LinkedIn users blew out the forecasts.
Six years ago, Statista expected the base to grow to 746 million in 2023 and 828 million by 2027. But LinkedIn started 2024 with over 1 billion members, including a 7.5% jump in just the past seven months.
No longer a social platform for digital resumes and networking, LinkedIn’s taken a stronghold as the go-to space online for education, marketing, and recruitment, and it won’t slow down any time soon.
In CMI’s most recent research, 84% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn delivers the best value of social platforms, and 72% increased their presence in the last year.
How are marketers making the most of LinkedIn? We put that question to marketers and agencies using Qwoted’s source network. Their answers — and their positive results — cover everything from little-used longstanding features to its AI-powered lead-gen tool.
These B2B marketers share how they’ve made LinkedIn an integral component of their and clients’ strategies.
Revisit forgotten features
Though a long-time feature on LinkedIn, Showcase pages should garner renewed interest from marketers, says Sarah Blocksidge, marketing director of Sixth City Marketing.
Marketers who administer a Company Page can create Showcase pages for that brand. They act like microsites for the main page.
“On Showcase pages, you can do practically everything you do on a normal company page, but you’re able to post more niche content that you may not want to have on your main company page,” Sarah says.
These pages can work well for your business’ different departments, segments, or locations of your business. Sixth City Marketing uses Showcase pages based on its office geography. Meta uses a Showcase page to feature its Meta for Business division.
As this screenshot illustrates, the page resembles a Company Page with a header image, business name (Meta for Business), and description. Visitors can scroll down the page to see posts as well as events published on the page. On the right, LinkedIn mentions and links to the Meta company page. (The Meta company page lists the Meta for Business Showcase page as an affiliated page.)
“It’s a great place to be able to post more things that a brand may not find relatable or ’corporate’ enough for their main company page,” Sarah says.
Gaining the ability to publish content relevant to the niche audience allows marketers to create a community feel and expands the opportunities for the brand to appear in searches.
Sarah explains LinkedIn’s search feature doesn’t distinguish between company and Showcase pages. For example, when searching for “Women Who Code” and clicking “see all company results,” the listings include the company page of the same name and some of its Showcase pages — Women Who Code Delhi, Women Who Code Boston, and Women Who Code Python.
Grow your reach in award-winning way
Like many brands, Numeric, an accounting SaaS provider, uses LinkedIn as a content distribution vehicle. Its in-depth guides, templates, and videos are designed to build authority with accountants.
“Over the past year, we’ve significantly invested in our LinkedIn presence, so we’ve seen an uptick in engagement and followers, but largely just as the result of consistently posting and establishing a pattern of quality content,” says growth lead Tierney Pretzer.
But one unique campaign worked exceptionally well. In 2023, Numeric presented “awards” in standard LinkedIn posts to feature top users of its products. The play aimed to increase brand affinity for its top users, congratulate them, and actively tap into their social networks.
By tagging the winners (with their permission) and including a quote from them, Numeric expanded its follower count and reach more than a standard post would have done on its own. In fact, one awards-focused post increased the follower count by 1.4%.
Here’s an example:
“Next up in our user awards for 2023 🏆 ….
Documentation
At the heart of all of the best close checklists are detailed descriptions, links, and resources to align the team and create visibility.
Out of all Numeric users, one user documented the most, adding the most links and descriptions to tasks, and was a true champion of a clear close process.
Drumroll 🥁 …….
This award goes to Jessica Heisig at Everly Health 🎉”
Target long-form content
Laia Quintana, head of marketing and sales at TeamUp, says it focuses on publishing long-form content — typically 800 to 1,000 words — on its LinkedIn company page. The goal is to drive traffic to the website of the cloud-based calendar solution provider for the fitness industry.
“While short-form content has its place for quick updates or brief insights, we’ve found that our long-form content tends to drive deeper engagement and more meaningful interactions with our audience,” she says. With this content focus, average engagement for the page increased 37% in 2023.
Mark McShane, managing director of AED Training, also champions long-form content. The provider of B2B training courses for automated external defibrillators sees long-form content on LinkedIn earn 45% more views and 38% more shares than its shorter pieces.
“Using this format helps us build credibility and showcase our expertise — key reasons why interest from major brands has spiked,” Mark says. They’ve seen a 25% increase in demand for its training solutions originating from its long-form LinkedIn content.
Among their other impactful LinkedIn strategies:
- Hosted events: When TeamUp hosts webinars promoted on the events tab on the Company Page, it has seen its website visits increase an average 23% during the promotion period, the event, and a short time after.
- Digital storefront: AED Training treats the company page as a digital storefront, highlighting AED training programs, showcasing client testimonials, and sharing thought leadership articles. The strategy spurred a 33% increase in page followers over the previous year.
- Newsletters: Since 2022, LinkedIn has allowed companies to create and send newsletters. AED Training publishes the same newsletter content for its LinkedIn audience as its first-party database. Mark says they find newsletter subscribers have a higher engagement rate across company channels than those followers who do not sign up for the newsletter.
Reap AI’s potential
While TeamUp and AED Training find success with long-form content, they also sing the praises of LinkedIn’s AI-powered Sales Navigator tool.
Among the most powerful attributes of Sales Navigator is its AccountIQ feature, which is available to subscribers who pay for advanced-level access. The AI-generated tool gives an overview of a company along with a financial report, strategic priorities, business challenges, and AI-generated updates. The profiling typically works best for companies with more than 500 employees.
Laia Quintana calls Sales Navigator a game changer for TeamUp in identifying and reaching out to potential leads. Since they started using it, lead generation increased by 19%.
Mark says Sales Navigator allows for precise contact pinpointing and outreach tailoring. They’ve seen a 14% increase in response rates using Sales Navigator compared with traditional methods. (They define a response as someone who replies with a yes, no, or referral to a decision-maker.)
Bring the human touch
Julia Voloshchenko, PR manager at Usetech, says attracting and growing an audience on LinkedIn requires publishing regularly — two to three times a week — and using thematic hashtags — no more than three per post.
But the key to standing out is engaging with your audience through the company page. “People like to see that there is a real person behind the brand and telling real stories,” she says.
Renew your LinkedIn commitment
LinkedIn can wear many hats in your marketing program—publisher, promoter, distributor, engager, and finder. Before you add Showcase pages, start a recognition program, focus on long-form content, or dive deep into AI’s power, ensure you have the resources and support that LinkedIn strategy. After all, you don’t want to break a record with the shortest commitment to growing your company and audience on the platform with 1 billion users and counting.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
