Of course, you’ll want to find the right social media software that aligns with your needs and goals. In this article, I will explore the factors to consider when choosing social media tools so that your social media marketing strategy has the power it deserves.

What to Look for When Choosing Social Media Tools

As you search for the right social media tool, here are seven factors to consider:

• Cost and features
• Contracts
• Google Analytics integration
• Supported social networks
• User access
• Access to historical data
• White labeling
• Comparison of social media software options
• FAQ: What are the key factors to consider when choosing social media management tools? 

1. Cost and Features

The price range of a social media tool can vary from $50 to $1,600 per month.

Lower-priced options usually offer basic features like follower growth tracking and reporting. On the other hand, higher-priced tools provide advanced features like social listening reports, competitive analysis, hashtag tracking, and more.

(Some tools even offer free versions that give you basic functionality.)

Consider your budget and the specific features you require to make a cost-effective choice for your business.

2. Contracts

Most social media software providers require a year-long contract. However, some options like Sprout Social and Quintly offer month-to-month payment plans, providing flexibility for your business.

Be sure to carefully review the contract before signing so that you know what you’re signing up for.

3. Google Analytics Integration

You’ll want to see if your social media marketing strategy is actually bringing in traffic, so you may want to consider a tool with integrated Google Analytics.

Some social media tools generate reports similar to Google Analytics’ Social Referrer Report. Evaluate whether separate data platforms are acceptable for your reporting needs or if integration with Google Analytics is necessary for your business.

4. Supported Social Networks

Social media marketing is not a one-size-fits-all, so decide which social networks your target audience spends time on.

While platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook are typically included, some tools offer additional integrations with platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and more.

5. User Access

Different social media software packages allow varying numbers of user logins.

Assess the size of your team and the number of individuals who require access to the software. Ensure that the chosen tool offers adequate user access to facilitate efficient collaboration and management.

6. Access to Historical Data

Historical data can help you identify which messages and strategies resonate with your audience. However, not all tools provide access to data that existed before you started using the software.

Nuvi is an exception, offering historical data for X (formerly Twitter).

7. White Labeling

White labeling allows you to customize the software’s branding to match your company’s identity. This provides a seamless integration of the software into your overall brand experience.

While lower-priced accounts often lack this feature, higher-priced options like Nuvi offer white labeling at an additional cost.

Consider whether white labeling is essential for maintaining a consistent brand image across social media management tools.

Now that we’ve covered the key considerations let’s take a closer look at some popular social media software options and their associated features and costs.

Comparison of Social Media Software Options

• Nuvi: Nuvi offers packages priced at $600, $900, and $1600 per month. Their social media software provides advanced features, including comprehensive social listening reports with advanced sentiment analysis, competitor analysis, customizable threshold alerts, and content management capabilities. It supports multiple social networks, allowing you to monitor and analyze data across various platforms. Additionally, Nuvi offers white labeling at an extra cost for seamless branding integration.
• Sprout Social: Sprout Social offers a range of plans starting from $59 to $500 per month. The lower-priced plans provide basic features such as follower growth tracking and mentions. As you move up to the higher-priced plans, you gain access to advanced reports, Google Analytics integration, white labeling, and a message approval workflow. Sprout Social supports Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, ensuring comprehensive coverage of major social networks.
• Quintly: Quintly provides packages priced at $129, $299, and $479 per month. While Quintly may not offer Google Analytics integration or content management features, it does support white labeling. If having control over your software’s branding is a priority, Quintly may be a suitable option to consider.
• DataPine: DataPine offers packages priced at €219, €399, €699, and €799 per month. Their software includes features such as Google Analytics integration and white labeling. However, it does not provide content management capabilities. Evaluate your specific requirements to determine if DataPine aligns with your business needs.

To get the most out of your social media marketing, it’s obvious you need a tool. Be sure to analyze your target audience and what has worked in the past to identify which tool you need.

There are many options, and most offer free trials, so be sure to try out a few before choosing the tool that will supercharge your social media marketing strategy.

What’s your preferred social media software? Share your thoughts in the comments.

FAQ: What are the key factors to consider when choosing social media management tools?

Businesses and individuals must select an ideal social media management tool based on their goals and resources. Our guide explores key considerations to aid this decision-making process.

1. Purpose and Goals:

Begin by defining your social media objectives. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, engage with your audience, or analyze data? Your goals will dictate which features and functionalities you need in a management tool.

