A Guide to Using LinkedIn for B2B Success 

Indeed, LinkedIn is widely used by businesses for professional networking and lead generation. It is also true that most businesses only barely scratch the surface of LinkedIn’s potential. Having explored LinkedIn extensively for various B2B companies, I can vouch that there is so much more that one can do with LinkedIn.

In this blog, you will get to learn about LinkedIn content strategies, how to use the voice of employees, advanced LinkedIn features and tactics, how to measure success, and more!

Developing a Winning Content Strategy

When working as a Fractional Digital Marketing Head, one of the most important things for me is to develop a content strategy that makes the client’s content stand out. Content drives engagement. Here are some of my go-to content strategies:

• Be a thought leader. Share your unique take on what’s happening in the industry. Your audience wants your expert perspective.
• Tell stories. Use narrative techniques to make your posts more engaging and memorable. People connect with stories.
• Include visuals. Break up text-heavy feeds with eye-catching visuals like infographics, videos, and slide decks.
• Get others involved. Encourage employees, clients, and partners to contribute content. User-generated content is super valuable.
• Post consistently. Keep your audience engaged by sticking to a regular posting schedule. Consistency is key.

Pro Tip: Use LinkedIn’s analytics to identify which types of content resonate most with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Employee Advocacy

Your employees can be your most powerful asset on LinkedIn. They can help you dramatically extend your reach and authenticity. In my experience, the authentic voices of employees often resonate more than official company accounts.

• Start by developing a clear social media policy that gives them the guidelines and freedom to share content in an authentic way.
• Make it easy for them by providing the right tools to access and distribute approved posts. Posts stuck for long in the approval process can kill the relevance of the post.
• Educate your team on best practices for personal branding and engaging on LinkedIn.
• Recognize and reward the employees who really step up and contribute to your company’s presence.
• And don’t forget – lead by example. Get your leadership team to actively participate and share as well.

Balancing Paid and Organic Approaches

Struggling with a paid vs. organic approach? Agreed, the budget is often limited, but I have learned how to use that to the advantage of the client. It depends on how you balance paid and organic approaches.

While organic reach on LinkedIn can be powerful, combining it with strategic paid efforts can amplify your results.

Strategies for an effective organic-paid mix:

• Use organic posts to test: Identify top-performing organic content and boost it with paid promotion.
• Leverage LinkedIn’s targeting: Use LinkedIn’s robust B2B targeting options to reach decision-makers.
• Use Sponsored InMail: For high-value prospects, consider personalized outreach via Sponsored InMail.
• Retarget: Use LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences to retarget website visitors or engagement with your content.
• Use lead gen forms: Simplify lead capture with LinkedIn’s native lead gen forms.

Pro Tip: Always A/B test your paid campaigns to be sure of what works and optimize your efforts.

Advanced LinkedIn Features for B2B

As a B2B marketer, have you tried the advanced features? You must!

LinkedIn has some incredible tools specifically designed to give B2B marketers a real edge. Here’s how you can make the most of them:

• LinkedIn Groups: Get involved or start your own industry-specific group. It’s a fantastic way to build credibility, spark discussions, and establish yourself as a thought leader.
• LinkedIn Live: Host live sessions to engage your audience directly. Whether it’s a Q&A, a product demo, or an insightful discussion, LinkedIn Live is perfect for connecting in real time.
• LinkedIn Events: Set up virtual events that resonate with your target audience. This feature is ideal for building engagement and showcasing expertise in a more interactive way.
• Showcase Pages: For companies with multiple product lines or initiatives, Showcase Pages let you highlight each one individually, creating a tailored experience for different segments.
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: This is a must for sales teams. With powerful social selling tools, it makes targeting, reaching out, and building relationships with leads so much more efficient.

How to Measure Success on LinkedIn

You may be putting great effort into using LinkedIn for your B2B success, but to get a clear picture of whether the efforts are in the right direction or not, you need to track certain metrics. Here’s a list of metrics that I think are most useful.

