It doesn't have to be.....
LinkedIn earned its reputation as a recruitment site. Quite rightly, as it is still seen as a good platform for self-promotion, networking and job search. It also provides a way for HR professionals to further research their candidates or even bypass agencies all together.
But this isn’t all that LinkedIn has to offer. More and more companies are using it as a promotional platform for brand and products and to connect with potential future clients. With B2B companies, its more ‘professional’ image potentially means it is a more suitable platform than Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
It also allows individuals to separate their professional and personal lives and generating personal discussion on LinkedIn is a good way to increase the spread of social media posts. People are less likely to comment on work-based topics on their personal pages.
Doesn’t sound too exciting though?
LinkedIn, because of its origins, does tend to focus on the serious side of life but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring and the occasional lighter post only serves to showcase the human side of business. After all, as the old mantra goes, ‘people buy people.’
For the in-vitro diagnostic sector, and indeed most science and technology sectors, posts are heavily weighted towards technical and promotional posts about products. This is unsurprising as it is the raison d’être of IVD enterprises but, how to stand out from the crowd?
There is more to promote than the products themselves. Companies should also be focusing on their brand and, frequently with IVD, their services.
How does your company want to be seen?
Most IVD companies see themselves as experts in their field but it is not enough to say this, it needs to be demonstrated. There are some great ways of doing this:
o Interesting facts relating to the field of expertise, not necessarily the products.
o Engagement exercises – opinion polls (but not those that are simply there to gather ‘likes’, quizzes, competitions.
o Links to papers, articles, webcasts, lectures, conferences.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive but, with a little imagination, it is possible to broaden the range of topics considerably and helps to position a company as an educator and an expert.
Over Christmas, I posted 12 posts featuring the 12 days of Christmas with a ‘tenuous’ fact about each one (see above). It was a small experiment and a self-indulgence as it gave me an excuse to play with a drawing tablet, but it increased traffic on my LinkedIn page and website and was fun to do.
This is an easy-to-achieve example of the sort of things companies can try.
‘People buy People’
The human touch also helps to make posts more interesting. This can be introduced through the use of video or stories and also highlighting the endeavours of individuals within the company.
The direct contribution of company members also sends a powerful message. Are your social media posts produced in isolation by your marketing department? Do the sales, technical and service teams even read them?
Some of the best posts really do show the personal side – the excitement or even stresses of a new installation, the early start, the end of a long day of building an exhibition stand (complete with coffee overload). These can be posted by the company but, even better, if they are posted by the individual and shared. Even better if your post about a product launch provokes comments and excitement from the team.
Getting that team involved with social media can be a great start with producing more relevant material and also making sure it gets noticed.
So that is the bigger picture on LinkedIn but, even with good content, it still needs to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few tips to stop the scrolling:
‘A sea of blue’
Blue is one of my favourite colours but, on LinkedIn and Facebook for that matter, there is an awful lot of it. It is also one of the favourite colours for technical and laboratory images along with white. Introduce a splash of colour or a really striking image to catch attention.
‘Moving Pictures’
Video doesn’t have to involve film crews, lighting and an Oscar-winning script. It could equally be the arrival of a new instrument or the champagne cork or a product launch. Moving images catch the eye and stop the scrolling.
‘Wordsworth’
Social media is something that people dip in and out of. Images or posts that are word-heavy can be off-putting and sometimes impossible to read on a small screen. Keep the words relevant but simple and lead people to an additional link if you have more to say.
‘Hashtags’ – gesundheit!!!
I’m still on the learning curve myself when it comes to hashtags, but they can help get your message to a more targeted audience and therefore increase the chances of them being read.
These are just a few ideas about getting the most out of LinkedIn.
Let me know yours in the comments.
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