This is the penultimate part of our " eCommerce Support" series, which focuses on how the most popular social media can support the sale of your products or services. This time we focus on the most popular business portal - LinkedIn. Setting up a company page on this social media site literally takes a few minutes, but the difficulties start later. Today we are going to tell you what to do to get the maximum benefit from it. Yes, you're not wrong - LinkedIn really can support your business in the sales area. Find out how!
LinkedIn capabilities - what does it offer?
Do you want to share the successes of your company and employees? Do you want to establish yourself as an industry expert, involved in all the events in the world of eCommerce? Do you want to build a network of people interested in similar topics as you, with whom you can have discussions? For these purposes you can use LinkedIn, which was created 20 years ago (founded in 2002, released in 2003) with a goal of establishing business contacts. Within a few years the portal became a platform for talent hunting by recruiters and is still used for this purpose. Okay, but where's the sales in all of this? The answer is that recruitment is the main goal, but not the only one.
LinkedIn doesn't just focus on recruiting
The possibilities of LinkedIn are not just limited to supporting the recruitment processes taking place in your company thanks to the possibility of searching for employees and making contact by yourself, rather than waiting for a resume to be received in response to an ad. However, we must emphasize - if you set up a company profile on this portal with the idea that you want to achieve high sales results, and you plan to constantly advertise your products without taking any other steps, do not count on success: this is not how this social media works. So how can LinkedIn be a support for eCommerce?
Social selling on LinkedIn - hit or myth?
It is not Facebook with its marketplace, Instagram with its store redirects and shopping live streams or Pinterest giving you the opportunity to present your products in pictures in an extremely aesthetic way. The essence of LinkedIna is different - the key word (or even two words) is business relationships (both B2B and B2C, although in the first case it will definitely be much easier). Building a network of contacts, presenting valuable content aimed at the target group, direct contact with potential customers, employer branding activities (also in LinkedIn Ads) - all these possibilities of the portal can be used by companies operating in the eCommerce industry and running their business profiles on LinkedIn.
In the ebook "Getting Started with Social Selling" created by LinkedIn, the site states that 50% of users use it for sales purposes and as many as 70% find the content that appears on it credible and valuable. Relevant content that other users are willing to recommend and pass along allows you to grow your audience. The result? More visibility, and over time, more sales. That's what your goal is, right?
LinkedIn - the mistakes you don't want to make
The basis of a properly functioning eCommerce account on LinkedIn is reliable and accurately completed information, professional graphics, logos in the appropriate resolution or properly selected keywords. However, do not forget about the elements listed below:
Increase your network
This is obvious, but sometimes very difficult to do. However, you can't give up, but build up a broader network of contacts step by step. Start with your colleagues or business partners, who can be easily found on LinkedIn. Then use the people and companies search engine to discover those with potential for cooperation or services. The next step is to organically expand your reach through regular activity.
Regularly publish posts
The same principle as on the website applies: "Content is still the king." Three elements are important: regularity, value, and a presentation that triggers the recipient's interest and makes them recommend your post or engage in more advanced activity. This can range from posts or articles published on a company blog to other content.
Contribute to discussions and share
The activity on the company profile on LinkedIn cannot be limited only to creating your own content. It is also important to mark your presence in the virtual world in other ways: by making substantive statements and sharing content (in written form, videos, infographics, etc.) that you would like to recommend to your audience.
Networking: recommend, share, comment
It is also worth encouraging employees to create and actively maintain their profiles. Each recommendation, sharing or commenting on the post from the company's page builds the reach (post reaches the contacts in the network of a given person) and proves that it is worth following. People are behind a company's profile on LinkedIn - don't forget that and try to take advantage of it as much as possible.
Are you ready to get support for your eCommerce from LinkedIn?
As you can deduce from this article, LinkedIn's capabilities and the way you communicate on this channel are significantly different from Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. Keep a profile on this business portal to build your position as an expert in your industry and to establish business relationships. This will help you increase your visibility and reach new groups of customers, which may ultimately translate into higher sales. So if you don't have your eCommerce profile on LinkedIn yet, don't hesitate any longer!
