Linked Best Practices for Small Businesses
11.16.22

Whether you are a small company trying to grow your business, a leader trying to leverage your personal profile, or a recruiter trying to make the most of what the platform has to offer, you’ve gone to the right place, LinkedIn.
Why LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the business hub of social media with more than 850 million members and 50 million users looking for jobs through LinkedIn weekly. If you are looking to grow professionally, LinkedIn is the space to do just that.
The Basics
- Have all profile information complete and up to date. About information, phone number, company size, specialties, and website should all be the most current information available. This information is likely to be one of the users first points of contact with your company; make it easy for them to get to know you.
- Post frequency: how often are you posting? The best practice is not to post more than 2 times a day. Posting more frequently can lead to lower reach and engagement of each post. LinkedIn pages that tend to get the most engagement are the ones that post no more than once a day.
- Post content: generally, there should be a mix of industry/informational-related content, brand news/events, and culture. The ratios of each should align with your unique business goals.
- For example, if your business is focusing heavily on recruitment for the next quarter, consider posting more culture related pieces and posts. The same goes for new business goals—show off your smarts with thought leadership pieces.
- Engagement: is the brand regularly engaging with commenters? Engaging with comments and posts tagging your brand not only gives your brand personality but it also boosts your place in the LinkedIn algorithm, in turn getting you more engagement on future posts.
- Brand guidelines: ensure all posts follow brand guidelines and users have a seamless experience whether they are on your LinkedIn page, click onto your website, or visit other social media channels. Users should get a consistent brand experience across all platforms your business is on.
- Growing your network: personalize your connection requests; follow up in-person meetings by making connections on LinkedIn; explore LinkedIn groups and hashtags; share your personal LinkedIn URL on business cards, other social platforms, and your email signature; and lastly, add video/image to your content posts, the LinkedIn algorithm favors this.
Voice & Tone
It’s unavoidable, cross-channel content will flex your tone and voice. It’s important that while the dialect may shift according to the platform, the dialogue of your brand remains constant. Remember, the goal of your social profiles are to connect with your audience and share with them your core identity within your messaging.
- LinkedIn is a great place to share important company updates and announcements to showcase transparency to the business community.
- LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Posts can be informative and content heavy.
- Keep recruitment in mind when crafting a tone and voice for LinkedIn, job applicants will often research your companies on LinkedIn before applying.
Leadership & LinkedIn
Just as important as it is for you to update your business’s LinkedIn, it’s important to have your leadership’s personal LinkedIn pages align with both the company and their personal brands.
- Have a current About section—your bio should reflect personal style and be informative, not just listing your job title. Your experience should be inclusive of areas you consider yourself an expert in, with a touch of personal information. Do not list experience just for the sake of experience in this section.
- Keywords matter on LinkedIn! Does your profile hold the right keywords to attract the audience you want?
- Have a recent profile picture of you. Also, 70% of your profile picture should be your face.
- Have a header image—this should be professional in nature and tie into the respective company or geo.
- Be inclusive of relevant board experience, volunteer experience, etc.
- Reach out to co-workers or fellow professionals in your network to endorse you on skills relevant to your job functions.
- Your LinkedIn profile should tell a story. LinkedIn might be your first impression for recruiting, networking, or a new business conversation. Be thoughtful of the story you want to be portraying in the overall space.
- Add insights when reposting. Do not just repost for the sake of reposting, add the “why” behind it, give your personal opinion, and voice. If applicable, even seek the thoughts and opinions of others, etc.
- Set a posting cadence. Post a minimum of once a month, with the best practice of posting weekly.
- Be active—engage on the app; like, comment, and share relevant posts. Spending time on the app means growing your presence and making new connections.
Making the most of LinkedIn can boost your connections, land you new recruits, and grow your business. To learn more about LinkedIn best practices, contact our team of specialists today!
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