How to Use LinkedIn to Boost Your Startup Marketing

Hand holding phone showing LinkedIn icon.

If your startup hasn’t been utilizing LinkedIn as a potential marketing channel, you may be missing out on prospective customers, leads, and additional revenue for your business. 

LinkedIn has 810 million members in over 200 different countries and territories around the world and is considered the world’s largest professional network. 

While anyone can begin marketing on LinkedIn, and brand exposure is always an important factor in your campaigns, there are certain industries that are more prevalent within the LinkedIn ecosystem. 

Some of the top industries with far-reaching networks that are currently present on LinkedIn include:

  • Financial services
  • Accounting
  • Computer Software
  • Hospital & Healthcare
  • Information Technology
  • Construction
  • Computer Software
  • Automotive
  • Higher Education
  • Retail

Even though these industries have a more concentrated user-base on the LinkedIn platform, your startup can still take advantage of LinkedIn marketing no matter what industry or niche you may be in. 

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the process of using LinkedIn to its full potential and boosting your startup’s marketing in the most efficient and effective way possible. 

Let's get started.

What Is LinkedIn Marketing?

LinkedIn marketing describes the process of using the LinkedIn platform to generate leads, improve brand awareness, make connections, and grow business relationships for your startup. By connecting with like-minded individuals on a social network that caters exclusively to professionals, you’ll be able to drive traffic to your website, share relevant content that gets the attention of your target audience and create partnerships that can benefit your business for years to come. 

Due to the effectiveness of LinkedIn in expanding professional networks as a whole, it can be an indispensable tool for growing your startup and improving your marketing.

Why Is Marketing on LinkedIn Important for Startups?

While your startup may want to focus on the “big three” social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, LinkedIn can be an excellent opportunity for your business that most people completely overlook. 

According to data collected by HubSpot, LinkedIn can be 277% more effective at generating leads than Twitter and Facebook. 

When you look at how LinkedIn operates and its focus on professional networking, these conversion rates begin to make more sense. While people usually frequent Twitter and Facebook to socialize and keep up with the latest trends, LinkedIn is a social network where users are dedicated to growing their professional networks and advancing their careers. 

For this reason, business-to-business (B2B) networking is especially effective on the LinkedIn platform and can help your startup form key connections with individuals that can help you grow and ultimately succeed within your industry.

How Startups Can Use LinkedIn for Marketing

Before jumping into LinkedIn marketing with your startup, there are a few tactics you should know about that have been proven to be effective on the platform. 

By using these tactics and techniques in your LinkedIn marketing efforts, you’ll be able to increase the effectiveness of your campaigns and receive a better ROI on your investment into the platform.

1. Keep Your Company’s Page Updated

When you join LinkedIn, you’ll create a dedicated page for your startup that lists all of your information and allows prospects to connect with your business. 

Keeping your company page updated on a regular basis is important for maintaining your brand image and showing potential contacts that you’re still active and in business. If someone visits your LinkedIn page and sees outdated information, they’ll immediately be put off, even if they were going to reach out.

2. Post Actionable Content Consistently

One of the best ways to begin getting engagement on LinkedIn is to post actionable content on a consistent basis. 

The best way to accomplish this is to set up a regular publishing schedule as well as a set time period for “ideation” and “brainstorming” where you and your team come up with content ideas that are relevant to your startup’s mission. 

As more people begin to see and share your actionable content, your startup will begin gaining visibility on the platform.

3. Use Hashtags Effectively

Hashtags (#) have taken off in popularity due to their use on Twitter and Instagram, but they are equally important on the LinkedIn platform.

When you include “#hashtags” on your LinkedIn posts, you’re essentially tagging those posts with categories that allow them to be searched and viewed by users who follow those hashtag feeds. 

If a user is following the “#business” tag, for example, they’ll be able to see a stream of the latest content relating to business. If your startup publishes a piece of actionable content and adds that hashtag, you’ll immediately gain some eyeballs and potentially garner some engagement.

4. Use Multimedia

When posting actionable content on your startup’s LinkedIn feed, remember to use multiple content types and mediums instead of pure text. 

While text-based content is great for LinkedIn users who prefer to absorb information from text, using engaging images and even video content can be a great way to get even more engagement with your content.

5. Track Analytics

LinkedIn provides analytics and information about how users are engaging and interacting with your startup’s content. By tracking these analytics and understanding what people are engaging with the most, you’ll be able to improve your content strategy. 

6. Leverage LinkedIn Groups

Joining LinkedIn groups in your industry is a great way to join a like-minded “mini-organization” of individuals who have the same interests and goals in mind. If your startup begins to gain trust and respect in several prominent LinkedIn groups, you can begin to develop opportunities for additional networking and high-value relationships. 

7. Reach Out to Others Using InMail

Using the LinkedIn InMail feature allows you to reach out to users on the platform in a personal way. These messages are a premium feature on LinkedIn and let you message members that you aren’t directly connected to. 

If you’d like to reach out to potential connections and begin building relationships, this is a great way to kick off the process.

8. Try the LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a way to target buyers relevant to your startup and engage in personalized outreach in an optimized way. Your startup will be able to target the right people and companies quickly and efficiently and gain access to an advanced company search tool and lead generation tools. 

Sales Navigator also allows your startup to discover the right people to reach out to and offers prospecting recommendations for your business. As an additional bonus, you can connect Sales Navigator with your CRM for efficiency.

9. Try LinkedIn’s Advertising Tools

LinkedIn allows businesses to advertise on their platform in order to reach new customers and get more eyes on their business. If your startup has a paid advertising budget, starting a paid campaign on LinkedIn and testing the water can be a great way to get more leads and prospective customers into your business pipeline.