Accurately dubbed “the world’s largest professional network”, LinkedIn has an impressive track record as an authority-building, lead-generating platform. That means, no matter the size of your network or pipeline, investing in a company LinkedIn profile can help your brand expand.
This guide walks you through how to set up your LinkedIn profile step-by-step and proves why doing so is crucial if you want your new business to succeed.
Setting up a LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn’s tactical role in your B2B success starts with a simple set up. To create your business’ free LinkedIn page, complete the following five tasks.
- Visit LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions. Make sure you’re set up with a personal LinkedIn profile and then head over to LinkedIn Marketing Solution’s site and select the LinkedIn Pages tab at the top of the screen. There, you’ll see an option to ‘Create your Page’ on the main screen. (Alternatively, you can also select the ‘Create your Page’ function from the dropdown menu of the LinkedIn Pages Tab.)
- Select a business category. There are four main types you can choose from: small business (for 200 employees or less), medium to large businesses (with more than 200 employees), showcase page (if you want a brand or company initiative be associated with an existing business page) and educational institution.
- Complete your company details. The more complete your content fields, the better your connections can get to know your business. You’ll also be able to preview your page as you add information. If possible, try to match your LinkedIn URL to the username (handle) used with your other social media accounts for brand consistency.
- Include your logo. According to LinkedIn research, companies who include their logos on their LinkedIn page get visited six times more often than those who don’t. Though this step is technically optional, it’s always best practice to include your logo and company tagline, if applicable.
- Agree to terms and create your page. The last step is to verify that you’re a company representative who’s been authorized to make your LinkedIn portfolio and click ‘create page’ in the bottom right corner.
Why is a LinkedIn profile so important for new businesses?
In business, it’s all about who you know. But for new businesses, it’s also about who knows you.
When you’re building a brand, it’s important to have a platform. Posting content and compelling status updates on LinkedIn helps establish your new business as a leader in your industry. No wonder 97% of B2B marketers utilize it for their content marketing efforts!
To make your posts even more potent, you can also leverage Extu’s LinkedIn publisher tool to automatically schedule your monthly campaign content to drip-feed to your LinkedIn audience every month for consistent content.
If your new business leans into LinkedIn consistently, you also have the opportunity to make new connections, many of which are likely to generate new leads.
According to HubSpot, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at lead generation than Facebook and Twitter with 80% of B2B leads coming from LinkedIn. And these aren’t just dead-ends, they’re quality leads that end in sales. In fact, 38% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is generating revenue for them.
LinkedIn may be the land of opportunity for new businesses, but the truth is even more established brands can accelerate growth using the professional networking platform. All you need is a live LinkedIn page to amplify your account using the automated social posting feature that comes with your Extu campaign. This allows you to post thought leadership content straight to your profile in seconds. It’s how brands at any stage can become industry leaders and trusted sources among LinkedIn’s 630 million professional contacts and decision makers, one campaign at a time.
