LinkedIn was launched in 2003 by Reid Hoffman with co-founders Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly. The idea was to create a professional social networking platform. The dotcom bubble burst had just occurred, and many Internet companies, fanned by speculative investments and unviable business models, had imploded.
This cautionary tale enforced a much greater discipline in LinkedIn’s approach of having a clear value proposition and sustainable business model. At that time, there was a shift in how people and businesses used the internet. Web 2.0 had taken hold in the early 2000s. It was much more interactive than Web 1.0 and heavily focused on user-generated content.
This gave the company a better foundation on which to base itself and would be where LinkedIn would find its place: interaction in a professional setting and allowing profiles and content to be created.
Social Media PR has since revolutionized how PR professionals communicate, engage with audiences, and manage brand reputations. Unlike other platforms where personal photos and updates are shared, LinkedIn is now the go-to hub for talent discovery and professional opinion sharing. The latter of these makes LinkedIn PR especially valuable to public relations as a platform where thought leadership is nurtured.
LinkedIn public relations is now essential to B2B businesses, partly because its huge popularity makes it impossible for PR people to ignore, but from a PR strategy point of view, it's also essential for personal branding. Everything about it is ideal for PR. It has over 1 billion active users, making it an invaluable tool for engaging with decision-makers and prospects. But how do I do it, I hear you ask?
Our 12 LinkedIn public relations tips to elevate strategy
We’ve compiled this list of top tips to get you started in your LinkedIn PR journey. The first thing to understand is that when you log into LinkedIn, you are logging into your personal account. Only a person can create a company page. A company page is associated with a personal profile, so when you log in, you need to choose if you are acting as a person or a company. This is important as some interactions are better done as a person, and some are better done as a business. In our guide, we look at both.
Be active
A well-attended to LinkedIn page can act as the hub of a brand's online existence. It provides a venue wherein a brand can express its mission, values, products, and services in enough detail that a potential customer or partner can get a snapshot of what makes up the brand.
So, when did you last post on LinkedIn? When it comes to LinkedIn, you need to post more often than not. Post at least 3 or 4 times weekly, depending on your industry.
Stale content can make your brand appear irrelevant, out-of-touch, and no longer operational. Don't kill your chances before it begins; share articles, blogs, interviews, or surveys. Keep it relevant and make it compelling to draw in audiences.
Make sure your company details are updated, too. If someone has joined the company, update this. Got a new address? Then change it. Updating details and posting frequently also increases the chances of you being found by new audiences since the internal algorithms favor fresh and relevant content, much like Google does. Also, the more active you are, the more likely you'll appear to second and third-degree connections, helping you reach beyond your immediate network.
First impressions count
With its potential for digital leadership and in giving a competitive edge, you need to first start with the basics and give this the time it deserves.
A complete and well-maintained page serves as a digital first impression. It shows that it genuinely cares about its brand and can instil confidence early on in potential clients.
A detailed LinkedIn page conveys a professional attitude and gives an organization credibility, which is essential to gaining the trust of an audience yet to learn who you are.
Keeping that in mind, ensure that your profile portrays your company as an expert in your field. Ask execs to share newsworthy opinions, then reshare the opinions on the company page.
Get recommendations for your execs
Recommendations and endorsements for individuals in a business provide strong evidence in social proof to potential clients, something LinkedIn excels at. In fact, where this is concerned, it's the best. You can display third-party references and recommendations for people, which is great for boosting a thought leadership PR strategy.
Seek recommendations from happy customers and (equally happy) former colleagues. Don't just get them to gush about you, though. It'll look like you wrote it. Instead, give them some pointers to talk about so that what they say is coherent and clear and addresses the main points you want prospects to hear about.
Recommendations for people can draw attention to their or the company's commitment to specific values such as innovation or corporate social responsibility. This can reinforce a company's key messages and public image.
Personal recommendations authenticate the reliability of a company's claims, help with personal branding, and build the company's overall network. They are akin to word-of-mouth marketing.
Make a LinkedIn newsletter
A LinkedIn newsletter is a feature that allows content creators or companies to publish regular articles or posts on a particular topic. The same can be followed by any other member who's interested in the subject. To start a LinkedIn newsletter via your company page, you will need 150 page followers.
Newsletters are published on your page at certain intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) but with the option to be emailed to subscribers via a link (in case they miss it on LinkedIn) should they wish. All someone needs to do is hit 'subscribe' on your profile page. It's super easy and very intuitive. LinkedIn newsletters are truly long form content. A normal LinkedIn post can be up to 3000 characters, but a LinkedIn newsletter episode can be more than 100,000 characters.
With a lifespan of about 24 hours, your posts soon end up as archives in your activities section. But your content lives on in a newsletter and lives its best life, too, with the formatting, links, and photos unimpaired.
