Tag: Social Media

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11 Ways to Optimize LinkedIn for Business

Joshlyn Ross2 Comments

Did you know that LinkedIn currently has more than 4 million businesses on its platform? That’s right – 4 million! More and more businesses are quickly gravitating to this professional networking platform. Why? Well, for starters, more than 380 million professionals are on it. That’s a whole lot of potential partners, customers, and buyers to whom you can promote your business.

Are you excited? Great! Are you unsure of where to start? Don’t worry – that’s why I’m here. I recently attended a webinar presented by Dave Kerpen of Likeable Local and he discussed 11 Ways to Optimize LinkedIn for your Business.

Let’s jump in!

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How to Optimize Your LinkedIn For Business

 

1. Customize Your Profile. Personal branding boosts your business. You can do this many ways, but some include:

  • Making a custom URL
  • Hyperlinking to your company page
  • Adding a professional profile picture and background photo.

Additionally, make sure that you incorporate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in your profile. This includes obtaining a list of keywords that prospects or clients would enter into LinkedIn or any other search engine. For example, my personal LinkedIn page mentions the keyword Marketing 14 times in the summary portion alone.  As a result, I was able to land my current position at Bixal!

Be sure to also include examples of your work – including presentations, art/graphics, videos, important links etc.

2. Publish Blog Posts. This is a great way to promote your brand. Start by thinking of a great headline before drafting the post. Some other tips include: finding/taking a compelling photo, closing a post with a strong call-to-action (this encourages comments), and sharing the post across all of your social channels.

Also, as you begin writing, keep word count in mind. A standard article has about 400-600 words. Be concise!

Lastly, drive your readers to a landing page on your website to learn more about you or your business. This strategy has worked really well for me. For example, this 600-word blog post on my personal site, once promoted on my social media accounts, earned me 15 new followers!

3. Share Updates: Personally and as a Business. 93% of Business-to-Business (B2B) marketers rate LinkedIn as a top B2B social media lead-generation source. It’s recommended that you update your status daily – at least once. Dave Kerpen of Likeable Local mentioned that the best times to post are weekdays between 7:00am-8:00am and 5:00 pm-6:00pm.

If you need ideas on what to post, consider photos, e-books, articles, videos, and any other content related to your industry and company.

4. Leverage LinkedIn Listening. Start by searching for keywords related to your company and read about what other people are saying.

5. Create LinkedIn Groups. Don’t just create one for your business. Create one that showcases your thought leadership. Make a group based on your expert area and post relevant content. Don’t forget to engage with members and link them to your company’s LinkedIn page and website.

6. Discover and Connect with Influencers. Follow the top influencers in your industry and listen to what they discuss. Engage with them by commenting on their posts and sharing their published content. When you feel comfortable, try messaging them and asking for a connection (make sure it’s an opportunity for both parties involved).

7. Recruit Amazing Talent. LinkedIn has made it easier for Recruiters, Small Business Owners and more to find amazing talent.  Search by your connections, location, industry and past companies. You can also utilize LinkedIn Premium to find new talent.

8. Advertise Strategically. LinkedIn ads are a great way to gain exposure. Know that you have the power to control associated costs. Be sure to target strategically with specific criteria: industry, job title, seniority, age, gender, location, skills, and group affiliation.

9. Create a Showcase Page. This serves as an extension of your company page. Use a Showcase Page to highlight certain products/services and share work examples.

10. Integrate Twitter and SlideShare. Increase your reach with integration. If you have presentations, you can share them directly to Linkedin from SlideShare. Also, you can add your Twitter profile to your LinkedIn in the edit profile section.

11. Connect Your Network. Plain and simple! Introduce people in your network to each other with the goal of building a community.

What are some other ways that you’ve optimized your LinkedIn profile? Comment below!

Advertising · Branding · Campaigns · Content Marketing · Marketing · Public Relations · Publicity · Social Media · Strategy

Three Myths about What Customers Want

Joshlyn RossLeave a comment

I recently came across an article that outlined the three myths of what customers want. I found it to be very interesting. In my opinion, it was truthful in a sense, but it definitely cannot apply to every brand out there.

A lot of brands, especially lifestyle brands, thrive on establishing and communicating with their community. As such, they do not call them customers. If anything, they are brand ambassadors (I love that term, in case you haven’t noticed yet).

