Is LinkedIn relevant to your marketing strategy?

Let’s admit it: When the term ‘social media’ is said out loud, chances are that LinkedIn isn’t the first platform that comes to mind, or probably even the fifth.

LinkedIn seems like a good place to look for employees or, alternatively, for a job, but not as a place where your marketing strategy can come to life.

Well, let us surprise you. The social network, which is celebrating its 18th birthday this year, has become an important arena for digital marketing – regardless of the product, service, or technology you’re offering. True, it’s not as essential as Facebook and Snapchat are in building a strategy, but with its unique characteristics and user demographics, you definitely should not miss out on it as an opportunity to deliver your message.

Let’s try to understand why, how, and in what ways LinkedIn can be of use to you – and what all of that has to do with the trending marketing strategy called lead generation. We’ll do that with the help of some prominent statistics recently gathered, and with the help of Johnathan Greenwood of Crystalead, an expert in digital marketing.

Who are you, LinkedIn?

There are some things you should know about LinkedIn’s users, which will help you understand just how much of a dominant player it really is. Let’s start out with some geography: Less than ¼ of LinkedIn users are from the US. While this is still an impressive number of people (around 175 million), it means that there’s also a vast audience from around the world that is just waiting to hear from you. It is possible to buy LinkedIn connections and followers to get an instant reach.

Moreover, an ad on LinkedIn has the potential of being seen by one out of every 8 people over 13 years old in the world. While other social media platforms have a higher audience base, LinkedIn’s ads are more widespread as a result of competition being less tight. Add to that the fact that LinkedIn boasts over 9 billion content impressions already, far more than job offer impressions (“only” around 60 million).

“All of this data means that while LinkedIn isn’t the biggest, it is certainly growing rapidly,” commented Greenwood. “This conclusion becomes even more clear when you take into consideration that a whopping 80% of LinkedIn users are under the age of 34, which means that its user base is expected to grow, not dwindle.”

How can I take advantage of you, LinkedIn?

Here comes the problematic part: People do not come to LinkedIn to spend money, but rather to find ways to make it. That’s why the tried-and-true methods of campaigning, valid for other platforms, do not catch here. The solution is simple, though. You must find an indirect way to promote sales through LinkedIn – a way which is more subtle, and which implies that what you have to offer can bring your customer profit in the end.

“Marketing on LinkedIn may seem complex, but once you think outside the box, it’s much easier than it seems. You basically need to either convince the targeted audience that spending money now will pay off financially, or alternatively to move the actual selling part of the marketing process to a different environment, one that’s more comfortable for you,” added Greenwood.

Lead generation to the rescue

Let’s pause for a moment on that last part of Greenwood’s comment. How can you start a marketing strategy on LinkedIn but end it somewhere else? Simple, with lead generation. This marketing tactic involves campaigning online with the sole purpose of having users provide some form of contact detail for you to use later on. The sale itself is then executed on better terms via that contact, whether a phone, an email, or anything else.

“Our digital marketing firm Crystalead specializes in lead generation online, as a means of deploying freelance marketers, and we’ve noticed a rising interest in this method globally in the past year,” explained Greenwood. “It’s a great hybrid between new and traditional methods”.

With that in mind, you also need to make sure you have someone professional taking care of both ends of the line. Digital campaigning today has become a complex environment, and only someone up to speed on all the latest changes and modifications can perform in it. Traditional phone/email marketing also requires a specialist, with an emphasis on people skills and communication. Hiring top-notch marketers for both parts of the process might cost a pretty penny, but it can take you a few good steps toward lead generation success.