LinkedIn, launched nearly nine years ago, has always had a primary purpose of allowing individuals to connect with other business professionals. By expanding personal profiles, adding in-mail and offering groups, LinkedIn has worked hard to provide more social networking capabilities to help its members connect with each other.
Until recently, the ability for an individual company to stand out in LinkedIn has not been great. However, with one small update, LinkedIn made the company pages more relevant and more competitive with other social platform. Now, with the new company update feature, administrators for a company page can add news and share links that feed into the page’s stream. Moreover, the stream for companies you like are updated on your own LinkedIn home page.
Then to Now
Before LinkedIn introduced this update, administrators for the page were only able to update basic company information and facts such as addresses, blog URLs, number of employees, etc. It was not a compelling reason to visit the page. It especially was not compelling compared to the business page option on Facebook.
If you have been following brands you like via the LinkedIn “follow” button or connected with your own clients as a company you know there is value in connecting with a company and its people. In the past, there was little incentive to revisit a company page once you started following because you really couldn’t add fresh, new content. Through this new content you can truly engage with clients and prospects. The new updates allow you, as an administrator, to play a more active role in promoting your dealership and brand to make your company more visible.
Why This Matters
As you become more active in social media, you have the opportunity to truly engage with your audience. This new feature in LinkedIn allows you to engage in a way that is similar to other social media platforms that are becoming more expected among users. You can develop your audience in a way that your messages can be more targeted than ever before.
As LinkedIn grows its capabilities, you’ll be able to identify greater possibilities to advance your dealership. For example, LinkedIn provides analytics that can help guide your decisions in how and when you post by tracking usage, URLs and click-throughs. As those who are following your company have the ability to connect with you on a more personal basis, you’ll be able to refine your message to match their interests and thus provide greater value to them.
What Next?
LinkedIn on a personal level hasn’t changed in a while. You’ll still want to connect with other LinkedIn professionals on a regular basis. However, if you are responsible for your company’s social media efforts, you’ll want to develop a solid plan for creating and managing your company’s LinkedIn page. You should also start to follow other companies that are now using the new update so that you can benchmark your efforts against them.
With a solid plan and consistent execution, you can use LinkedIn to truly enhance your dealership.
About the author: Corey Smith is the author of Do It Right: A CEO’s Guide to Web Strategy and you can find him online at www.coreysmith.ws. He is also the chief Web architect for www.DealerMarketingSystems.com.
