LinkedIn continues to gain popularity as a leading social media platform in 2020 for businesses. It has been able to successfully transition its identity from a job posting and recruitment platform to a professional networking platform. The proof is in the pudding. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions has released data revealing that it has 15 times more content impressions then job postings. This also suggests an ideal social platform for content marketing strategies to drive value and results for businesses, both B2B and B2C.
How powerful is the LinkedIn platform?
The latest statistics reveal that there are over 675 million users (14% increase since the end 2018) and 30 million companies currently on LinkedIn. Geographically there are over 16+ million users in Canada and 167+ in the United States of America. According to data by Pew Research Center, 61% of the platform’s users are between the ages of 25 and 34. Statistics also reveal that 57% of LinkedIn traffic is through mobile devices, compared to Facebook’s 98%.
Using content marketing on LinkedIn to drive website traffic that is primed for browsing is a great way to boost your brand authority, thought leadership, and revenues.
– Kyle Turk, President, Meerkat Marketing
Based on our experience with LinkedIn in 2020, we’ve identified 5 challenges for businesses as well as how to overcome them.
Challenge #1 – When is the best time to post on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn global engagement data shows that the optimal time to post on the platform is predominantly during the work week. Specifically from Tuesday – Friday from 8am to 2pm. In order to fully optimize your best and most important posts the best days are Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays from 8–10 am and noon, as well as Thursdays at 9 am and between 1–2 pm are identified as the best times from a global engagement standpoint. For more information on when to post on specific social media networks, Sprout Social has a great blog to check out “The Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2020“.
Challenge #2 – Personal Pages vs. Company Pages
LinkedIn prioritizes content that comes from personal pages as opposed to company pages. One way to battle this challenge on LinkedIn is to ensure that marquee content that has been created by employees or the leaders is shared on their personal networks. For example, if a financial services business owner has written an educational blog for the company on cash flow during COVID-19 to support their clients, we suggest sharing that blog and information through the business owner’s personal LinkedIn page as well in order to drive further reach and greater engagement on the valuable content piece.
Challenge #3 – Posting Frequently
LinkedIn prioritizes content from publishers who publish consistently. In order to be effective on LinkedIn you need to stay consistent with adding value to your audience by posting updates at least once a week. Although it can be daunting to continuously think of new content to post, frequent posts will ensure that your posts continue to drive engagement. LinkedIn seems to prefer content from publishers that post frequently as opposed to those that post randomly once in a while. If you need help conveying a consistent message on LinkedIn for your business, reach out to our experts today.
Challenge #4 – Getting Reactions on Your Posts
LinkedIn seems to showcase content that generates conversations. That means posts that get good engagement as well as lengthly comments. You need to utilize your employees to drive engagement on your marquee posts to ensure you maximize its reach. Consider creating an internal process that ensures your employees are abreast what is being posted on your social channels. Your employees can be your biggest asset and advocates on LinkedIn.
Challenge #5 – Sharing Company Page Posts
This goes back to challenge #2 again, but LinkedIn seems to prefer original content posted from a personal account over a personal account that shares a company’s page post. If you share a post from a company page, it seems to get little to no engagement, whereas if you post the content directly through your personal page, the reach is much higher. If employees are looking to share content that your company has posted to their networks, encourage them to recreate the post if possible (save the image or link and post the content themselves), instead of sharing the company’s post.
How to succeed on LinkedIn in 2020?
In order to drive more engagement and reach for your company’s LinkedIn posts, utilize personal accounts of the leadership team and employees, stay consistent, be cognizant on when you are posting, and have fun. Test different types of posts (messaging, images, video, etc.) to see what resonates best with your audience, optimize future posts, and you’ll see great value from the social platform.