LinkedIn Inspires Love-Hate Relationships as Marketers Seek an Edge
LinkedIn has its strong points in the business world and evokes strong emotions among marketers. They tend to fall into two opposing camps: love or hate.
James L Katzaman
Valuable content helps business, even if algorithm is a mystery
LinkedIn has its strong points in the business world and evokes strong emotions among marketers. They tend to fall into two opposing camps: love or hate.
Chaim Shapiro lives in both worlds at the same time.
“LinkedIn is the best professional networking site, but the algorithm drives me insane,” he said. “It is impossible to know why LinkedIn favors some posts over others.
“I also can not stand when people on LinkedIn ‘pitch slap’ — send a connection request followed by an immediate sales pitch,” Shapiro said.
His obvious frustration is made doubly so because he is a true LinkedIn aficionado.
“I’ll help you maximize LinkedIn,” Shapiro is proud to say. An author, public speaker, career coach and high-education professional, he also specializes in careers, LinkedIn tips and LinkedIn profiles.
Clearly, Shapiro wants to be a fan, but LinkedIn, its algorithm and communities refuse to make it easy.
Marketers Ivana Taylor and Iva Ignjatovic are similarly torn, although perhaps not as emotionally.
Taylor owns DIYMarketers, “committed to helping small business owners get out of overwhelm.” Ignjatovic is a marketing, strategy and business consultant.
With Shapiro, they talked about the pros and cons of using LinkedIn for marketing.
“My favorite thing is that there is less personal content there and it’s business focused,” Taylor said. “My least favorite thing is seeing people’s personal life and political opinion on LinkedIn.”
According to Sumo, LinkedIn makes up more than 50 percent of all social traffic to business-to-business websites and blogs.
Professional Yet Off Kilter
“On the upside, LinkedIn is a professional network,” Ignjatovic said. “The downside is that people keep posting ridiculous things. Plus, everyone is trying to sell something.”
Taylor has had a better time on LinkedIn.
“My favorite experience with LinkedIn marketing has been following up with people who looked at my profile,” she said. “It’s been successful in building new relationships.”
Power user Jeff Sheehan has said the key to LinkedIn is having a well-thought plan.
“Like all of social media, LinkedIn can be overwhelming and produce little return on investment unless you approach it correctly,” he said. “Define what you actually stand for. What is your unique value proposition? What differentiates you, your product or service?”
That distinction can produce notable results.
“Organic reach won’t work for people who share the same content over and over again,” Ignjatovic said. “With good, diverse and unique content, organic reach still works really well.
“Accept help when offered,” she said. “When people ask for advice and don’t like what they get, they keep doing the same old thing — without any result, of course.”
Taylor’s biggest challenge is using LinkedIn as a way to drive traffic to her content.
“They don’t like it when you post links there because they want to keep you on the platform,” she said. “I’ve really got to find a way that I like to use LinkedIn. So many conversations are just plain vapid.
“Also, because I’m a publication, the only people who contact me from LinkedIn want me to take their guest post, join their affiliate program or do something for them,” Taylor said.
Virtual Chamber Sessions
In her view, the most active people on LinkedIn seem to be marketers or in public relations.
“It’s like a Chamber of Commerce meeting: Sales people selling to each other,” Taylor said. “I do love content from folks like Winnie Sun, who always has helpful info around a financial topic.”
According to the platform itself, 91 percent of marketing executives list LinkedIn as the top place to find quality content.
“The biggest challenge is to keep the momentum, especially if you rely on organic reach,” Ignjatovic said. “LinkedIn requires ongoing effort to maintain a presence.”
LinkedIn serves small-business marketing better than other social media platforms in several ways.
“If you’re a business-to-business marketer, LinkedIn is a great resource,” Taylor said. “The only problem is that your decision maker may not be engaging.”
DIYMarketers has an article, “9 Benefits of LinkedIn Ads No One Mentions.”
