We have entered the 21st century, where 4 billion people out of an approximate 7 billion are users of the Internet; in other words, 57% of the global population (wearesocial). The figure itself is staggering and almost too immense to even imagine. It just serves as a testament to the fact that the Internet is the place to be if you wish to gather an audience. A fact that businesses attempt to exploit.
That is where digital marketing comes into place.
For any business to survive amidst the bustle of the commercial sector, it must attract an audience. The larger the volume of the audience is, the higher the chances of gaining customers. Practically, though, it can become quite complicated. A business – and let us talk about your business here – must employ strategic marketing plans, in order to outperform its competitors in amassing customers. One method of achieving such a target – that pertains particularly to digital marketing – is the use of LinkedIn.
Why consider LinkedIn for marketing?
Often at times, businesses determine a specific demographic which they wish to target through advertisements (Hootsuite). Their target audience depends on the particular product or service they are providing. For example, a business selling female clothing will, of course, target the female audience. In order to do so, they may only advertise on platforms that garner a large volume of female users.
Based on its demographics, LinkedIn provides a favorable target audience that your business may consider targeting.
But there is more.
#1 LinkedIn houses an immense number of users
LinkedIn is one of the most popular online platforms in the world. As of the beginning of 2018, LinkedIn is estimated to have over 250 million active users. This is out of an approximate 500 million registered accounts. Out of these half a billion users, about 40% access LinkedIn on a daily basis.
Without a grain of doubt, LinkedIn is a great choice for marketers to set their sights upon. By marketing on such an immense platform, your business is guaranteeing for itself exposure to a sizeable audience. This does nothing more than optimize the chances of attracting customers.
#2 The gender ratio featured on LinkedIn
Currently, about 56% of LinkedIn users are of the male gender while 44% are of the female gender. This makes LinkedIn an appropriate candidate for any business that wishes to market to both genders.
#3 LinkedIn users gather from all across the world
LinkedIn also provides an assembly of different nationalities. 133 million LinkedIn users (approximately 30% or so of the total number of users) are from America. Other countries that boost some of the largest numbers of LinkedIn users include Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, and India. So if your business is wishing to reach an international audience, LinkedIn is the website to visit.
133 million LinkedIn users (approximately 30% or so of the total number of users) are from America. Click To Tweet#4 Various age groups are engaged with LinkedIn
About one-fourth of all LinkedIn users are between 18 years of age and 29 years of age. This age bracket is particularly preferred by businesses. People that fall under the ages of 18 to 29 are some of the highest money spenders out of all the age groups. This is why businesses tend to target them when promoting a product or service.
The age group that spends the most amount of money, however, is the 30-64 group. This is all the better for marketers on LinkedIn as 61% of LinkedIn users belong to this age group. So, all things considered, LinkedIn provides perhaps the most ideal range of age groups for any marketing agency.
The age group that spends the most amount of money in LinkedIn, is the 30-64 group. Click To Tweet#5 The incomes of LinkedIn users
One important detail to remember in business is that the target audience should be able to afford whatever product or service the business has to offer. If they cannot, then the business’s marketing campaign was for nought.
For businesses marketing on LinkedIn, that is hardly a worry. Most of LinkedIn users are of adequate financial standings. Over three-quarters of the LinkedIn community has an income of $50,000. 44% earn over $75,000. This makes LinkedIn a highly desirable location for marketing agencies to target.
The various digital marketing strategies to be used on LinkedIn
Being what it is, LinkedIn can serve as a stellar tool for any business engaged in a digital marketing campaign. LinkedIn provides several impressive features that can be utilized by businesses in their marketing plan. The group chats paid promotions, and LinkedIn Pulse is just some examples of such features. When used to their complete potential, these features can pave the way for several effective marketing strategies. Let us discuss some of them.
#1 Build a profile for your business
As we mentioned above, LinkedIn provides the option to users for building a profile. Whether you are a regular person hunting for a job or an agent for a marketing firm, setting up a profile is the first and most important step to take on LinkedIn (toprankblog).
