Linkedin logo

We often consult with clients on how to leverage social media to support lead generation. For B2B tech companies especially, we believe that one of the strongest channels at the moment is LinkedIn. Last year, HubSpot found that LinkedIn generated 3x as many leads as Facebook and Twitter. It offers more of a focus on professional networking and real opportunities for businesses to showcase themselves as industry thought leaders.

Like with all social media channels, it’s important to invest time and effort in establishing your presence on LinkedIn in order to see meaningful results. Has your organization optimized its Company Page? Add a banner image to showcase your branding. Complete the About section and include keywords so your company turns up in relevant searches on the social media network. Likewise, include details on your products and the business needs they are fulfilling, and get customers and partners to endorse them.

Stay Active, Stay Visible

Once your company’s corporate profile is up and running on LinkedIn, make sure that you maintain a consistent level of activity to stay visible to your target audience. Share your coverage, white papers, webinars and other valuable content as status updates to engage your network. You can even customize the content for different visitors, optimizing keyword use, timing of status updates and the types of strategic content offered by looking closely at the metrics LinkedIn provides.

Don’t forget to include calls to action to support lead generation. For example, offer a blog post, and at the end of the piece, prompt readers to download a SlideShare presentation on the topic. The download could be email-gated, so you can collect interested parties’ contact information. If you are running a LinkedIn Ads campaign, you can also enable a widget to collect members’ email addresses.

 

Join the Conversation

Generate further industry credibility by joining relevant groups and starting conversations with other members. You could even create a private group for facilitating communication among your own customers and partners, and promote it as a resource to prospects. What about polling your network for further prospect understanding and engagement, and applying the findings to your PR and marketing program?

These are just a few ways B2B tech companies can support the lead generation process with LinkedIn. Since the sales process can be lengthy and require multiple touchpoints, it’s a great tool for networking, brand awareness and education—all of which are important for getting prospects interested enough to take the next step.

 


This post was first published by Beth Brenner on March Communications’ blog PR Nonsense.