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Social Media Strategy: LinkedIn

Posted by Alex Putman on January 9, 2013 · 3 Comments 

The number one question to ask yourself when developing your corporate social media strategy is:  “What is the impact and alignment of the social strategy and business goals/objectives?”  You should first start by looking at three key criteria;

1. Strategy:  plan that marries your business objectives and your business insights to your users
2. Enablement:  active commitment to becoming a social business and making social a part of the company DNA
3. Content:  Storytelling!  What you’re saying must pass the “Who gives a crap” test!

LinkedIn is a powerful tool and a powerful addition to your social media strategy.  This tool goes beyond just “status updates” or “push information”.  When creating your strategy LinkedIn (or any social platform) ask yourself:

1. How will the platform tie into the  overall social media goals?
2. What do I want this platform to look like in 3 months, 6 months and longer?
3. How do I “Keep it real” and engaging to people vs. pushing the same information to a different platform?
4. What is the reason I am on this platform, is it ONLY because the cool kids are doing it?

Once you have a strategy in mind you can now put together your plan.  Below are six components of a social strategy and sample/generic objectives:

Mission:
Drive professional conversation, engage business minded users and answer questions by industry professionals.  This will establish your brand/company as an expert in areas outside of your product/service.

Goals: 

• Drive traffic to the corporate website and/or landing pages
• Utilize product/services page to promote products and receive feedback on product/service offerings
• Cross pollinate relevant content to other social media communities AND provide content in a different forum.
• Create and/or join groups that are in line with your business to establish your brand as a leader.
• Participate in conversations on company related topics and business questions.

Business Statement:
We will use the LinkedIn community as a platform to interact with business minded professionals and engage peers on a professional level regarding our products/services., thus showcasing our expertise and leadership in our industry.

Target Audience:

• Professionals with a business mindset vs. a more “social” platform.
• Users who are less likely to interact on networks such as Facebook or Twitter.
• Potential customers that interact with competitors products/services

Benchmark:
Compare stats, activities, connections and interactions.  Also, gage your interaction/adoption because it is more important than just obtaining ”followers”

Tracking:
What works and what does not work, you should measure against current stats (if available) and pay attention to:

• Increasing engagement on corporate pages and product/services pages.
• Identify sources of new members/followers
• Gauge your target audience reach.
• What are the engagement sources and which ones are working best.
• Goal achievement and relevance.

I hope this helps as you build your social strategies.  Remember you may not be able to build a strategy for every platform, so start with one and let it roll!