Since my last article, where I reported that LinkedIn had 135 million users, that number has now grown to 150 million members, reinforcing the fact that LinkedIn is still the largest social networking site for business professionals worldwide. Also consider a few other current statistics to further highlight why you and your company need to be on this important social network:
• 23.9% of individuals on LinkedIn are business decision makers
• 64% of users agree that LinkedIn helps develop relationships and grow new business
• Members are twice as confident in the information found on LinkedIn than any other social site
In my previous two articles, I outlined the steps to take in order to optimize your personal profile on LinkedIn, grow your network, and become active on it to increase your visibility. This article provides an overview of the benefits of establishing a business presence on LinkedIn by setting up a Company Page.
What is a Company Page?
A Company Page is a centralized place where any LinkedIn user can get information about your company, its products and services. Your customers and prospects have the opportunity to “Follow” your company which then enables you to provide regular status updates so that you can engage with them. Your customers also have the ability to “recommend” your services, allowing you to drive awareness through word of mouth. Similarly, the reverse is also true where you can “Follow” your customers and suppliers, keeping on top of their activities.
The Benefits of Setting Up a Company Page
Although you probably have a company website set up, the challenge is getting prospects to visit it. The primary reason to establish a Company Page is to be more accessible and visible to the 150 million business people on LinkedIn. After all, you need to be where you target audience is. A properly optimized LinkedIn page, having both content on it, and employees linking to it, will also improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and organic visibility. And it’s free, too! Lastly, you will be miles ahead of your competition. In doing research for this article, I could not find one printing company that had an optimized company page – not even the big guys!
How to Set Up a Company Page on LinkedIn
In the top navigation bar on LinkedIn, click on “Companies”, then in the upper right click on “Add a Company”. From there you will be taken to a page where you will be required to enter your company name and provide your email address at the company. Only current employees are eligible to create a Company Page. From there you will be asked for basic information such as the type of company, size, website address, industry, location, logo, company description and company specialties. You will also have the ability to assign an administrator to manage your page. Now that you have set up your “Overview” page, you can then set up products and services. You can upload an image, describe your products and services, list key features, provide a link to the product page on your website, list a contact person, add a promotion, and even include a YouTube video. As a last step you can upload up to three graphical banners in order to make your page more visually appealing.
Start engaging with your customers and prospects
Now that your company page is set up, you will have the ability to ask for recommendations for your products and services. This is different than the personal recommendations I outlined in Part I – because everyone in your network, whether you are connected to them or not – will be able to see them. Next, you will encourage both customers and prospects to “Follow” your company page. Why? So that you can share updates with them. Updates can be links to interesting articles, printing tips, special promotions you are offering, or something that you think will be of value or interest to your target audience. Do feel free to respond when someone comments on your update – interact with people – in other words be “social”.
See you on LinkedIn!