2. Platform Compatibility:

Consider which social media platforms you intend to utilize. Ensure the tool you choose supports the most relevant platforms to your target audience.

3. User-Friendliness:

User interface and ease of use are crucial. Opt for a tool that your team can navigate comfortably, as this will impact efficiency and productivity.

4. Features and Integration:

Evaluate the tool’s features. Does it offer scheduling, analytics, and monitoring capabilities? Furthermore, check if it can integrate with your existing systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software.

5. Cost and Scalability:

Determine your budget and select a tool that aligns with it. Additionally, consider scalability – can the tool accommodate your future growth without significant cost increases?

6. Analytics and Reporting:

Comprehensive analytics and reporting are vital for measuring the effectiveness of your social media efforts. Choose a tool that provides in-depth insights and customizable reports.

7. Customer Support and Training:

Assess the quality of customer support and training the tool’s provider offers. A responsive support team and accessible training resources can save valuable time when troubleshooting issues.

8. Security and Compliance:

Ensure the tool complies with data privacy regulations and offers robust security features to protect your social media accounts and data.

9. Reputation and Reviews:

Read user reviews and seek recommendations from peers in your industry. A tool’s reputation can provide valuable insights into its reliability and performance.

10. Trial Period:

Choose tools with free trials whenever possible to see if they suit you before making the commitment to subscription services.

Selecting social media tools that meet your goals and circumstances is paramount to improve social media strategy and productivity. When selecting an application, it should help enhance both.

Step-by-Step Procedure for Selecting Social Media Management Tools:

1. Clearly define your social media objectives and goals.
2. Select your social media platforms.
3. Prioritize UX design and make sure everything is user-friendly.
4. List the essential features and integrations required for your social media management.
5. Determine your budget and consider scalability.
6. Prioritize tools that offer robust analytics and reporting capabilities.
7. Investigate the quality of customer support and available training resources.
8. Ensure the tool complies with security and privacy regulations.
9. Research the tool’s reputation through user reviews and industry recommendations.
10. Take advantage of trial periods to test the tool’s suitability whenever possible.

Following these steps will enable you to evaluate and select social media management software that best fulfills your objectives and needs.

This article was updated on September 13, 2023.

The post Is Your Company Ready to Invest in Social Media Tools? Which Factors Should You Consider? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

I think the acquisition could actually be the cornerstone of an important new Bing Ads strategy: the creation and expansion of a Microsoft Display Network.

Urgent Push for a Microsoft Display Network

Microsoft has never been a major player in display advertising. Currently, Bing Ads advertisers can place text ads on Microsoft’s owned and operated sites (like MSN Money), but that’s just a handful of sites, and targeting options are limited to rudimentary demographics.

Facebook and Google display advertising, on the other hand, account for billions in revenue for those two dominant players. Flexible hypertargeting capabilities have helped advertisers finally reap ROIs that rival those obtainable through search advertising.

Two recent developments underscore Microsoft’s sense of urgency:

1. First, Google just announced that they’re expanding their display network (already reaching, they say, 90 percent of all internet users) by the addition of Cross-Exchange Buying inventory.
2. Secondly, Facebook has been quietly building the size of its Facebook Audience Network to include people and sites outside the set of Facebook users. And they recently announced a new feature that will let advertisers target an even bigger audience.

3 Moves for Microsoft to Rival Google & Facebook

Look for Microsoft to muscle its way in and grab a big slice of the display ads pie. I see three big moves by Microsoft ahead:

• Step 1 will be the integration of Bing Ads and LinkedIn Advertising.
• Step 2 will be the introduction of additional ad sizes and formats for display advertising.
• For Step 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft grows its display network through other means, like additional acquisitions, or the creation of a publisher program to rival Google’s AdSense.

Long-time Microsoft watchers know that the Redmond giant rarely gets it right the first time, but time and again has “versioned” its way to dominance. Could the Bing Ads we know today be the Windows 3.1 of PPC advertising — and is Microsoft about to go all Windows 95 on us? A Microsoft Display Network would be a big play that would give display advertisers exciting new options for their ad dollars.

Want help getting more customers from search? Request a free PPC audit from David Szetela and the PPC team at BCI.

