With more than 950 million members spanning 200 countries, LinkedIn has become a vital platform for business professionals seeking networking opportunities and solutions to their daily challenges. Astonishingly, nearly three professionals are joining LinkedIn every second.

For B2B marketing, the question isn’t about whether to be on LinkedIn — as a staggering 96% of B2B marketers distribute content there — but about crafting a distinctive presence on the platform.

To help businesses thrive on LinkedIn, here’s a guide focusing on the tools and techniques vital for success in 2023 and beyond.

LinkedIn Mastery: 7 Steps to Elevate Your Brand

1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Page: Your ideal audience is on LinkedIn, and so are countless other organizations such as your clients, prospects, referrals and more. To set your organization apart:

• Ensure your company page is comprehensive: Completed pages see a 30% spike in weekly views. Be sure to add your logo, lead with an overview of key terms and phrases that LinkedIn members can easily find in search and add a call to action button to encourage next steps.
• Include multimedia in posts: Images, video and document posts earn substantially more engagement — for example, video sees 5X more engagement than plain text.
• Boost your Page: Amplify your content getting the most reactions with a boost to extend your reach. Boosting can help connect you with people who are not following you (yet) but might be interested.
• Invite people to follow: Prompt your first-degree connections to check out and follow your Page by selecting “Invite connections” within the Page admin tools.
• Highlight your brand by resharing posts where your business is @mentioned. And expose your brand to a wider audience by using three to five hashtags when it’s relevant.
• Engage actively: Frequent posting and interaction can double content engagement.
• Empower your employees: Use the “My Company” tab to showcase their voices and insights.

2. Embrace Thought Leadership on LinkedIn: Thought leadership can help fill your content calendar with persuasive content that builds your brand’s credibility. Thought leadership is more than just content—it’s about establishing trust. According to a 2022 report, 61% believed that thought leadership can showcase a company’s value more than marketing messages.

Setting goals and expectations for thought leadership — and measuring them through the lens of audience growth, content views and profile views — can translate to concrete business results, such as:

• Enhanced brand and reputation
• Market consideration
• Demand generation
• Talent attraction
• Employee engagement

3. Adapt Customer Engagement Approaches: Customers seek understanding, not just sales pitches. Tools like automated A/B testing, LinkedIn Ads’ conversion tracking and hosting LinkedIn Events can provide direct insights from customers.

4. Efficient Campaign Planning: LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager is full of helpful tools. Use campaign planning templates to tailor your strategies depending on your ad type.

5. Prioritize Creativity: In the B2B sector, creativity can set a brand apart. Innovative content can ensure your brand remains memorable, even if 95% of potential buyers aren’t currently in the market. Refresh old content by repackaging it in new formats.

6. Utilize LinkedIn’s Analytics: Only 37% of marketers are truly confident in their ROI metrics. Harness the power of LinkedIn’s analytical tools to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns and adjust accordingly.

7. Align Ads with Goals: B2B marketers who use LinkedIn ads not only get clicks but also elevate their brand’s perception. Ads on LinkedIn can enhance the brand’s image and align with broader business goals.

Charting the Path Forward

The role of B2B marketers is ever-evolving. However, as the digital landscape changes, platforms like LinkedIn are offering more avenues for businesses to grow and achieve long-term success. It’s to your advantage to embrace and harness the power of LinkedIn today.