linkedin for b2b marketing

Do’s and Don’ts of Using LinkedIn for B2B Marketing

When most of us think about LinkedIn, job hunting immediately comes to mind. This is unsurprising when you consider that job hunting is where LinkedIn started, and it remains a major function of the platform. But did you know that there are some 65 million LinkedIn members who make purchasing decisions for their company? it’s true! In fact, at least 58 million companies have a presence on LinkedIn — and along with that presence comes decision-makers. Now that decision-makers have joined the discussion, it’s important to discuss LinkedIn for B2B marketing.

With all of the business leaders on LinkedIn, it’s easy to see why the platform has become an ever more important place for B2B marketing. Do you know how to use LinkedIn effectively as a marketing tool? If not, you should. Fortunately, we have some actionable tips that you can try right away.

Why is LinkedIn B2B marketing so important?

linkedin for b2b marketing
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One of the quickest answers to this question is that if you aren’t doing it, your competitors are. But there’s much more behind the value of B2B content marketing on LinkedIn than simply keeping up with the competition.

Because LinkedIn is so business focused, there aren’t a lot of distractions. Furthermore, LinkedIn is a place where business decision-makers are used to hearing about business topics. Additionally, there are more options for reaching your audiences with LinkedIn for B2B marketing. For example, the famous InMails are enormously successful, which is why they also command a relatively high price.

Also, there’s an old saying that people pay people. Within the context of B2B content marketing, This means that people get an opportunity to know both you and your brand better. When the time comes to buy, they’ve already advanced far in your sales funnel, and they want to talk to the people that they know. In other words, the business networking aspect of LinkedIn works just as well for businesses and representatives as it does for jobseekers and recruiters.

Finally, because of the platform’s corporate focus, LinkedIn for B2B marketing has unique tools to help you direct advertising and content alike to the right people. This way, you avoid wasting money on advertising your goods and services to people whose companies would never need them. In turn, you get a better return on investment.

The Do’s and Dont’s of LinkedIn for B2B Marketing

Like almost every other kind of social media or content marketing, there’s an art as well as a science to LinkedIn for B2B content marketing. Not only must you guess which ad formats work best and what content to publish, but you’ll also need to consider what you post online. Here are some best practices which will get you started.

Do: Actively network on LinkedIn

Especially in business, building relationships with other professionals is essential if you want to sell goods and services. And at the same time, you want to make sure that people consider you a trustworthy partner for their procurement needs. One of the best ways to meet both goals is by networking. As people get to know you and what you have to say, you can quickly get the sort of credibility that sells.

Do: Present yourself as a thought leader

One of the most important things that you can do as a sales or marketing representative is to demonstrate your competence in your subject matter. Similarly, you want to show that your company is the market leader in its niche. Both of these objectives are well met with B2B content marketing as you provide value to your audience. 

Do: Use data to determine what works and what doesn’t

From deciding when to post to what you should post about, use data. You get further analytics data with certain premium and corporate LinkedIn accounts, and internal marketing software that you have will typically give you this as well. Test different types of content formats and approaches, and evaluate their effectiveness on a monthly basis to make informed tweaks and adjustments. 

Don’t: Be a spammer

Everyone hates spam on other social networks, but this is especially true on LinkedIn. In fact, there are safeguards in place to help prevent LinkedIn for B2B marketing from becoming an easy way for bad actors to get access to people’s contact information. Just as seriously,  you need to ensure that you don’t give a bad impression of your company.

Don’t: Fail to participate

One of the best ways to have your B2B content marketing ignored is to only interact on the platform when you want to sell something.  Instead, be part of the LinkedIn community while also looking for sales leads and following up on them.

Don’t: Overdo the connection requests

If you want to get banned from LinkedIn, one of the best ways is by spam-connecting with everybody. Many marketers and sales professionals have had their accounts suspended for doing exactly that sort of thing. And by the same token, using data scrapers can get the same reaction.

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