Since being redesigned and relaunched in 2018, LinkedIn Pages have become one of the most effective elements of the social media platform.
As of 2019, there are 34 million Pages, which are like profile pages for companies—using Pages, companies can post or share content, create job listings, share photos, and even share employees’ top content from the company Page. They’ve become one of the top ways that organizations increase brand awareness and generate leads on LinkedIn.
Now, Pages have been updated again with some new features that are making them even more effective at driving both leads and awareness—especially for those in the B2B community.
But first, there’s a larger change that’s happened that will influence how content surfaces on users’ feeds. The platform announced that it would change its algorithm, which it found was rewarding the top 1% of “power users,” while the bottom 99% were receiving less engagement than before.
That’s not a good situation for any platform, as it creates a top-heavy, unsustainable structure that rewards only a few of the most aggressive and engaged content creators. And as that bottom 99% sees lower engagement, people will eventually leave.
To prevent that depopulation from even getting started, LinkedIn’s engineering team has changed the algorithm to more evenly distribute engagement among content creators. One way they’re doing this is by prioritizing professional content, as well as hashtags and mentions. Now that these changes are going into effect, users should start seeing a broader range of content from a broader range of users showing up in their feed, giving them more to engage with.
This larger algorithm change is accompanied by three smaller updates to LinkedIn Pages. Here’s what they are, and what they mean for your B2B company.
More calls-to-action
Any B2B marketer knows how important a strong call-to-action, or CTA, is. In fact, having the right one can mean the difference between getting a steady stream of registrants to your conference, for example, and a slow drip of one or two every few days.
Since LinkedIn is the source of 80% of all B2B leads generated by social media, it’s vital to ensure that you’re capturing as many leads as possible. That’s easier to do now, as LinkedIn’s Pages now give you a choice of five call-to-action buttons:
- Learn more
- Sign up
- Visit website
- Contact us
- Register
By choosing the right one for your page, you’re more likely to capture the people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. Here’s an example from the winner of LinkedIn’s “Best of Company Pages 2018,” the London-based recruiting firm Hays.
Source: LinkedIn
Admins can also access click-through analytics for each CTA simply by clicking on a link on the Page Dashboard or on the Visitor Analytics tab. This way, you can easily conduct A/B testing to see which call-to-action is working best for your audience.
Community hashtags
One issue Pages have had in the past is a lack of connection to hashtags. Now, admins can use community hashtags on their pages, allowing them to put their content in front of more readers who will find it relevant to their interests. This also allows the organization itself to take part in trending conversations, as opposed to simply relying on employees or brand ambassadors to do it for them.
Mobile editing
This is a small but vital change, as now Page admins can edit their pages from anywhere via their mobile devices.
This not only ups the convenience factor, but also allows for more up-to-the-minute reactions to trending topics, for example, as well as content posting and shares. By enabling more regular posting, this feature can also generate more engagement from your followers.
In sum: What do these changes mean for LinkedIn Page admins and users?
LinkedIn users crave authenticity and transparency, just like users do across the board on every social platform.
And as connected consumers, LinkedIn users also want content that is highly personalized to them. This is in keeping with what my agency, Zen Media, found in our research into connected consumers. The new Page changes will help increase that personalization factor, as well as help users see content from a wider range of creators that fits their interests.
As for admins, they’ll have better tools to manage their pages and communities, while growing brand awareness.
B2B companies can’t afford to ignore LinkedIn, especially since it’s responsible for such a huge percentage of leads generated by social media. By taking advantage of all the things Pages have to offer, you’ll be able to ensure you’re earning as many LinkedIn leads as possible. For more on marketing on LinkedIn, read our post “The Marketer’s Guide to Using LinkedIn’s Native Video.”
