Of these channels, I was particularly intrigued by LinkedIn which had always seemed to me to be a business-to-business (B2B) channel, but through increased engagement and research, it has become clear to me that there is more to LinkedIn than this.
I’ve used the platform in various capacities, not just to broaden the reach of our own brands, particularly Halifax Intermediaries and BM Solutions, but the channel also allows you to engage other colleagues in the brand’s story.
By sharing content on a regular basis through your channel, this allows colleagues to communicate key messages to their own contacts, therefore increasing brand reach, engagement and probably most importantly of all, advocacy even further.
Personally, I like the fact that LinkedIn allows you to add your own personality to a post, whether that be your own or somebody else’s. Clearly you need to exercise some caution here around sensitivity, but I don’t think there is any issue with adding some personality where relevant – by default, it becomes a vehicle for building your own personal brand as well as the brands you may work on.
For me, it has also allowed me to connect outside of my own field of expertise, outside of financial services and marketing, and into other sectors – again helping to broaden knowledge and in particular spot opportunities and ideas that may translate successfully from one sector to another.
So, where do you start with LinkedIn? Well, I have a couple of (hopefully useful) hints and tips:
- Have an insightful headline – don’t just have the name of your company – use it as an advert for your brand with a clever and useful headline
- Bitesize and educational content – develop content that is high quality and quick to consume, that members want to share in their networks
- Ask thoughtful questions to involve the audience – start a conversation by asking a question that is relevant to your target audience, which in turn will allow the content orstory to spread even further
- Keep content relevant – Ensure that your content is up to date and relevant to the audience it is being served where possible
- Share, share, share – the best way to increase engagement is to share your articles as much as possible with your contacts, who will in turn share with their own contacts
In summary, LinkedIn really does provide opportunities to increase your brand and personal reach, and to then nurture those relationships for a mutual benefit to both.
Hopefully this has provided a nice introduction to LinkedIn but in the meantime if you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line on richard.mcdonald@halifax.co.uk
