Over time, it has been observed that businesses grow faster when they adopt online marketing strategies. These online marketing strategies involve the use of tools and other suggested methods available in the online space for business promotion. 

With time, online marketing will take the place of field marketing as it is more convenient both for the business and the customers.

RELATED: Field Marketing Vs. Online Marketing - Which is More Effective?

What is the relevance of social media in online marketing?

Social media serves as a test-run site for online marketing strategies. Through social media, businesses can find out, develop and improve those online marketing strategies and tactics which they have discovered to be most effective. Essentially, social media paves the way for improved marketing strategies.

LinkedIn as a social media tool

LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented online service that is primarily used for professional networking and career development, with a feature that allows job seekers to post their CVs, and resumes and also allows employers to post available jobs.

The platform was created in May 2003 and currently renders services worldwide with over 770 million registered members. It allows users to connect to establish real-world professional relationships. Members can use the platform to organize offline events, join groups, publish job postings, and lots more.

What are the features and advantages of using LinkedIn for online marketing?

1. LinkedIn includes an audience poll feature that enables you to record feedback from your target audience concerning certain issues and topics. It can also be used to find out your audience’s goals and their level of knowledge on those issues and topics.
2. Settings to manage your public conversations have been introduced which would help you control the number and category of individuals who can interact with your posts and other content.
3. LinkedIn allows for hosting real-time virtual events using their live feature. This live feature can be used to showcase expertise in your industry and also to provide exclusive content to real-time viewers.
4. LinkedIn offers product pages where you can highlight your business tools and describe your business products, their features, and benefits and equally upload relevant media photos and videos to demonstrate the features of the product.
5. With LinkedIn’s professional setup, it is now easier to find clients and contractors relevant to your search through the LinkedIn Services Marketplace.

How do I use LinkedIn in growing my business? 

This section of this article highlights the best ways you can employ LinkedIn in growing your business and illustrates them with case studies.

1. Build relationships from each connection. Seek to exploit every connection you make on the platform in the best way. Connections you make with other professionals and entrepreneurs on the platform are potential open doors to boosting your business prospects. You must know that every connection is a potential client.
2. Complete every relevant section of your LinkedIn profile. A complete LinkedIn will always increase your credibility as a business and as a professional. Potential clients and customers would be reluctant to patronize a business with some of its information missing.
3. Join the relevant LinkedIn groups and thereafter create your own LinkedIn group. A popular case is the story of Emmanuel Nduka on the platform. Initially, he started as a brand ambassador for an infant company and sought to develop himself in the ways he could. He joined groups where he interacted with many professionals in the same field. Years later, in 2022, he created a group/platform Hemm Africa, which seeks to foster a community of talents along the same line.
4. LinkedIn is a place for professional and career development. Content that is relevant to this purpose is highly engaged on the platform. Endeavour to post high-quality content relevant to your business, highlighting the highs and lows which your business has been through as well as the subsequent improvements. This would further drive engagement. 
5. Strive to find highly targeted customers and connections on the platform and stay on their radar. This is to ensure that you always stay at the top of their list when looking for a business or service to patronize. This was part of the strategy Emmanuel Nduka adapted to secure such a large number of followers and connections as well as business prospects on his page.

Conclusion

With the current over 770 million active users on LinkedIn and its highly defined professional setup, you can carefully devise a suitable strategy that would increase your follower base on the platform and ultimately generate new leads and prospects for your business.

Much like LinkedIn, SmartSMSSolutions can contribute to your business growth and promotion strategies. To do this, we have established a platform that would enable you to communicate instantly with your entire client/customer base comfortably and conveniently. With such a feature, you could instantly reach your customers to inform them about any available promo offers or even send them goodwill messages. You can simply register with us so you could begin enjoying these features and benefits.

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