Each new year provides an opportunity to set goals and define strategies. Has your company discussed a social media strategy for 2011? It’s easy to get busy with projects and deadlines and forget about marketing yourself. In today’s digital age, it’s even more important to give your company’s online presence a facelift. Now is the perfect time to define what your company wants to accomplish in 2011.
In November 2010, LinkedIn launched company pages. Your LinkedIn company page is an essential social media tool that will continue to build your online presence. It’s important that your overview attracts the attention of new employees and new business prospects. Keep it simple and make a user want to learn more. Make sure your company overview is up to date with current clients and areas of expertise. Set a calendar reminder to update your company profile regularly.
Your LinkedIn company page gives you the opportunity to showcase your areas of expertise on the products and services tab. You can upload a photo and samples of your previous work, and encourage visitors to check out your website for more information. Next, ask a client to write a recommendation to jazz up your profile and give your company credibility.
LinkedIn allows users to follow company pages. You can monitor who is following your page as a way to generate new business leads and recruit employees. If you have a job opening, LinkedIn is a great place to advertise the position. Note: you do have to pay for a 30-day posting. And the best part of LinkedIn company pages? The analytics! Company page analytics provide data on page views and visitors. This is a free feature and provides great insights into who is checking out your company profile.
As with any social media platform, integration is key. Your LinkedIn company page gives you the option to pull in your company’s Twitter stream and blog’s RSS feed. You can also add the LinkedIn icon to your company’s website, e-mail signatures and e-alerts.
LinkedIn provides great tools for businesses to tap into — and basic user accounts are free! Take some time to define your social media strategy for 2011 and consider using LinkedIn company pages to set your company up for success.
BranchOut is a new professional profile application powered by Facebook that launched last week. With many similarities to LinkedIn, it will be interesting to see how the two platforms compete. Share your predictions on our Facebook page.