“LinkedIn can be very good for B2B businesses,” Ignjatovic said. “It’s less cluttered. If you are consistent, that consistency plus quality content can provide better results than Twitter or Facebook.”
Whatever content a business posts on LinkedIn, aim for more than mundane.
“Always make sure your LinkedIn content adds value,” Shapiro said. “Your content and responses are the best way to demonstrate your expertise.”
Best finds might not be that obvious at first glance.
“The most important thing to remember is that your ideal customer might be lurking,” Taylor said. “They may not post or engage, but they are looking.”
High-Level Readers and Thinkers
LinkedIn again notes that about 45 percent of its article readers are in upper-level positions. They include managers, vice presidents, directors and those on the C-level.
“Keep your content professional and appropriate for a business audience,” Ignjatovic said. “Sure, you can share other stuff, but if your mission is business, stay on top of it.”
Shapiro finds LinkedIn polls to be particularly effective, saying they are great for engagement numbers.
“Responding to posts in a way that adds real value is as important as posting on LinkedIn,” he said.
That struck a similar nerve with Taylor.
“I love the poll feature on any platform,” she said. “It’s a great way to collect market research.
“My favorite LinkedIn content is when someone from my network shares an article, writes an opinion on it and asks for people to share their insights and opinions,” she said.
Small-business owners want to increase reach and engagement. The solution might be LinkedIn, although many entrepreneurs question the platform’s benefits.
“I want content that helps people improve their skills along with content that showcases successful career narratives,” Ignjatovic said. “Both types can be very motivating and inspiring.”
Each marketer uses tools to create and promote business on LinkedIn.
“Scheduling apps are great, but make sure that your post is optimized for each social media site,” Shapiro said.
Taylor uses the CoSchedule and Buffer apps almost exclusively on LinkedIn.
Sort Leads Using Apps
Any help is welcome. Digital marketer and author Neil Patel reports that 80 percent of business-to-business leads come from LinkedIn compared to 13 percent on Twitter and 7 percent on Facebook.
“I use Buffer, Semrush and LinkedIn Sales Navigator,” Ignjatovic said. “That helped me sort out and find highly targeted leads.”
Paid marketing on LinkedIn is a matter of putting in the money for results.
“I have explored paid advertising for clients, but I haven’t done any myself,” Taylor said. “That’s because LinkedIn is more expensive. I really think I’d need to hire someone to help me.”
DIYMarketers has posted a related article, “How to Use LinkedIn for Competitive Intelligence Like Sherlock Holmes.”
“For my clients, yes, I have paid for ads, not always successfully,” Ignjatovic said. “I have mixed feelings about paid efforts on LinkedIn. I prefer organic. It’s more work, but I’ve seen better and consistent results.”
One problem is finding ways to work and promote on social media when you are a small team.
“That I get, totally,” Ignjatovic said. “Social media can take so much time, even when we are super organized.”
Group discussions are another LinkedIn sore point for Shapiro.
“LinkedIn pretty much killed their groups about six years ago,” he said. “I miss what they were in the old days, but once they got spammy, there wasn’t much hope.”
Yearning for Engagement
This is not one of Taylor’s great concerns.
“I haven’t participated in a LinkedIn group discussion in a while,” she said. “No reason. I just don’t have time and don’t see it as helping my business.”
Likewise, group discussions are little more than a faint memory for Ignjatovic.
“I used to participate in LinkedIn groups, but I don’t have the time,” she said. “It’s difficult to find an engaging group. I’m still a member of many LinkedIn groups. Not all of them are active, but plenty of groups out there are engaging.”
Gazing into the future, Taylor expects more people to leverage LinkedIn Live the way they did on Facebook.
Ignjatovic forecasts more repurposed content.
“That means squeezing the value out of your content and still remaining efficient,” she said. “Also, live video is on the rise. Both trends I see live well into the next few years.”
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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James L Katzaman
Jim Katzaman is a charter member of the Tealfeed Creators' program, focusing on marketing and its benefits for companies and consumers. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as well as subscribing here on Tealfeed.
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