often you post, day, and time of day to see what works best for you.
Gong is a brand known for posting multiple times daily successfully. Speaking of Gong, another clever bonus tip inspired by them is to link to your LinkedIn page on your other owned channels. Think marketing materials, email signatures, newsletters, blog posts, etc. Below is a peek at the end of a Gong eBook.
Well, there you have it. The secrets to organic success on LinkedIn are no longer secret. Use these tips to bump up your LinkedIn marketing in 2024, and have fun doing it.
While you’re at it, follow us on LinkedIn and share which tips work best for your B2B brand.
