5 Things to Consider When Creating a LinkedIn Business Strategy

Many brands have caught on to the importance of social media, and yet many still consider LinkedIn to be one of the most difficult platforms to create a strategy for. Though tailored to suit business people, the site is arguably less social than Facebook or Twitter, and brands may struggle to find as big of an audience on LinkedIn.

When coming around to a strategy, prioritize and decide on what the ultimate goal of your brand's LinkedIn page will be. Whether it be recruitment, increasing readership or engagement, determining the desired outcome is critical and will strongly affect the strategy that you go forward with.

Before doing anything, ensure that the employees of your company are signed up on the service and have publicly visible profiles. Aside from being a good networking tool for people to use, your company can strategize engagement by asking employees to spark conversation on your brand's page. This will build the network of your company's page and essentially make your company look more important in the eyes of users.

After setting up your company and employee pages, post content that is either related to or generated by your company. Because LinkedIn is a professional site, it's critical that you tailor posts to appeal to business minds and customers. Longer discussions are facilitated on this service, so don't feel the need to be as brief as one might be on platforms like Twitter.

In order to increase engagement on the content that your company puts on the site, embellish posts with descriptions that catch people's eyes. Some companies like Inc.com are incredibly skilled at doing this, and will link their posts to popular corporate-related news in the media.

Bear in mind that, because LinkedIn is not as social a platform as Facebook and not as much a part of people's everyday lives, engagement will not be equal to other social media forms. Regardless, particularly in terms of recruitment, LinkedIn can be an effective tool for companies.

For more information on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, check out Trend Hunter's Social Media Trend Report.