A profile is what will establish your business’s presence within the community. Any customer that is interested in the products or services offered by your business will refer to your profile. That is why you must set up a profile that is attractive and appeals to your target audience. Your profile should be well presented and with details that any customer would need to know about your business. Contact details is a must, for obvious reasons. You should add relevant information that concerns your product or your services. You should also include an image on your profile that reflects your business. Another addition to your profile should be referral links to your business’s other social media pages. This allows interested customers to learn more about your business.
An important note to remember is to employ the use of keywords. When sharing information regarding your business on your profile, litter it with keywords. This will make your profile more conspicuous to an audience.
#2 Make use of LinkedIn group chats
While your profile may be utilized to transmit information regarding your business to the community, group chats can serve a different purpose. By setting up your own group chats, you can enhance your business’s presence within the community. You can interact with an audience and by doing so, interest them with your business’s products/services (toprankblog).
You should be wary, however. Do not only focus on trying to sell yourself. An audience that only hears talk regarding your business may lose interest. Instead, try a more intimate approach with the audience. Answer whatever queries they may have, share unique insights into your brand, and ask them just what it is that they have to say. Most people will appreciate this more friendly approach and will be keener on learning more about your business.
You can use this opportunity to collect feedback from customers and use it to improve your business and its image.
Make sure, though, that your business can support such active engagements with customers. Group chats can often become boring or stale. That is why you must ensure that a capable team is managing the group chats at all times in order to keep them alive.
#3 Establish a connection with advocates
As we discussed previously, it is vital for you to expose your business to the largest possible audience. One viable method of doing so is the use of advocates (toprankblog).
In the most basic sense, an advocate is an individual or perhaps even a group of individuals that will promote your business for you. Your business should reach out to just key figures within your audience. Advertise to them, and if they like your business, they will advertise it to their own audiences. As such, the amount of exposure your business receives is enhanced.
A great way of gaining advocates is by using LinkedIn Plus. This particular feature of LinkedIn serves as a platform to publish content regarding your business. When you post on LinkedIn Plus, any user within your network will be notified. If they find your content appealing, they may advocate for you by sharing it with their own networks. It’s a sure and easy way to gather a larger audience (digitalmarketinginstitute).
However, in most cases, an advocate will require a certain degree of power in order to effectively promote your business. Your business must be comfortable with granting certain liberties to your advocates if you wish to achieve your desired objective. Of course, there is little reason as to why you should not be comfortable in doing so. Advocates may be granted some power, but your business will be rewarded with better exposure.
#4 Employ the use of paid promotions
Paid promotions are perhaps the most straightforward method of advertising. They serve as a direct broadcast to your audience, with exact details on what it is that your business is providing (toprankblog).
Paid promotions on LinkedIn are especially useful as marketing agencies using them can choose the exact audience they wish to target. You can choose to advertise to the general audience, or you can specify a particular country or group.
Remember, though, that your paid promotions should be appealing. The last thing your business needs is people clicking away from advertisements you paid for. Draw in customers with a stylish and memorable slogan, and an attractive design. Perhaps consider special offers for your customers to boost your business’s likeability. Whitepapers and Ebooks are features that are especially appealing towards the LinkedIn community.
You should also be willing to make any necessary changes. Monitor the amount of traffic your paid promotions are garnering. Time to time, make small adjustments to your advertisements and test them out. Even the most minor of modifications can lead to a better outcome for your marketing strategy.
#5 Keep an open mind towards improvement
Never think that you have done enough. Your business can always find more room for improvements. One very useful tool that can aid you in your attempts to improve is LinkedIn’s Content Marketing Score and Trending Content reports (toprankblog).
This feature can be of considerable use as it enables businesses to monitor the influence they have over the community. Information is shared on how well your content is being received and in which particular areas of the platform. You can utilize this feature to determine your overall performance and compare it to your rival businesses.
Such feedback is invaluable. It can help your business in deciding which sectors of the LinkedIn community you should be focusing more on and can help you improve the quality of the content you are sharing. You can use the information you have gathered to formulate a more effective, strategic marketing plan that will hopefully provide your business with a positive result.
To Sum Up
Hopefully, by considering all the details we’ve shared with you on LinkedIn, you will be able to set up an effective marketing strategy. Good luck!
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