The post Szetela’s Scoop! Microsoft’s LinkedIn News May Imply More than LinkedIn Ad Integration for Bing Advertisers appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

With so many choices, kicking off social media marketing can be overwhelming. To help you choose the best fit social networks for your business, we’re shining a light on:

• The primary user base of the most popular social networks
• What brands are doing to find success marketing on each
• Guidelines for determining if your business could be a good match for marketing, branding, community building or customer service on each platform
• And any special considerations to be aware of that engagement on the platform may require

These are the six social networks covered here:

1. Pinterest
2. Instagram
3. Google+
4. LinkedIn
5. Facebook
6. Twitter

You can jump to each section from the link above.

Criteria for Evaluating a Social Investment

Here are some questions to ask to decide if a social network is right for your business:

• Are my target users among this network’s user base?
• Does my business’s products or services fit the type of content that is popular on this network?
• Can I commit resources to an ongoing campaign to create or publish content that is popular on this network?
• What are the ideal actions a user could take from this network that would benefit my business?

Below you’ll find each network’s primary user demographics and the popular content types as well as an example of a brand that has built a loyal and engaged community of followers.

While the examples of brands making each network work for them provides a template of what your business might be able to do, what has worked in the past is certainly not the limit to what could work in the future.

It’s important to note that every successful campaign strategy begins with creative thinking about a business brand and the audience it serves. In other words, your brand story could break the mold and be the next case study of a business doing social right!

Pinterest: Visual Candy Collectors

• Popular content: Food, fashion, décor and DIY images that users find around the web
• Most followed brands are Perfect Pallet, Real Simple and The Beauty Department
• Established in 2010
• 100 million active users
• 85 percent of users are female

Pinterest users post images to the platform (usually images they came across while browsing the web, sometimes images or graphics they may have created or published themselves) sorting or categorizing them by theme or subject matter which other users can then follow or browse. Pinterest has become a hub of inspiration for creatively inclined people, 4 out of 5 of whom are women. The industry themes that thrive on Pinterest include:

• Wedding and event planning
• Home décor
• Recipes
• Fashion
• Crafting and DIY

A Brand’s Pinterest Success

Upscale cosmetic retailer Sephora joined Pinterest in 2012. The brand boasts more than 290,000 followers and 6,500 pins showcasing product lines, tutorials for how to use their products and beauty looks created with their products, in other words, their products at work.

Since Sephora began advertising on Pinterest, Pinterest became one of Sephora.com’s top ten sources of referral traffic. Not only is Sephora boosting its reach with Pinterest, but it’s also able to improve its offerings via the data collected through it. Sephora learns about their users and the products they are most interested in, along with other key marketing information, by mining their Pinterest data.

How new content will be used on Pinterest is a consideration of every new campaign. “When we create content for our site or emails, we think of additional ways that we can help the story along on Pinterest,” said Sephora CMO Julie Bornstein. “We use web analytics to look at top pins, test quote layouts from brand founders, and try different product shots — we spend time learning about what works and experiment often to get it right.”

Instagram: Public Diarists

• Popular content: Photos by celebrities and brands revealing what goes on behind the scenes and glamorous lifestyles
• Most popular brands are Nike, Starbucks and NBA
• Launched in October 2010
• 400 million active users and counting
• 80 million photos shared per day
• Men and women are rather evenly represented among Instagram’s young (18-29) user base

On Instagram, users publish photos and videos (up to 15 seconds) dressed up with filters, user tagging and hashtags. Brands that succeed on Instagram are those with stories to tell, drawing users into the lifestyle the brand is portraying through the vignettes and characters featured in their photo stream.

Here’s a photo from BCI’s Instagram account. That’s BCI’s content and media manager Virginia Nussey, me, and senior technical writer Paula Allen (left to right) showing some behind-the-scenes fun at the office on Flannel Friday.

A photo posted by Bruce Clay, Inc. (@bruceclayinc) on Mar 18, 2016 at 10:11am PDT

A Brand’s Instagram Success

The ice cream purveyor Ben & Jerry’s reached 9.8 million users on Instagram through a paid ad campaign on the network. The campaign consisted of 4 sponsored images of its ice cream disseminated among a target audience of 18- to 35-year-olds in the U.S. over eight days. The end result was greater top-of-mind recall, brand recognition and product demand.

“Since its launch, Instagram has provided us with an amazing platform to connect with our fans and tell our story visually. Ads on Instagram let us reach and engage with more fans about our flavors, fun and values,” said Mike Hayes, digital marketing manager at Ben & Jerry’s.

Also see 4 Reasons Your Retail Brand Needs to Be on Instagram Right Now.