Newsletters reach the feed and inbox. LinkedIn posts only reach the feed. With newsletters, there is also more control over how you format photos, as opposed to posts, where you can only put photos at the bottom and not within different parts of a story.
Done correctly, your newsletters could wind up in front of a company or investor who may not otherwise be aware of your company. One useful tip is handing the reins to employees to write about their particular subject areas or to offer their thoughts that can showcase your organization's talent and expertise to readers and could result in high quality lead gen.
Match it to your other touchpoints
There needs to be cohesion in the story you’re telling. The same message across all channels helps reinforce your brand’s identity in the minds of audiences, which is key to being recognizable and strengthening online market presence. It doesn't give a great impression if your LinkedIn and website say two different things. That said, it’s wise to consider LinkedIn as part of a holistic social media strategy. For example, if Twitter is also important to you, the messaging needs to be consistent. Work out if you want to post the same comments on both platforms or if you are reaching different audiences with different social platforms.
You should aim for a seamless UX (user experience). Different touchpoints should flow. What people see should be the same.
If your website highlights a core value of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), but your LinkedIn doesn't reflect this commitment, it can reduce trust in what you say.
The above extends to logos and general artwork. Make them the same proportion in size. But don’t degrade or alter these to fit either; they’ll look unprofessional or rushed.
Post about your company successes
This includes the coverage you receive. This is more valuable than advertising because someone featured you based on what you had to offer. Furthermore, they may have done so at the expense of your competition, and sometimes, you have to blow your own trumpet.
So go ahead and share company successes on your feed. Tag the outlet or journalist who featured you so they and their followers see it, too. This leads to more visibility.
If your tech firm wins an innovation award, you'd want your key audiences to know. An award your firm won within the field of HRtech goes a long way to cementing your competence in the eyes of an organization looking to streamline its HR procedures.
Don't just make it a one-time post, either. Repost for those who may have missed the first time, and even make it an every six months or annual thing.
Be human
Consumer behavior has now shifted. People buy what they like from who they like. In a sign of the blurring of the lines between B2B and B2C, this applies to brands, too. People like to feel that they know a brand. Once you realize this, you see that you need to do something more than post about your products or services or your awards, and it underscores the importance of building connections with audiences and making brands likable and relatable.
You can't just expect people to buy from you straight off the bat. Try to build meaningful connections first. If you sell expensive software, people are unlikely to part with their money right away.
While we accept that social media is often used for sharing your accomplishments, just this alone won't cut it for effective LinkedIn PR. You need to speak about what your customers care about, what troubles them in their daily professional lives, how to solve it, and what you can add to the industry. Oh, and you need to do this all in a genuine tone that represents your brand.
Crisis management
LinkedIn allows a brand to remain in the driver's seat when controlling the narrative. LinkedIn's professional setting provides the perfect opportunity to present the organization's side of the story, clarify facts, share crisis management plans and use the platform's wide reach to provide accurate and timely information regarding crisis communication.
Companies can also use their platform to share positive stories during the crisis, such as successful mitigation efforts or support from partners, shifting the focus away from the crisis and into the company's proactive actions. It can also be tied in with broader company ethics. For example, suppose a supplier is not as environmentally sound as they stated. In that case, delaying product availability so that wider ethics are not compromised can demonstrate a firm's genuine values.
You can also reply directly to individual comments, address concerns, and gauge audience sentiment to determine whether your messaging should be adjusted.
To check if a person or a company has mentioned your brand name on LinkedIn, log in to your account (it doesn’t matter if you log in to your personal profile or business account), search for your brand name, filter the results based on posts, sort by most recent and scroll through the list of posts which mention your brand. Some of the comments might (understandably) be negative during a crisis, and you have the choice of either responding to these using a private message or responding to the post publicly.
Learn more about crisis management
Reciprocate, repost and engage
LinkedIn allows a brand to remain in the driver's seat when controlling the narrative. LinkedIn's professional setting provides the perfect opportunity to present the organization's side of the story, clarify facts, share crisis management plans and use the platform's wide reach to provide accurate and timely information regarding crisis communication.
Companies can also use their platform to share positive stories during the crisis, such as successful mitigation efforts or support from partners, shifting the focus away from the crisis and into the company's proactive actions. It can also be tied in with broader company ethics. For example, suppose a supplier is not as environmentally sound as they stated. In that case, delaying product availability so that wider ethics are not compromised can demonstrate a firm's genuine values.
Reciprocate
If you notice a company or person providing positive feedback about your brand, reciprocate. It’s not only polite, but a helpful two-way street. Once you start commenting and sharing, you'll build authentic connections and may start to enjoy it. LinkedIn is a social network, after all. Reply to people who take the time to comment on your posts.
This can be done using your personal profile or your business page.
