This morning, at a networking event (yes, the seemingly notorious one where legend has it, we all get our tits out! www.cowomen.org), a discussion sparked about LinkedIn, particularly around personal and business pages. As someone in the marketing field, I realised that if I had questions, many of you might too. So, I’ve decided to embark on an exploratory journey into LinkedIn's labyrinth, acting as your personal guinea pig. I’ll be diving deep, testing strategies, and sharing my experience of what works, what doesn’t. Why? Because in a world where being passionately loved (or hated) by a few trumps being forgettable to many, it's time to add a bit more personality to our approach.
Embracing LinkedIn's Unique Landscape
LinkedIn, often seen as the 'serious' sibling in the social media family, is more than just digital suits and corporate handshakes. It’s a thriving platform for professional growth and learning. Understanding its core – audience, tone, and content – is essential.
Starting from Scratch: Inkie's LinkedIn Adventure
At Inkie, we're in the unique position of building our LinkedIn presence from the ground up. Despite over two decades in marketing and copywriting, our LinkedIn journey is at its beginning. I'll share the unfiltered highs and lows of growing a network and company page from scratch, offering honest insights into what it really takes.
Personal Profiles vs. Company Pages: The LinkedIn Dilemma
There's a growing debate over the effectiveness of personal profiles versus company pages. While personal profiles often see higher engagement due to their more personal nature, company pages offer a central hub for your business and access to analytics and paid advertising. In reality, a balanced approach that utilises both is probably your best bet.
Navigating Content Sharing on LinkedIn: Blogs and Articles
When it comes to sharing content, especially blogs, you face a strategic choice: share directly from your website to drive traffic or post articles on LinkedIn for potentially higher engagement. I’ll be experimenting with both methods to see which one brings more engagement, traffic, and business growth.
Practical Strategies for LinkedIn Success
While theory and statistics are invaluable, nothing beats the learnings from hands-on experience. Here are some of the practical strategies I'll be exploring:
Content Types and Engagement: Analysing which types of posts (images, videos, articles, etc.) garner the most engagement and why. Understanding this can help tailor our content strategy to what resonates best with our audience.
Networking Like a Pro: Delving into the art of building meaningful connections on LinkedIn. This isn't just about adding contacts; it's about fostering relationships that bring mutual value.
Joining and Participating in Groups: Exploring the impact of active participation in LinkedIn groups related to our industry. How does this influence our visibility and authority in the field?
Balancing Personal and Company Pages
In my journey with Inkie, I'm keen to find the sweet spot between leveraging my personal profile for thought leadership and using our company page for wider brand visibility. This real-time experiment will shed light on how effectively we can use these two facets in tandem to maximise our impact on LinkedIn.
The Blog vs. Article Dilemma
Another key area of exploration will be the effectiveness of sharing blogs from the Inkie website versus publishing articles directly on LinkedIn. Each method has its merits: website blogs can drive traffic to our site, improving SEO, while LinkedIn articles might foster greater engagement on the platform itself. I'll be tracking and sharing results to see which approach helps us meet our goals more effectively.
Embarking on this LinkedIn journey is about more than just growing Inkie's presence; it's about demystifying the platform for all of us. Whether you're a small business owner, a freelancer, or part of a larger corporation, the insights gained here could be the key to unlocking your brand's potential on LinkedIn. So, stay tuned as I navigate the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
Laying Out a Clear LinkedIn Strategy
To make the most of LinkedIn, it's essential to have a dynamic, well-rounded strategy. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of Inkie's approach, which you can adapt for your own brand:
Content Variety Test: In the coming weeks, Inkie will test various content types. We'll share behind-the-scenes images, thought-provoking articles, and engaging videos, each week focusing on a different format. The goal is to measure engagement and reach, seeing which type of content sparks the most conversation and interaction.
Focused Networking Approach: Networking on LinkedIn is an art. Instead of randomly adding connections, I’ll be engaging with individuals and brands that align with Inkie’s values and goals. This includes commenting on their posts, sharing their content, and starting meaningful conversations. The aim is to build a network that’s not just big, but valuable and engaged.
Active Group Participation: Inkie is set to join and contribute to LinkedIn groups pertinent to our industry. This isn’t just about posting our content but also engaging with others’ posts, asking questions, and starting discussions. We aim to become a recognised and respected voice in these groups.
Utilising Analytics for Strategy Refinement: We'll be using LinkedIn’s analytics tools to track the performance of our posts and interactions. This data will guide us in tweaking our strategy to better cater to our audience’s preferences and behaviours.
Inkie's Current LinkedIn Stats for Reference
To give you a baseline for comparison, here are our current stats:
Followers on Company Page:19
Connections on Personal Profile: 104
Average Post Engagement: 35 views
The Blog vs. Article Experiment
Each week, alternating between sharing a blog link and posting a full article on LinkedIn, we'll closely monitor which approach garners more meaningful engagement and website traffic. This will give us insights into whether LinkedIn favours native content over external links and how this affects our reach and engagement.
This real-time exploration into LinkedIn strategies is more than an exercise in brand growth; it's a journey into the heart of what makes content resonate on a professional platform. By following along with Inkie's journey, you’ll get a front-row seat to what works, what doesn’t, and how to adapt these learnings for your brand's success on LinkedIn.
Join me on Linkedin to see the results Inkie-ink
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