Google+: Conversationalists Plus Max SEO Benefits

• Popular content: Articles on Internet marketing, business and technology – which is no surprise considering the top eight occupations among Google+ users are engineers, developers, designers, software engineers, web developers, writers, software developers and programmers. Google+ is also popular among photographers who use Google+ to showcase their work (and, fittingly, photographer is the ninth most commonly listed occupation on Google+).
• Launched in June 2011
• 300 million active users and counting
• 68% of users are male
• Special note to consider in a business’s evaluation for network investment: There are SEO benefits to Google+ including increased visibility opportunities for a business’s content to be displayed in search results, and a quick way to get content crawled by Google

Brands leading the way on Google+ include:

• Topshop
• TOMS
• H&M
• The Financial Times
• Cadbury
• Mashable
• Fitbit
• Flixster
• Hotel Tonight

Read brand stories and case studies for each of these companies.

A Brand’s Google+ Success

Like many other leading brands on Google+, British chocolatier Cadbury has leveraged Google+ to create conversations via Hangouts On Air.

“The thing that’s most different (on Google+) is Hangouts – you can’t really do it on any other platform. We’ve done three hangouts so far. The first one we created a chocolate version of our Google+ page. Then we did a second with Rebecca Adlington, one of the Olympians we’re sponsoring … We just met up with one of chocolate tasters and had an informal discussion on the basics of chocolate,” said Jerry Daykin, Cadbury’s social media and community manager.

“We spent quite a long time with our first Hangout thinking what will we do, when will we do what, and made it quite complicated in our head. And the reality was it’s as easy as having a conversation with someone face-to-face … My favorite feature about Hangouts On Air is the ability to have this really close connection to a small group of people but do it in a way that lets thousands of people see it.”

LinkedIn: Consultants, Personal Brands and B2B Reach

• Popular content: Professional profiles and resumes, business-centric news and articles, and job opportunities
• Established in May 2003
• 400 million members
• 3 million business pages
• Top company pages on LinkedIn include Mashable, HubSpot, NPR, Kellogg and AppleOne

Among LinkedIn’s users are many owners, presidents, founders and C-Suite executives – i.e., people with the ability to make change, hire companies and acquire new talent. If you are a B2B company, LinkedIn provides a golden opportunity to market your company in front of businesses who can hire you.

A Brand’s LinkedIn Success

One such B2B company advertising on LinkedIn is marketing software company HubSpot. HubSpot uses LinkedIn to distribute white papers, drive traffic to their own site, increase high quality leads, and reach targeted professional industries.

“With LinkedIn, we’re able to truly identify our core audience by going a step further and targeting by company, job title, job function and groups,” said Dan Slagen, head of paid search marketing at HubSpot. “This gives us the unique ability to tailor messaging and target the exact audience segment that we need.”

For HubSpot, LinkedIn advertising resulted in a lower cost-per-click rate than with search engine advertising. Slagen said that the CPC averaged at $3, “which is actually a fraction of the cost of paid search advertising … on traditional PPC search engines, we’ve seen average CPC rates that are … as much as three times higher.”

Facebook: Local and National Brands Alike, but Come with a Budget

• Popular content: Photos (including selfies), coordination of social plans, posts about what people are doing, likes and shares of content found on the web
• Established in July 2004
• More than 50 million business pages
• 1.65 billion active monthly users – with this many users, everyone’s on there, which is how Facebook has been able to grow its ad products that feature a high degree of audience targeting capabilities
• Special note to consider in a business’s evaluation for network investment: paid promotion is required for visibility

Facebook has been the dominant platform within the social media sphere for many years. It has the most users, and, speaking to its prominence users’ daily lives, 48 percent of 18-34 year old Facebook users check Facebook when they wake up. But when talking about Facebook as a marketing channel today, the discussion must begin with advertising.

If you’re considering investing in Facebook for your business, you should understand that you will likely need to dedicate an advertising budget for promoting your content on the network, even among your own fans. Without paid promotion, Facebook reportedly shows brand page content to a mere 1 to 2 percent of a page’s followers. In order for a brand page’s posts to show to its fans and followers, reach must be amplified by paid promotion.

Facebook points to the following industries as leaders in Facebook advertising:

• Automotive
• Consumer goods
• Financial services
• Gaming
• Politics
• Retail/ecommerce
• Technology
• Travel

A Few Brands’ Successes on Facebook

On Facebook, national brands and local retailers alike successfully pay to play with the social networks. Global retailer Michael Kors, for example, was able to use Facebook ads to drive more than one million view to its sneaker videos, increasing brand awareness and sales.