• Engagement Rate: Look beyond likes to comments and shares, which indicate deeper engagement.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measure how effectively your content drives traffic to your website.
• Lead Quality: Track not just the number of leads, but their quality and progression through your sales.
• Content Performance: Analyze which types of content perform best in terms of engagement and lead generation.
• Employee Advocacy Metrics: Measure the reach and engagement generated by your employees’ activities.
• Network Growth: Monitor the growth of your company page followers and your employees’ professional networks.
• Share of Voice: Compare your LinkedIn presence and engagement to that of your competitors.

Pro Tip: Use LinkedIn’s native analytics in combination with your own CRM data to get a full picture of your LinkedIn ROI.

Overcoming Common B2B Challenges

LinkedIn is a highly effective tool for B2B marketing, but it comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s talk about those and how to overcome them.

Firstly, standing out amidst content saturation is key, so focusing on unique, high-quality content that genuinely adds value can make a big difference. Engaging decision-makers is important and requires a strategic approach—leveraging advanced targeting and personalized outreach can help you connect with those key figures. And when it comes to proving ROI, having robust tracking and attribution in place is essential to demonstrate the impact of your efforts. Consistency is also crucial; building a content calendar and using scheduling tools can ensure a steady, reliable presence. Finally, there’s the balance between personal and professional—training your team to blend authenticity with professionalism helps represent your brand in a relatable, trustworthy way.

Advanced LinkedIn Tactics for B2B Success

Now, if you are ready to go beyond the basics and discover ways to elevate results like I have been doing for many of my clients, here are some advanced tactics you could use.

Here’s how I recommend taking your LinkedIn B2B strategy to the next level:

• Start with Account-Based Marketing (ABM) by using LinkedIn’s precise targeting tools to craft personalized campaigns for your high-value accounts.
• Next, influence the influencers—connecting with key industry voices can significantly boost both your reach and credibility.
• For a more unified presenceFor a more unified presence, create content synergy by aligning your LinkedIn content with other marketing channels, creating a seamless multi-channel experience for your audience.
• Highlighting client success stories is also a powerful way to build credibility—tagging and involving clients on LinkedIn adds reach and authenticity to your brand.
• Publishing LinkedIn articles is a great way to share in-depth insights and establish yourself as a thought leader.
• Make your content interactive—polls, quizzes, and other engaging formats not only draw in your audience but can also provide valuable feedback and insights.

Future of LinkedIn for B2B – What’s Lies Ahead

Networking platforms are ever-evolving. LinkedIn is also set to evolve in exciting ways for B2B marketing. AI-powered networking is likely to take center stage, with more intelligent features for connecting and generating leads. Video will also continue to grow in importance, with LinkedIn expected to enhance its video capabilities to meet rising demand.

On the analytics front, I can anticipate more detailed, granular insights to help refine marketing strategies. As LinkedIn emphasizes skills-based connections, B2B marketers will benefit from aligning their strategies to prioritize skills.

I also foresee LinkedIn integrating more seamlessly with key B2B sales and marketing tools, making it even more powerful for business growth.

This evolution can open a whole lot of opportunities for B2B marketing.

From a simple professional networking site to a B2B marketing hub, LinkedIn has had its fair share of evolution, and it’s not stopping anytime soon. By implementing these advanced strategies – from crafting compelling content and leveraging employee advocacy to balancing organic and paid approaches – you can transform your LinkedIn presence from basic networking to a driving force in your B2B marketing efforts.

Remember, success on LinkedIn doesn’t happen overnight. It requires a consistent, strategic approach, a willingness to experiment and adapt, and a deep understanding of your B2B audience.

If you feel you are ready to take on this renewed approach, drop me a query. Let’s start with a quick audit of your LinkedIn strategies and identify areas for improvement.

Schedule a free consultation to begin with.