With so much to focus on in the SMB B2B space, social media may be the least of a founder or startup CMO's worries. However, with more than 830 million members looking for business information daily, LinkedIn is too large of an audience for your B2B company to ignore. Keep reading to discover how you can transform your LinkedIn company page into a lead-generating machine!

Getting Started

Before anything else, you need to create a LinkedIn page for your company. If you already have one, you can skip this section. But if not, it is an easy process. All you need is a personal LinkedIn account that is over seven days old. You will also need a company email that is a domain unique to your company (e.g. not gmail).

Click on the "Work" section next to the "Me" button on the top right menu.

Then select "Create Company Page".

Once you have created your company page, make sure you take the time to go through it and complete every possible detail. The more information you provide, the easier your page will be to discover. Company pages that are fully completed get 30% more views than those that are left with missing information.

Make sure to include keywords and phrases wherever appropriate to make sure anyone looking for your page can find it. Don't forget to add a profile picture and cover image with your logo so your page will be easy to identify. It is crucial your LinkedIn page has a consistent look that aligns with your brand.

After completing your company information, you are ready to assign roles to your employees, unless you plan on running the page by yourself. You can add page administrators to help with anything from updating your profile picture to editing recent posts and everything in between.

Optimizing Your Company Page

With the right LinkedIn strategy, you will see your follower count grow and increased interactions on your posts and clicks to your website. A well-thought-out LinkedIn strategy can help your company become an industry thought leader, further increasing the credibility of your company. However, before becoming a thought leader, you must grow your audience and build connections with other people and companies within your industry.

One of the best ways to do this is to find and join an industry-related group on LinkedIn. This will give you the opportunity to participate in a community where you and others can share resources and engage in meaningful conversations that can further grow your page. You can also do some research and see what kinds of posts are performing best within your industry.

Are longer posts getting more interactions? Are posts with videos performing better than those with images? What hashtags are being used the most? These are some questions you can ask yourself when figuring out what to post on your Company Page. You can find groups to join using the search bar, or you can click on the "My Network" tab and then select "Groups".

We also recommend keeping your brand image consistent throughout your posts. When someone sees a post from your Company Page, they should know that your company posted it almost immediately.

Click here to see an example of a client that has gone above and beyond to create a page full of engaging images and videos to keep their followers updated with their events and product offerings. Their results speak for themselves, with their LinkedIn page rapidly approaching 10,000 followers.

Posting original content on your LinkedIn page

You have spent countless hours working on your company website, which is now full of blog posts, case studies, ebooks, job openings, and more (If it's not, we can help!). Don’t let this valuable content go to waste. You can post on LinkedIn as your company and share new and older content with your followers. At the bare minimum, you should post 1-2 times a week to promote new blogs and other content you add to your website. You can take this a step further and set up weekly posts to promote your "Contact Us" page and "Schedule a Demo" page to open the door for your audience to become leads.

LinkedIn is also an excellent platform for sharing videos. Videos earn almost 3 times as many interactions as text posts and are 5 times more likely than other content to start a conversation on LinkedIn. You can use videos as standalone content, but we recommend supplementing videos with text that outlines what you are discussing in the video to entice your followers (and soon-to-be followers) to stop scrolling and hear what you have to say.

Another best practice on LinkedIn is to share posts from others and add your take on the subject. This opens the door for conversation and engagement from both your audience and the other companies. This is similar to the quote tweet function on Twitter (read more about using Twitter for your B2B company here).

When you find a post you want to share, click "Share", and then select "Share with your thoughts". Next, write something that is relevant and adds value to the original post while also maintaining a tone that is consistent with your company. Once you have you contribution ready to go, click post and watch the interactions come rolling in!

Interacting as Your Company

One of the newest features for company pages on LinkedIn is the ability to interact on the platform as your company. In the past, users could only interact with others through their personal accounts. A recent update now gives company pages the ability to like, comment, and share other users’ content.

When utilized correctly, this new feature can get your company in front of more eyes than ever on LinkedIn. Did a thought leader in your industry post an update right up your alley? You can leave a like/comment and share it on your page along with a note, which opens the door for interactions from both their audience and yours.

Here is a great example of a client taking advantage of this new feature.

Don't be afraid to put yourself and your company out there! It can be intimidating to think about your posts being seen by hundreds or thousands of people, but that is what you want when you are looking to expand your LinkedIn account. So trust yourself and your knowledge and start looking for relevant content you can engage with to grow your Company Page.

Metrics!

Company pages on LinkedIn have come a long way since the social media platform was created. HubSpot offers excellent tracking tools so you can keep an eye on what's working best for your page and what type of content is getting the most interactions.

We typically look at growth in followers, clicks, and shares. And the ultimate metrics are .traffic to your website and new contacts generated from social. The below HubSpot metrics are achievable by B2B by companies who work hard to amplify their messages via social. And this company is seeing its social media strategy pay off down the line with leads and social support for its sales efforts. 

Next Steps

What do you do as far as the next steps? You want to get more involved in LinkedIn and see the benefits but don't have the time. We strongly suggest you outsource. Designate a team member interested in LinkedIn and social media who can take a few cycles to set up your account and maintain it weekly. It is a consistent focus that garners results.

Or does a team member have a college student who is studying marketing? Frequently digital natives "get it." After they learn about your product and understand who is essential in your space, you will be surprised how quickly they can add value on LinkedIn. In the beginning, approve their posts prior to going live in order to ensure the team member is getting the tone right for your company. But with candid feedback and metrics tracking, you will start to see the benefits and the payoff.

LinkedIn is like water dripping on a stone, and consistent maintenance over time builds the audience and the eyeballs needed to support your sales team's efforts and also independently generate leads. It will pay off, but the trick with social media is getting started. Trust your gut and go for it.