Back to Business: Tips and tricks for a professional LinkedIn presence

Shouldn’t we do something on LinkedIn? – These or similar questions are probably being asked by more and more companies in their marketing meetings. LinkedIn now boasts 675 million active users worldwide and continues to be on the road to success. But whether it’s for a personal career path or to push the profile of one’s own company: The top priority is professionalism! A like here and there or posting your biggest successes once a month is not enough. To generate reach and achieve the goals you have set, you need to be active. We’ll tell you the most important tips and tricks for making your LinkedIn presence a success.

Many reasons why: Benefits of a business network

LinkedIn is considered the number one employer branding platform. In the platform’s business environment, it is possible to guarantee authentic insights into one’s own company and also to let employees speak for themselves. Keyword: corporate influencer. This strengthens your own brand. In addition, as in any other social network, it is of course about making and keeping contacts. First and foremost, of course, with potential customers, but also with other experts from the industry to exchange information about the latest topics and trends. On the other hand, private individuals can make direct contact with companies here and request orders or obtain information about a product. For both sides, the network serves as a kind of digital business card, and so the motto is: find and be found! What’s more, studies show that over 50 percent of the traffic on B2B websites and blogs now comes from LinkedIn. If that’s not a good argument!

Speaking of being found: Visibility in the network

Online, there are numerous instructions and tips on how users can improve their own visibility on LinkedIn. The fact is, however, that more than 190 factors influence it. Knowing and taking all of them into account is almost impossible. However, this is no reason to despair, because once the most important screws are turned, results can be achieved quickly. First and foremost, a complete profile is the best prerequisite for good visibility. Anyone who conscientiously fills in all the information about name, title, company, description and work experience has a good chance of being found. The use of relevant hashtags contributes to this, as do high-quality and professional images. In addition, LinkedIn evaluates one’s behavior, such as regularity of posting and communication with other users. Interaction is therefore key!

More is more: Expanding the network

So now it’s about finding others and actively networking with like-minded people or potential customers. LinkedIn helps by suggesting contacts that match the user’s current network, job, and education. Here, the more active a profile is, the more new contacts users will get suggested. In addition, they should not be afraid to visit strange and interesting profiles – these will receive a notification, and the foundation for establishing contact has been laid. If a request has already been sent and accepted, a short thank you note is a nice way of showing appreciation and can serve as a start for further communication. Responding to new activity, such as job changes or birthdays, also creates connections and interaction.

LinkedIn groups are particularly suitable for making new industry contacts. Here, entrepreneurs can contribute their expertise to discussions, engage in conversation with other users and, if necessary, refer to their own content. But beware: advertising is completely inappropriate here and, in case of doubt, reflects badly on your own company. Last but not least, managers should encourage their employees to link to their employer in their profile. In this way, their own network, and thus their reach, is extended by that of their employees. As already mentioned, this is also a tool for authentic employer branding that should not be underestimated – after all, employees are considered the most important advocates of a company!

Posting like a Pro: Increased attention and reach

If you want your own content to attract a high level of attention on LinkedIn, you need to place particular emphasis on continuity. An editorial plan is mandatory for professional implementation. To find out when is the best time to post, it is of course important to know when your target group is online. In general, users use the network more between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., especially in the morning, in the evening and during lunch break. Since the LinkedIn algorithm takes into account the post sequence and the right timing, social media experts publish within these time windows. In posts where other people or companies are mentioned, make sure they get a link with the @ sign. This increases the reach and also gives the linked people the opportunity to share the post. Including three to five relevant hashtags is just as recommended as using high-quality and appropriate images. The latter receive on average many more comments than pure text postings.

However, as always, interactions are particularly important for the reach of a post. But here, too, LinkedIn makes a distinction: comments are weighted much more heavily than likes and shares. So it’s always about getting into a conversation and exchanging ideas with other users. Links in the status update, on the other hand, are a downgrade in the B grade. The platform naturally wants to keep users on its own site, and therefore prefers native content. It is better to post necessary links in the comments. If you now make sure to share only relevant, well-researched and high-quality content, you can build a stable network in no time. In this sense: Happy Networking!