Repost
Re-posting positive comments written by other people on LinkedIn is a great way to build authority. To do this, log in to your company's LinkedIn account, search for your brand name, filter the results based on ‘posts,’ then sort based on recent, and scroll through the list of posts which mention your brand; you might see people or companies that have mentioned your brand name in their posts using the command.
Additionally, some companies or people might give you a mention on LinkedIn, this is done using the @. If you receive these notifications, then it’s a good idea to share them. If you do, and the comment is positive, repost this comment on your company page. There’s nothing better than someone else talking about you; it’s the best form of fee advertising. You can also log in using your personal account and repost the comment there.
Ask the execs in your company to repost content from your company page and also reciprocate this approach by reposting relevant content from the exec team’s personal account onto the company page.
Engage
Journalists live on LinkedIn, too. Start by following journalists for publications relevant to your industry. Engage with their posts by liking, commenting, and sharing your opinions on any topical issue they raise. You’re building these relationships so that if or when an opportunity arises, there will be a 'here's one I made earlier' moment where the connections you made spring to life. This 'social capital' is the name of the game and can lead to greater visibility and being put in front of a relevant journalist's eyes. You can invite up to 30 of your connections to follow your organization's page each month. To do this, log into your company page, go to analytics, then followers, then scroll to the bottom of the page, and then you'll see the "invite connections" box. You can choose which of your personal connections you wish to invite to follow your employer's page.
One helpful tip to remember is that these days, everyone is giving their two cents on various topics. Individual bloggers and influencers often have large, devoted followings. Connect with these, as well as the bigger publications.
Make use of analytics
Did you know that the best time to post on LinkedIn is in the morning? This is just one of the many valuable insights the analytics tools can provide. Do your posts get more engagement on a Monday or a Friday? Is the evening a better time to post, or early morning? In addition to regularly posting, you should regularly monitor the analytics behind it - something of a necessity if you wish to remain relevant and continue to resonate. Leverage these insights to get the full picture of what's going on. If some content type or subject area gains significantly more traction than others, consider repurposing it or parts of it for future posts. You can also use these insights to jig less well-performing content.
LinkedIn's analytics capabilities enable businesses to gauge the success of their content and PR initiatives efficiently. Businesses can precisely observe how their intended audiences receive their press releases, updates, and thought leadership by using comprehensive information on post reach, engagement rates, and audience demographics. These systems also measure the increase of followers and the efficiency of staff advocacy, providing businesses with a comprehensive understanding of the performance of their content.
LinkedIn also offers information on the return on investment of sponsored advertisements, which helps companies tailor their plans and resources for optimum effect. When all these are aligned, you’ll have a textbook guide to optimizing content to generate leads and brand awareness.
To do this, start by clicking on the LI logo top left, then click on the company page your personal account is associated with, and go to analytics.
Look to the future
What's next for your industry? Will AI play a bigger role? Use LinkedIn to share your thoughts on the future, spark debate, and show that you are forward-thinking. Companies that share their future goals look confident on the LinkedIn stage, especially when mixed with some strategic foresight. Past achievements have a place, but future ambitions will instil greater stakeholder trust and faith.
Highlighting future innovation or business goals can motivate your people and give them a sense of direction and purpose. This internal communication should not be neglected in a PR strategy. Although initially made as a recruitment platform, LinkedIn remains a powerful tool for attracting top talent. By discussing the company’s future, businesses can appeal to professionals eager to be part of the next big thing.
A company can be a thought leader by imparting knowledge and wisdom on trends. This enhances a firm's reputation and, if done well, can set it apart from competitors and establish it as a leading voice.
Create a content calendar and set targets
It shouldn't be a surprise that a strategy is needed to guide and inform your LinkedIn PR efforts.
Don't wing it. Make a plan. Time is money, and there is little point investing man-hours if you have no game plan. Think about what you want to achieve—maybe 'X' amount of leads, or maybe LinkedIn is part of a wider thought leadership strategy. Decide on the PR metrics you intend to use to measure these. In any case, however, there is one thing to remember: it's your content. You should aim to create engaging content at all times.
A recommended PR tactic is to create a content calendar of what you want to share and when. Of course, things may come up as and when, but with a calendar, you can tailor your content to specific audiences by creating targeted LinkedIn posts. These are targeted based on the followers' profiles, such as the size of the organization, the industry, the function, the seniority, the geography, and the language preference of the followers.
Remember, any LinkedIn PR strategy should reflect your long-term business strategy.
Whether these are market expansion, moving into new products or mergers, your approach should match these objectives.
Conclusion
The evidence is in. LinkedIn has developed into an essential instrument for strategic public relations, far beyond its beginnings as a job networking website. It allows businesses to interact with a sizable professional audience, establish trust, and help achieve PR goals. It can work alongside other social media, like Twitter.
This guide has offered crucial advice for making the most of LinkedIn PR, stressing the significance of planned, consistent communication that aligns with wider goals. So be sure to do all the above to make an impact!
