LinkedIn has become part and parcel of B2B marketing strategies. 2018 has begun with loads of novelties and the platform has also come up with fresh updates that marketing specialists should stay abreast with to make their marketing B2B strategies a success this year.
Two major updates that will take shape in 2018
First of all, apart from new updates being introduced this year, there are two major trends that kicked off in 2017 and are expected to take shape in 2018.
LinkedIn’s algorithm
Have you ever wondered why you see posts from certain people or businesses in your feed instead of others? Or, maybe you have noticed that your articles on LinkedIn Publishing are less seen lately? There definitely persists a mystery regarding the LinkedIn’s algorithm and most experts do not have an answer to these questions. What is certain is that the algorithm keeps on changing. Nonetheless, to overcome the mysterious principles and succeed, there are certain key points that must be taken into account:
- Share quality content that matches the expectations of your network
- Since LinkedIn wants to keep its visitors on the platform, posts with external links are penalized. To add an external simply add it in the comments.
- For a post to be ranked highest, it needs to achieve the most engagement within the hour after posting. These posts have a better impression rate as well. To boost engagement, you may mention people in your network with ‘@’. You may also start by varying hours of publications for testing the impact.
- Extra attention should be paid to the quality of your content; posts that mention only text are prominent on LinkedIn so there is no real need for links or images. Contents that are successful are generally based on a good storytelling with anecdotes, life stories, and lessons from entrepreneurs. You may also simply start with a question.
Native videos is a must
Those of you who are regular on social media platforms must have noticed that videos are becoming a pivotal axis in digital marketing. While all social media platforms hurried to incorporate native videos (videos that are loaded and played on the platform itself), LinkedIn did the same only in August 2017. Just like for other social platforms, native videos are proving to be a great strategy to hook visitors on the platform.
For marketers, the native video represents a great opportunity to share their knowledge and point of view and stand out in the crowd by displaying their personality. For instance, native videos can be highly successful for a business if it starts by broadcasting videos of their staff who are the best ambassadors of any company. Indeed, who is more credible and better placed than your own employees to talk about your products and services? This is a good technique to grab the interest of potential customers.
Native videos should also play a prominent role in the employer brand strategy for recruiters. Employees can tell the story of your business and share how a typical work day goes by. This strategy is much more impactful than an ad and adds a more human side to your business.
The new features to be added on LinkedIn this year
Great new features are being added to LinkedIn this year to improve the marketing use of the platform, and to make it easier for marketers to use.
Native video for business pages Linkedin
It is expected that LinkedIn will deploy native videos for the company’s pages after the deployment of native video for personal profiles has proven to be fruitful. A number of tests have already been carried out on some business pages. Of course, it is expected that the largest companies will be the first to benefit.
“Skills” and “Magnet” of LinkedIn
The LinkedIn magnet is a new feature that will be deployed on LinkedIn. It is expected to bring about a series of major changes and opportunities for users.
When writing a post from his or her mobile phone, a user can target subscribers with this function. For example, he may choose to reach only people with “marketing”, “communication” and “sales” skills because he may want to have their opinion on a particular topic, or simply reach this target in priority. The post will then appear in the stream of people on his network who added these skills to their profile. On LinkedIn, everyone has the opportunity to add 50 skills.
Even if currently only a selected group of test users have access to the LinkedIn Magnet, it is expected that in the course of 2018 the tool will be available to all members.
Carousel Ads on LinkedIn
In 2018, LinkedIn will offer new features to its Carousel advertisements, as is already possible with Facebook and Instagram advertising. It is a great means to promote a full range of products and make ads visually more attractive.
Notifications from your network
LinkedIn has launched the ability to enable or disable notifications on your network. For example, you can now choose to disable specific notifications, such as birthdays. If you have an active and wide network, this can be very useful. These notifications can be altered by going to “preferences and privacy” tab- and choosing the “Notifications on LinkedIn” tab.
Continuous integration with Microsoft
It is already more than a year that Microsoft acquired LinkedIn. It is natural to expect Microsoft establish links between its programs and LinkedIn. The integration has already begun: for instance, the resume assistant can help users in Word. Another feature is Outlook. Additional features are expected to be deployed during 2018.
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