We are huge proponents of actively managed social media profiles. And in almost every case, I would advocate for this heavily. Except for one. LinkedIn company pages.
Now, that’s not to say I think you should ignore these pages. You should definitely claim your company’s LinkedIn company page and set up a professional presence and claim your vanity URL. It pays to have potential customers and employees think that you are an organized company at the top of your game. But, honestly, beyond that I wouldn’t stress too much about your LinkedIn company page. Here’s why:
1) No Engagement Ability LinkedIn company pages don’t give you a robust set of features to act as your page. This means it’s difficult to engage with your customers. It also means that customers often don’t engage with you on this platform. LinkedIn company pages act more like a billboard than an actual social platform. If you’re looking to build relationships and drive engagement, LinkedIn company pages are unlikely to meet these goals.
2) Low Visibility Especially for B2C companies, LinkedIn company pages are often not the first place that customers will seek you out. LinkedIn is primarily a place for people to search for jobs and network. This means it’s still important to have a professional LinkedIn company page – potential employees are watching and you want to hire the most talented people. However, if you’re not managing to post ten updates a day to LinkedIn, it’s not something to get overly stressed about.
3) Low Conversion Rates Again, this point is especially impactful if you are a B2C company. LinkedIn is not typically where people go to learn more about new products. If you have a business oriented product – computer bags or suits, for instance – it may be somewhere that people may convert. If they’re in a job search mindset, they may want to spruce up their look. If they’re in a job search mindset though, it’s less likely they’ll be interested in learning more about a candle company they see posting (or even advertising). For this reason, it’s ok if LinkedIn is last on your list of profiles to update.
There’s never a reason to let a profile go a year without an update. But if you’re swamped running a successful business or trying to decide where to put your time to get a new business off the ground, LinkedIn company pages may be one that you consider giving less attention.
Oh, my goodness, thanks!
I’m totally going to feel much less guilty now!