How to use LinkedIn Posts to promote your businesses

Now- a- days, a lot of professionals have started using LinkedIn Posts to promote businesses. It is a facility provided by LinkedIn where a subscriber could post articles and view points and have it read, shared and commented upon by his followers. Unlike the normal status update, posts are considered as the next level of professional networking opportunity for users.

In our blog top 10 B2B social media marketing strategies, we had emphasized the importance of building thought leadership as one of the way to promote oneself on social media.LinkedIn posts is a great way to do this.

Using LinkedIn posts to promote businesses have become essential for emerging entrepreneurs if they would like to widen their scope of professional networking.  They create their own blogs within LinkedIn. Given the fact that LinkedIn today is the most used professional social media platform, having the ability to have your blog post read by all your professional contacts that matter is something of a welcome functionality.

As a marketer, using LinkedIn posts to promote businesses is a great way to establish thought leadership, LinkedIn Posts is all about. Blogging is also considered useful when you use it well you use to promote your business. Hopefully this article will start many of you to initiate your very own Digital Marketing or Social Media Marketing on LinkedIn.

Where can you find LinkedIn Posts?

You can find the link right on top of your home screen. Click on it to get started.

How to use LinkedIn Posts?

Using the post itself is relatively simple. It comes with a basic word processing tool that allows you to type. I usually type in word and then copy paste the entire content on LinkedIn Post and do the formatting online. The tool also lets you embed media or insert an image into the text. You can view the post and then publish it once you’re satisfied with the formatting.

Do remember to add an image to your post. Remember visuals attract better attention than plain words!

Why use LinkedIn Post?

If you’re running a business, especially a b2b business it’s important to establish your credentials with your professional network through social media marketing. Blogging via LinkedIn posts allow you to do just that. People read your post, they share it with their network, others read it and some of them would then want to connect with you and your network grows.

Using LinkedIn posts should form a corner stone of your focus to build a thought leadership via content.

What to write on LinkedIn posts?

Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is professional. Using LinkedIn posts to promote businesses is a serious business. While some level of frivolity is always welcome I would strongly advise from being frivolous on LinkedIn. It is best to write thought provoking articles about your industry. Remember to have a view point. Opinions matter in the professional world. For example I write on marketing and entrepreneurship – my core area of expertise.

Whom to write for?

While blogging, it’s important to bear in mind who you want the article or blog post targeted for. Are you writing to influence your potential customers so that they connect to you? Or are you writing to influence your peers in the industry or are you using LinkedIn posts to promote businesses that create a thought leadership position for yourself?

How long should your posts be?

It’s difficult to state clearly how long or short one’s post should be. A lot would depend on the quality of content that one is writing. But generally speaking you should avoid writing posts longer than 1200 words and shorter than 500 -600 words. It is difficult to encompass a thought in less than 600 words especially an opinion and more than 1200 words, and you’re likely to be writing a thesis. Short, crisp and to the point posts are best and you can best use LinkedIn posts to promote businesses.

How to leverage your posts?

The primary objective of writing your post is to get your opinion read by those who matter. Hence post promotions are important. LinkedIn allows you to share your posts on Facebook and Twitter.  My top 5 tips for to use LinkedIn to promote businesses are:-

1. On LinkedIn

1. Share it as part of your status update regularly over the next one month
2. Share it on the groups you belong as long as it is relevant to the group
3. Look through the members of your group and identify those who you think would benefit from your post. Send a message to them. As a group member you can send direct messages to other members free.

2. On Twitter
   1. Share on Twitter regularly over the next one week; alternate the times so that your Twitter followers get to see it.
   2. Vary the headline a bit each time
   3. Use Hashtags to reach out to others who are not part of your followers.

3. On Facebook
   1. Share on your timeline in public. Use hashtags.
   2. Share the post on other Facebook open groups that you believe would benefit from your post.

4. On G+
   1. Share link on your G+
   2. Share on other G+ communities that would find your post useful.

5. On your email
   1. Create an email signature that incorporates the title of your post and hyperlink it.