Have you visited your company’s LinkedIn page lately?
LinkedIn rolled out their new company pages to more than 2 million corporate members (http://blog.linkedin.com/2012/10/04/new-linkedin-company-pages-to-all/) last month. The new layout is a significant improvement—the company pages are easier to navigate and to edit, and are more visually oriented. Marketers are now able to upload a large banner graphic to the home page that can be used to capture a visitor’s attention and define the brand.
As part of the redesign, company updates posted on LinkedIn appear immediately below the banner graphic on the home page. Visitors to your company page will know what’s going on with your company (or not!) in a snap. Company updates are followed by the “About” Section, which includes a brief overview of your company, specialties, website address, industry, company size, etc. The information is presented in a concise and thoughtful way.
Why is this important? This social network is shifting from being a place to recruit new employees, find a job, keep in touch with past colleagues, or to promote Brand You—to also being a place to promote your organization, and its talent, to other professionals who may be interested in your products or services. Latest enhancements would suggest that LinkedIn is focusing on this as a strategic direction. With an audience of 187 million+ professionals, clearly, this is not a social network to be flippant about, or to ignore, especially if your business is a B2B.
LinkedIn is one of many touch points that your potential clients will use to gather information about you, and they will be influenced by what they see and read. A well thought-out company page, with strong graphics, appropriate messaging, and up-to-date information will get their attention.
We have noticed that many organizations have established a presence on LinkedIn (perhaps, to claim or protect their name), but haven’t taken advantage of the network’s features to position their organization in the best light. As marketers, that seems incredible to us. If you are going to be there, why wouldn’t you do this right? If you need help evolving your LinkedIn company page, let us know. We’re here to make your presence known!