Shaping Social Strategies

LinkedIn, once used only as a portal for jobseekers and employers, has become an indispensable marketing tool for business owners, including those in the construction industry, looking to differentiate themselves from the competition. According to Forbes, “LinkedIn is, far and away, the most advantageous social networking tool available to job seekers and business professionals today.”

LinkedIn was co-founded in 2002 by venture capitalist, entrepreneur and author Reid Hoffman, two of his former colleagues and a college classmate, quickly becoming one of the first business-oriented social networking services. Two decades later, LinkedIn has evolved into the top platform for business branding. Hoffman sold LinkedIn to Microsoft in 2016 for $26.2 billion in cash and joined Microsoft’s board.

LinkedIn boasts over 740 million users: over 200 million in the United States, and more than 200 countries and territories across the globe. Fifty-five million companies have profiles posted on LinkedIn. For business-to-business (B2B) content marketing, LinkedIn is the No. 1 social media platform with 94% usage among business marketers. For comparison, Twitter is second at 87% usage, followed by Facebook at 84%.

Although, LinkedIn isn’t just for marketing gurus. Construction business owners can maximize the power of LinkedIn to elevate both their business and personal profile by using a number of simple steps.

1. Start With a Plan

Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” This is undoubtedly true when it comes to marketing and creating a brand through LinkedIn and any other social media platform used for business growth. The plan can be as simple as outlining five to 10 annual business goals and ensuring that all marketing efforts are aligned to accomplish those goals. The plan should also list the target audience(s), communication platforms for each audience and specific messaging.

2. Be Consistent

A brand should be unique and consistent across all digital and print platforms based not only on a business’s values and personality, but also on attracting the target audience. Consistency encourages deeper thoughts about a business and its marketing. It also ensures that businesses are on right track and improves the chances of accomplishing their goals. If there is a marketing team, it’s important that everyone is on the same page when it comes to messaging and tone.

3. Create & Develop an Effective Profile

With LinkedIn, branding begins with the user profile. There are two types of LinkedIn profiles: personal and business. For business pages, there are also sub-pages that can fall under the main business page but focus on a particular aspect of the business.

Whether it’s a business or personal profile, the information should be up to date with a current photo or logo and a horizontal banner (using the correct dimensions) that depicts the business or is relevant to the business industry. Profile taglines should be direct and succinct, informing the audience of services and areas of expertise. Listing relevant key words in the profile helps potential clients locate businesses that offer specific services or specialties. Listing types of projects and client testimonials are also key in creating an effective profile.

4. Post Relevant & Engaging Content

Consistency and audience relevancy are important when posting content. LinkedIn posts should emphasize an area of expertise, but also be social in tone and content. This means posting content that is industry related as well as timely. Reposting content from followers, commenting on the posts of others and reposting articles, shows that businesses are engaged and paying attention. LinkedIn recently launched a video option similar to Instagram and Facebook Stories. LinkedIn Stories are 20-second pieces of content that businesses can post to a profile that lasts 24 hours before disappearing. Users can upload a photo from their library or snap a picture or video in real time. Businesses can share behind the scenes videos and important moments of a projects, video client testimonials, news and special announcements.

5. Make Your Company’s Name Known

Just as individuals use Facebook and Instagram to become influencers, LinkedIn is a platform that allows businesses to gain recognition and build a following in their industry. Businesses should always use other social networks to cross promote with LinkedIn. Business owners who have an individual profile page can start a LinkedIn Group and promote content from their business page while connecting to like-minded peers.

Mentioning people or businesses in posts, similar to Facebook tagging, is a proven strategy for getting noticed. An existing or potential client on LinkedIn that is quoted by name in a post will automatically be notified, as will with their connections and followers. Using this strategy will improve a post’s visibility and ultimately raise the engagement and expand the overall reach of a business.

Using hashtags is another way to bring attention to a business. Posts that include a hashtag have a higher chance of being discovered by LinkedIn members who follow or are searching for a particular subject. For best results, use one or two hashtags that are industry specific or relevant to the post.

6. Grow Your Network

If business is a numbers game, then businesses that increase their network have a better chance of gaining new contracts that can lead to new projects. Increasing contacts through LinkedIn can be accomplished by intentional social engagement. LinkedIn sends out automatic notifications when a user’s profile is being looked at. A friendly follow-up with individuals who have viewed your profile may yield valuable insight on what brought them to your page or even gain you a new follower or two.

Look up industry-relevant LinkedIn groups to find potential connections, and reach out with an introduction or comment on one of their posts. Staying engaged though comments or asking for recommendations is another way to interact with your followers across audiences on different platforms.

LinkedIn also keeps track of anniversaries and sends out notices. Sending out congratulatory comments on anniversaries or accomplishments will lead to an expanded network.

7. Stay Organized & Focused

LinkedIn, like any other business strategy, must be used consistently and deliberately. A color-coded social media calendar can be useful for mapping out platforms, topics for posts, hashtags, handles and business names for tagging.

Today’s ever-changing technology is a double-edged sword. The initial setup and continued maintenance can seem daunting. However, once put in place and systematized, marketing tools like LinkedIn make outreach efforts more targeted and effective, enabling construction business owners to build their own unique footprint in the industry.