The mission of LinkedIn is to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” See how this mission can work for your business when implementing a B2B strategy and consider the following steps:

Leverage data:
How is LinkedIn traffic already engaging with your website compared to other traffic? I would recommend filtering out users who are applying for jobs. It’s an important group to inform other strategies, but can skew engagement metrics. Consider what pages users are dropping off on and which ones are converting the most. Based on how traffic is engaging (or not), you can start to see the patterns and begin creating a content strategy to execute. You can also learn what website optimizations need to occur to ensure each page makes it easy for users to convert.

“Build it and they will come...”
At the heart of B2B marketing is building relationships. Consider what employees in your organization are at the center of those relationships and ensure their profiles reflect your company accurately and in compelling nature. Encourage them to begin connecting and engaging in conversations on the network. They are your best advocate. From here begin building a business profile that can be a resource for your potential clients and others in the industry. Distribute platform specific content on a scheduled basis to build a following.

Join the conversation:
LinkedIn is home to 1.5 million groups, and 40% of the 467 million users are active on the platform daily. Identify industry-related groups and begin engaging in conversations. Encourage the employees you have identified to do the same. It’s called social for a reason, and LinkedIn groups are a key resource to begin being social on the network.

Zero in on your target:
Once you know the type of content that your target will respond to, and your website is prepared to convert them, and your employees are prepared to join the conversation, it’s time to start targeted advertising. LinkedIn has a vast array of targeting capabilities that truly cater to B2B marketing. Whether collecting leads on the platform, sending people to your website, sponsoring content, delivering sponsored InMail or running text ads that make sense for your objectives and strategies, there are targeting capabilities to ensure each piece hits the mark. Capabilities include geo-locations, company name or industry, job titles and seniority, member groups and degree targeting, among others. Pixel tracking allows you to reengage audiences who have visited your website to continue to nurture those relationships and track ROI on prospects as they convert.

The professional mindset of users on the network, paired with the targeting capabilities of business profiles provides a unique opportunity not often seen across other social networks. Need more convincing on why LinkedIn is so important for B2B marketing? B2Bs need LinkedIn and here’s why..