This is the first in a two part series on using LinkedIn Company Pages to drive business results for your company.  This article will focus on why LinkedIn is an essential network for B2B marketing and provide ideas on what types of content to share on LinkedIn to drive ROI.

Do you have a LinkedIn company page?  Are you actively using it in your social selling efforts?  If you’re a B2B company and you’re not, you should – LinkedIn is 3 times more effective in generating B2B leads than Twitter or Facebook.  In this blog article, I will explore the best ways to use LinkedIn to promote your brand and generate leads and customers for your business. 

We know that LinkedIn is a great social network for producing B2B leads, but why else should you incorporate a LinkedIn company page into your social selling process?  First of all, LinkedIn is the premier business networking site.  There are over 175 million business users worldwide and 4 out of 5 members drive business decisions (source:  LinkedIn, August 2012.) 

Why Use LinkedIn in Your Social Media Marketing Process?

LinkedIn provides 3 primary channels to communicate with your target audience:

• LinkedIn Company Pages
• LinkedIn Groups
• LinkedIn Ads

There are 4 primary goals for marketing on LinkedIn:

1. Grow your reach – most companies used LinkedIn to expand the business audience that they want to reach.  LinkedIn allows companies to expand their universe beyond customer lists and purchased marketing lists to reach people and companies that are interested in their message.
2. Increase company engagement – successful companies use LinkedIn to engage in dialogue with their target audience to help them solve problems and educate them.  The more engagement you have with your audience, the more likely they are to buy from you.
3. Generate website traffic – by posting links to useful information on LinkedIn, you attract targeted traffic to your website in a cost-effective manner.
4. Generate leads and customers – the ultimate goal of any marketing effort is to generate leads and customers.  By engaging with your audience on LinkedIn and driving them to your website and landing pages, LinkedIn produces real business results.

What Content to Post on LinkedIn to Drive Business Results

The engine that drives business results on LinkedIn is content.  A good place to start when developing content for LinkedIn is to think in the context of customer questions.  By posting content that answers common customer questions, you add value to your audience and inspire them to share your content with their circle of influence.

Here are some suggestions for posting content on LinkedIn that drives business results.

Share blog articles

If you’re blogging, you’re already creating content that adds value to your audience.  Posting your blog articles on LinkedIn lets you share them with a wider audience and draws traffic to your website and landing pages.  If you’re not blogging, consider posting other blog articles that add value to your audience.

Promote webinar and event invitations

LinkedIn provides an excellent opportunity to engage more deeply with your audience by inviting them to webinars and events that you’re hosting.  These formats allow your audience to get to know you better and in the case of leads, drive them further down the sales funnel.  The challenge in converting inbound leads into customers is transitioning the relationship from online to a personal relationship.  Promoting your webinars and events on LinkedIn is an excellent way to do this.

Ask Questions that Generate Discussion Within Your Target Audience

Asking provocative and timely questions on your company page and in your discussions is a great way to both engage your audience and learn more about their opinions and concerns.

Share Whitepapers and eBooks

Sharing your whitepapers and eBooks not only provides comprehensive educational material to your followers, but it also drives web traffic and generates leads.  This type of content is very useful in ensuring that the top of your sales funnel has a constant supply of new leads to nurture and push down the funnel.

Amplify Your Content With LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn ads are an affordable way to expand your reach and promote your audience to a targeted audience that you define.  LinkedIn ads let you promote your posts, your website or your company page.  You can define your targeted audience by geography, industry, level of seniority and company size.

The next article on using LinkedIn company pages will focus on how to post content and how to analyze and improve your efforts.  In the meantime, please share how you're using LinkedIn and what results you've been able to produce.  And one more thing - go sell something!