Christina Minshull's LinkedIn Tips and Tricks
LinkedIn is considered one of the fastest-growing platforms in the social media space. The key differentiator with LinkedIn is their ability to target the audience better than other platforms. Some factors include a specific company, specific job function, or seniority-based targeting. A user can also upload their own data like key prospect lists, or key company lists to target based on that. All of LinkedIn’s data is first-party data, which means the user has inputted all of their information themselves. Their data is not third-party based or inferred like other platforms can be.
Christina and Darian discussed some of the differences between functionality of the LinkedIn app vs the desktop platform. The app is designed for ease of use and higher interaction. Christina suggests app users to try the ‘Nearby’ function, which allows an app user to easily connect with professionals near to them, via bluetooth. The function can be specifically helpful when attending industry events or seminars with like-minded individuals. A good idea as an event organizer is to have the audience download and use the function from the beginning of the event.
Some tips Christina has for marketing professionals using LinkedIn:
1). Add a professional photo on your profile, as it has been proven to significantly increase interaction with your profile.
2). Invest in posting rich media to your profile. Post videos from your events, brand activations, key projects, key presentations. It will get users engaging with you more. You can now upload video directly to LinkedIn rather than having to do so through YouTube or Vimeo.
3). Check out the new ‘pages’ experience. It has many features for advertisers to make them better equipped to promote their products, services, and brands on LinkedIn and truly understand what their industry and members or target audience are consuming.
You can search different industries to see what members are consuming on the platform. It can be great for content or social media members who are looking for content to engage their target audiences.
Christina suggests that companies spend more time building their brands on LinkedIn in order to help fill their funnels with new leads they can nurture rather than simply constantly concentrating on lead generation. That commitment to long-term growth has proven more fruitful in terms of conversions for companies.
Christina also suggests using LinkedIn Learning and their Success Hub to learn how to best use the platform and to make the most of it. Users can even engage the dedicated LinkedIn team for help with specific training and use. They even run Marketing Labs and can do in-person training. If somebody wanted to get started in LinkedIn advertising they should start by going to the Success Hub where they will guide users step-by-step on setting up advertising accounts, working with your campaigns, sharing best practices, and advising you on your strategy.
When using social media, Christina suggests making sure you concentrate on both content and context. Content is very important but in the wrong context it can be dismissed or ignored. For example, posting on a platform where people are moving quickly and are not prepared to take the time to interact with your content will not yield results. On the other hand, making sure you post where members are looking for good content in their space you will greatly increase engagement. Their scientific data shows that consumers can instinctively link expensiveness and quality of a product with the expensiveness of the advertising (marketing signalling). Therefore, advertising in the LinkedIn Premium environment can see a far greater return than by advertising on a free platform. Since LinkedIn premium users tend to be taking their careers and business more seriously and are engaging more deliberately, this takes advantage of both the context and marketing signalling aspects.
Written by Claudia Palomino