Sam’s Chowder House, a locally owned restaurant in San Francisco, attributed a 19 percent increase in guests and revenues to Facebook’s promoted posts. The day after their most successful promoted posts, they experienced 58 percent sales increase and 22 percent guest count increase.

Twitter: Build Awareness Through Fast Feedback

• Popular content: Users have 140 characters to broadcast commentary, links and images or converse with other users. The avenues of success on Twitter are broad and varied, with popular accounts ranging from musing celebrities (@ladygaga) to humorous shticks (@shitmydadsays) to businesses providing stellar customer service (@JetBlue) to food trucks tweeting the day’s location (@CurbsideCupcake)
• Established in March 2006
• 310 million active users on Twitter
• 83 percent of Twitter users access Twitter from a mobile device

Compete.com recently looked at the online habits of 2,000 consumers and found that 38.9 percent of users made online purchases from retailers whose tweets they had seen … compared to only 26.9 percent of users who made online purchases without being exposed to any tweets. A brand that tweets stands to gain a 37 percent increase in online sales.

“Consumers who see Tweets from retailers are people who, for one reason or another, are engaged in conversation about or with that retailer. These people prove to also be much more likely to shop and buy from retailers’ websites … The results demonstrate that more exposure correlates with more retail activity.”

Here’s a photo tweet by @BruceClayInc of me speaking on social media marketing at a recent event in LA. Photos are easy to post to Twitter through the mobile app, and tend to get higher engagement than tweets without images.

Branding on Instagram and Snapchat panel at Media Leaders Growth Summit #dgs16 https://t.co/eQoIi1Sr9H pic.twitter.com/OJIAn8zV92

— Bruce Clay, Inc. (@BruceClayInc) May 6, 2016

A Few Brands’ Successes on Twitter

As with Facebook, brands of all sizes and from all industries are using Twitter. Chicago bakery Whipped Bakeshop used a promoted account to increase followers in Philadelphia and attract new customer. The Barack Obama presidential campaign used promoted trends get keep voters informed in real time and gain record engagement in 2008. The American Red Cross used promoted tweets to drive donations (reaching 100% of its goal) and attract new volunteers.

Next Steps for a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Success in social media marketing is measured by the quality of interactions over the quantity of interaction. No matter how your business’s online social presence develops, it’s critical to determine and track metrics that align with your business goals so you can decide what’s working and what’s not.

As you’re deciding what social network to invest in, determine the metrics you’ll be tracking to measure your efforts. That way, when you’ve launched a campaign to build brand awareness, provide customer service, enhance visibility of your products, and grow loyalty, you’ll be able to tell if your efforts are making progress for your business and adjust your tactics accordingly.

Want Social Media Recommendations Just for Your Business?

If you’re interested in a free 15-minute social media review from me, BCI’s social media editor, and learning more about how we can help you build your online presence, let us know and we’ll be in touch!

The post Which Social Media Networks Should Your Business Invest In? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Have a Blog in the Bag

A successful blog keeps readers engaged and ever-hungry for more content. Readers should be so excited for your posts that they check your blog regularly for content, but that will only happen if you’re a consistent and frequent poster.

As a point of reference, we post four times a week on the Bruce Clay blog. If you don’t have the resources for such frequent posting, however, you should — at least — be updating your blog once a week, and each post should be a minimum of 400 words.

Just because you’re going on vacation doesn’t mean your blog can go on hiatus. Your readers expect your posts and you can’t disappoint them. Therefore, it is essential that you find the time to prepare and schedule a blog post ahead of time. Another option (which will also theoretically save you time and boost engagement) is to invite a trusted colleague or peer to guest post on your blog. If you go that route, however, make sure the deadline for their post is before you vacate, so that you can do whatever editing you need to do beforehand.

Prep and Optimize Social Media! #necessary #simple @Tweriod @BufferApp

You don’t want your brand voice to fall silent while you’re away, so set aside some to time to craft and schedule social media posts before you vacate. Tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIn posts should be distributed throughout each day. Follow these steps to optimal social media posting (which can be used even when you’re not on vacation).

1. Strategize your share times with Tweriod. Tweriod is a free service that analyzes your Twitter following to determine what the optimal times of the day are for you to tweet. After it gives you the times for your Twitter account, click on “Send to Buffer.”

