By Noor Abdel-Raziq, Altitude Accelerator Communications Intern
“1 out of every 3 professionals on the planet is on LinkedIn,” says Jason Miller, LinkedIn’s content marketing manager.
With that crazy quote, I’ll go straight to the 3 reasons your startup should have a presence on LinkedIn:
1. Talent Recruitment
LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, some who have a job and others who are looking for one. As a startup wanting to recruit individuals to your team, LinkedIn is a great source. A 2015 infographic reports that 92% of companies use platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to recruit and that LinkedIn is the dominant network for recruiting.
Positing jobs on LinkedIn is easy and can be done freely by posting an update or posting on related LinkedIn groups. By using LinkedIn, you can view candidate’s profiles to see skills, experiences, interests, updates, and the recommendations others have made about the candidate. You can also reach out to certain candidates, instead of waiting for them to reach out to you.
2. B2B and B2C Marketing
If your startup is a B2B business, then LinkedIn is fantastic for you. In 2013, 83% of B2B marketers used LinkedIn and you should be one of them. Why you ask? Well, because your target market is using LinkedIn. You will likely find the business people that you want to connect with on LinkedIn, especially those in the high-tech industry.
LinkedIn is also great for B2C. In 2013, 77% of LinkedIn users researched a product or a service on the platform.
3. Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM)
Having a company and employee presence on LinkedIn will help you manage what others see when they Google your startup. If your startup has a LinkedIn profile, when someone searches your company, Google will show your LinkedIn page within the first page. This is a bonus for you, since you can increase your control on what people see on a Google search, at least for the first page—the most important page.
Now that I gave you the reasons, I want to help get you started. Here is one piece of advice from Róisín Bonner, Social Media Lead at Microsoft, on what to do to improve your startup’s page. For LinkedIn, she says, “Ensure you’re posting content regularly on LinkedIn. Many companies focus on Facebook and Twitter for sharing posts, but LinkedIn newsfeeds and groups are where many business decision-makers are going to find information and research solutions.”
It’s hard to include everything there is to know in one post, however, if you’re interested in knowing more about social media and small businesses, check out the other posts on the Altitude Accelerator blog on why you should be on Facebook and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to read Altitude Accelerator’s 5 Social Media Tips for Startups!