LinkedIn is becoming more than a self-promotional, résumé building site. Now, businesses have found a way to be relevant on the social media site too. A social media presence on LinkedIn is different than being connected on other social media sites. LinkedIn has one obvious difference that separates itself from the other social media sites: a professional atmosphere. Users are connecting with like-minded, educated colleagues. A business can use this site to connect with its intended audience, instead of having their message get lost amongst the play-by-play status updates and the unwonted spiritual advice that occurs on other social sites. Here’s how to use this unique audience to promote your business.

1: Spark Attraction

First thing’s first, if your page doesn’t looking exciting, then your page viewers won’t be excited either. Heard this before? That’s because more and more professionals agree on the importance of having engaging graphics that keep a viewer interested in your page for a longer amount of time. Another note about graphics is that they shouldn’t be too distracting or visually unappealing. Basically, keep graphics clean, and use them with a purpose. Use the banner on your LinkedIn page to show graphics that grab your audience’s attention about the product you sell – no sunset pictures if your business sells office supplies. It wouldn’t make sense, right?

2: As a job seeker, seek job seekers

Career centers at every university in the country know the importance of students having a LinkedIn account. They strongly encourage their students to join the professional social site because promoting one’s self on such a site can lead to a job offer. A space such as LinkedIn provides information on interesting companies that a student might never be exposed to otherwise – not every company is posting jobs in the classified section of the newspaper these days. Job seekers can use a business’ LinkedIn to investigate the company. This way they can find information that enables them to make a decision about applying for a job. Having a LinkedIn for you business will be a rallying site for educated job seekers that want to contribute to your operation. Vice versa, a LinkedIn account allows your business to access profiles on educated individuals that you can personally extend a job offer to.

3: Online your expand presence

A LinkedIn profile will expand your business’s online presence. Although you might have a website, a Facebook, a Twitter, an Instagram, and whatever else, LinkedIn connects your viewers to these other sites so that they can learn even more about your company. In LinkedIn’s professional social space, motivated viewers will take an interest and seek out more information on a company through their other sites in order to determine whether they would like to do business with that company. This means potentially more customers and more $$$ for your business.

4: Be a _______ butterfly

There are social features on LinkedIn that some business company pages have not taken a chance on. For instance, the groups feature. By joining a professional group, your business joins a community of like-minded individuals. This connection allows businesses to confer and share ideas among each other. Camaraderie establishes a network that you can begin to rely on. Group members also tend to investigate each other to see who they can partner with. Some members have joined a particular group seeking out a business to hire. Who knows, your business just might get the ticket.

5: Stay alive

To stay relevant, a business company page on LinkedIn needs to consistently post interesting and engaging material. This keeps viewers coming back to your page and reels in new viewers. Without posting regularly, a business fails to communicate with its audience. This can decrease credibility. In order to thrive, it is important to keep your business’s LinkedIn page alive and well.

Taking these steps to vamp your company’s LinkedIn page will help promote your business so that it becomes recognized in a socially professional way. The more presence your company has online, the more you have access to potential customers, educated people that can take care of your company, and social endeavors that build a reliable network of like-minded people. Keep your company page alive and you will increase potential encounters that can only be beneficial.

Posted on 2/18/2013

Written by Rachel Browne

I am a junior at University of Texas in San Antonio, majoring in public relations, and minoring in business administration.  I currently have a public relations internship and can’t wait to break into the “biz.”  I’m just a girl trying to balance school with giving my dog, rabbit, and hedgehog equal attention.

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