When it comes to making new business contacts and growing your professional network, LinkedIn is certainly the network of choice. But it’s not enough simply having a LinkedIn account?
You may have already noticed that most small businesses don’t have a LinkedIn company page or at best have a very basic page. But without a company page, it’s very hard for people to find out more about your business. If this is you, how did you imagine a potential connection was going to find out who you are, what your company does or why they should even form a relationship or connection with you?
Sure you can find someone’s website by clicking the "contact info" box on the bottom right of their profile summary box but few people notice this feature. Most people will, however, click on the company name which links to the company page.
Having a LinkedIn company page offers you and your business great potential to reach a new, wider audience. Creating a company page is quite simple to do and having one enables you to:
- Mirror the functionality of a website in look, branding and feel. You can even add images, videos and banner advertising to visually tell people what your company, you and/or your product are all about. New connections will always check you and your company out before they actually agree to a relationship especially, as is often the case with small businesses, they are not familiar with the company, its brand name or its employees.
- Have a strong call to action that drives enquiries and sales either to the personal LinkedIn profile as a connection, to other company members listed on the LinkedIn Company page, to your official website or even to you personally.
- Create a direct link between trust in you and trust in your company.
- Communicate the background history of your company including vital information such as year founded, website, address, no of employees, product range, news stores and other PR etc.
- You can share status updates which will appear on the home feed of those who follow the company page as well as you personally.
- By listing your products and/or services on your company page you can get existing customers who are connected to you on LinkedIn to recommend your company to their connections through LinkedIn
- All your employees can be listed on your company page and these employees can share your status updates
- All your employees can be listed on your company page and these employees can share your status updates on their profiles, thus allowing your messages to be promoted with a “Domino” effect. In fact, you should be encouraging all your company staff to join LinkedIn, link to your company page and expand the reach of the marketing messages you are trying to put across. Your employees actively promoting your company speaks volumes about the type of staff you have.
Remember, if you don’t have a LinkedIn company page, you might as well not have a website. You’re invisible.
