LinkedIn is considered the best social media platform for B2B marketing strategies, followed closely in our eyes by Instagram which is becoming increasingly popular with companies looking to showcase their personality and the people at the heart of their business operations.

The challenge that remains for B2B companies in particular is how to use LinkedIn to drive leads and to build connections – including knowing when to post, what to post, and how far to go in terms of networking and establishing B2B relationships. After all, while other social media platforms are inherently informal and rely on building genuine relationships with consumers, LinkedIn as a B2B platform is much more professional and formal in its connectivity.

In this short guide, we chat to our social media marketing experts – sharing some advice on how to use LinkedIn to drive leads and establish great connections in the business world. And we’re starting with lead-building.

How to build leads through LinkedIn

If you manage the business account for your workplace or company, then consider the sign you’ve been looking for to transform your LinkedIn profile.

While LinkedIn has long been seen as somewhere for individual professionals to meet and network, it is becoming an ever-growing part of B2B marketing strategies for businesses – meaning that your business profile needs to be designed to market and convert your services and products.

1. Create an active and engaging LinkedIn profile page

If you want to use LinkedIn as part of your B2B marketing strategy, you need to create a profile page which is active and regularly updated with news, reviews, testimonials, and interesting and valuable resources.

Of course, it’s important to tailor your sales copy and posts so that they appeal to businesses rather than individual consumers – meaning that for most companies, the marketing collateral you share on other social platforms will not be suitable for LinkedIn.

2. Encourage senior leaders to post regularly

One of the best ways to establish a high level reputation on LinkedIn is to get senior leaders to post regularly and engage with industry news and thought posts – both those which directly relate to your business, and those which don’t.

The emphasis should be on establishing themselves, and in turn your company or business, as experts within the industry – with plenty to say and opinions which have an impact. Not to mention, it lets prospective and future clients know who they are working with, creating a more human approach to even the most professional of B2B connections.

3. Join appropriate groups

Make sure that both your business page and your senior leaders are joining relevant groups where you know your target audience will be spending time. This is a great way to identify potential clients through the things they say and they things they share – generating a focus group of businesses to connect with and reach out to as part of your strategy.

How to establish connections through LinkedIn

One piece of advice that we always share with B2B clients is to use LinkedIn, not just for sales and lead generation but also to nurture genuinely valuable relationships and connections with other professionals in your industry.

The best organisations and companies are those that learn from each other, with connections formed through LinkedIn giving you a solid pool of suppliers to tap into when you need to outsource work or find support for specific projects.

Similarly, establishing connections through LinkedIn can also prove invaluable when it comes to recruiting, introducing you to potential and prospective candidates that you might otherwise have missed.

In order to establish good connections as a B2B company on LinkedIn, we recommend asking peers and clients for reviews, connecting with those within your industry as well as prospective clients themselves, and commenting as much as you can on other posts to establish some reliability on your page.

Is LinkedIn a good investment of time for your business?

LinkedIn is the social media platform for professionals and businesses and has the power to introduce your company to both suppliers and clients, as well as prospective candidates and recruits, partners, stakeholders, and more.

Creating an effective LinkedIn profile means bridging all of these goals and intentions under one strategy, using your profile and those of senior leaders and employees to establish your business as a reputable source of expertise.

Why not engage our help in building an effective LinkedIn profile, and let us work with you to drive leads and conversion for your business in 2023?