Check out the article below. It is apart of a three part series, so I encourage you to check out the other articles as well!

What do you think? Is there any truth to the three myths the author cited?

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Most marketers think that the best way to hold onto customers is through “engagement” — interacting as much as possible with them and building relationships. It turns out that that’s rarely true. In a study involving more than 7000 consumers, we found that companies often have dangerously wrong ideas about how best to engage with customers. Consider these three myths.

Myth #1: Most consumers want to have relationships with your brand.

Actually, they don’t. Only 23% of the consumers in our study said they have a relationship with a brand. In the typical consumer’s view of the world, relationships are reserved for friends, family and colleagues. That’s why, when you ask the 77% of consumers who don’t have relationships with brands to explain why, you get comments like “It’s just a brand, not a member of my family.” (What consumers really want when they interact with brands online is to get discounts).

How should you market differently? Read more here.

Campaigns · Marketing · Social Media · Strategy · Uncategorized
Joshlyn Ross3 Comments

I am currently implementing three of these marketing trends daily for both of my positions!

INSIDE A MARKETING MIND: BLOG BY GARETH CASE

Here are my top 5 marketing trends to look out for as we approach 2012.

1. Location Based Marketing (LBM)

This is all about delivering content (usually to mobile devices) to consumers based on their location. Imagine getting a push message from Starbucks as you walk past one of their stores offering you a free muffin with your coffee.  It can be achieved using a number of technologies including Mobile Phone Tracking, WiFi and RFID

2. QR Codes

2011 has seen a massive increase in the use of QR codes on everything from advertising campaigns to product packaging. Their novelty factor has not worn off as quickly as some predicted and we are now seeing them used on ATL and BTL advertising from some of the biggest brands in the wold, right down to family run businesses. Expect to see a lot more QR codes in 2012

3. Video

Video…

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Branding · Campaigns · Marketing · Social Media · Uncategorized

The Power of Facebook Marketing

Joshlyn Ross2 Comments

The Power of Facebook Marketing is amazing. Think about it: it’s a social media tool that a gazillion people use daily. Why wouldn’t your brand or company be on there?

That’s like…total.branding.suicide.

Not sure if you checked out my client work page, but i’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m a social media marketing consultant for this company; which means i’m in charge of their online consumer engagement and increasing their revenue through social media interaction.

As such, I spent a lot of my time today researching and brainstorming ideas on how to share creative content and get those “like” numbers up. Then it dawned on me, well actually, it dawned on my supervisor. Photo Contests!

Everyone is sharing their lives via instagram anyway. Why not make it beneficial for both of us?

She came across this great site for Offerpop; which is a third-party fan marketing platform (if you didn’t know, Facebook basically forces you to remove their name from all contesting and giveaways) that will allow you to effectively run viral marketing campaigns. Awesome right?! I think so.

I’ve been reading notes on a few of their past retail campaigns and I came across a case study for one of my favorite national clothing retailers. Forever 21. I’ve recently become a local boutique-hopping chic…yes, I know you care 😉

The national retailer has already created a lot of viral campaigns through Offerpop but this is one that stuck out to me:

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From Offerpop’s website: “Forever 21 ran their “Heart2Art Contest” using Offerpop’s Photo Contest app. Young fans submitted t-shirt designs explaining why their school is cool. The winner received $1000 for their school and had their t-shirt available for sale exclusively on forever21.com.”

We all love validation.

The great thing about a viral campaign is simply that…it’s viral. Meaning the hardwork (ie. the power of the ‘like’ ‘RT’ and ‘share’ button) is in the hand of the consumer but the return on investment (ROI) is given strictly to the company.

Have you shared and/or entered any viral campaigns?

Advertising · Blogging · Branding · Campaigns · Inspiration · Marketing · Public Relations · Publicity · Social Media · Strategy · Uncategorized

Writing an Effective “About” Page

Joshlyn RossLeave a comment

My “About” Page is still in progress. I’m sure i’ll update it periodically as I continue with my research. I feel like that is the beauty of blogging…constant updates, with no backtalk!

Came across this great article today that features 10 ways to create your “about page”. I think these are great points. Feel free to check it out here.

What are some pertinent factors that you believe should be included in an effective “about” page?