2. Log into Buffer. Buffer is an amazing dashboard that automatically pulls the data from Tweriod and knows the times you should be tweeting (see right). Buffer will then present you with a list of suggested times for you post social media. Buffer allows you to connect with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

3. Create your posts in Buffer. So for example, if I were going to be out of the office Monday through Wednesday and wanted to send out four social media postings per day on Twitter, I would simply stick with the schedule Tweriod designated — which Buffer also defaults to, conveniently.

Now, I would just have to come up with 12 tweets in total. Stumped for what to tweet about? Consider these types of tweets when planning:

• A picture
• A retweet
• A great quote from someone in your industry
• A deal or discount your brand offers
• A link to a helpful article that can benefit your customers or clients
• A link to an awesome related infographic related to your industry
• A link that announces your blog post, corresponding to the time you scheduled your blog to go live

4. Want to share across social media platforms? When creating a post, simply click the icon for your Facebook, the icon for your Twitter and the icon for your LinkedIn and everything will post simultaneously at your designated times.

5. Simply click and drag to change the order of your tweets. To change the time (which default according to Tweriod’s analytics), just click the clock.

Designate Time to Check In

By scheduling your tweets and Facebook, LinkedIn and blog posts, you’ve completed 95% of the work you needed to do. But part of staying in constant contact is being there to answer questions and comments that users post on your various channels. Therefore, it’s a good idea to set aside a certain amount of time (for example, half an hour a day in the morning before you start the day) to check in and respond to anything that needs a response. And if a customer has a question or concern that is going to need a lot of attention, respond letting them know you’re out of the office, but his or her concern is important and you’ll get back to them next week. It’s just a matter of communication, and that’s what social media thrives on.  

The post Tips for Blog and Social Media Maintenance While on Vacation? Get Out of Town! appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

• Think about keywords
• Connect with others
• Join groups
• Fine-tune your profile
• FAQ: How can I stand out and boost search results through LinkedIn profile optimization? 

Think About Keywords

Just like a Google search, LinkedIn’s results rely on algorithms. To ensure your profile appears as a top search result, it’s crucial to optimize it with relevant keywords. Just as you consider keywords for web pages, think about the keywords you want to lead to your profile.

For instance, let’s consider a professional dancer specializing in tango and Latin dance. When creating her LinkedIn profile, she should focus on optimizing her content for these specific dance styles. Throughout her summary and job descriptions, she can incorporate keywords like “tango,” the keyword phrase “Latin dance,” and associated keywords such as “salsa,” “mambo,” and “cha cha.”

When adding her experience as a “Dance Teacher at Studio 5678,” she should provide a description highlighting her expertise in teaching Argentine tango to advanced students and choreographing routines for tango, salsa, mambo, and cha cha. Utilize the valuable space in job descriptions to insert keywords strategically.

The same principle applies to the summary section. Our hypothetical dance teacher should emphasize her dance accomplishments and interests, naturally incorporating the relevant keywords. This way, when someone searches for “tango dancer,” her profile will appear. Consider implementing this approach while optimizing your own LinkedIn profile.

Connect with Others

Forging connections is another best practice for enhancing your profile. Have you noticed that the number of connections impacts your search results? Those you know tend to appear higher in search rankings. Therefore, aim to expand your network by leveraging LinkedIn’s capabilities to find contacts you already know.

Allow LinkedIn to use your email accounts to locate your existing connections. Additionally, downloading the mobile LinkedIn app can help expand your network by utilizing your phone book contacts. Building connections with people you already know is an excellent starting point.

Join groups

Joining relevant groups serves as a valuable connection tool and provides another opportunity to showcase your professional interests. Returning to our dance teacher example, she can explore groups related to “dance” and find numerous results such as “Dance Industry Professionals Worldwide” and “Dance Teachers/Studio Owners.” By searching for “tango,” she can discover groups like “Argentine Tango & Business.” Becoming part of these groups allows her to interact with like-minded professionals and potential employers, creating more networking opportunities.

Joining groups naturally leads to connections while further associating her with the targeted keywords and phrases. Ideally, she will also gain industry insights from peers within the group.

Fine-tune your profile

Optimizing your profile goes beyond connections. It should reflect your work ethic, skills, and professionalism. In addition to optimizing your summary and job experience, ensure you have a clear headshot that conveys capability and confidence. Avoid leaving your profile picture blank or using unprofessional selfies or glamor shots.

Seeking recommendations and endorsements from your connections is also beneficial. Logging into LinkedIn and finding an endorsement is always a pleasant surprise, but don’t hesitate to politely ask for them if you deserve them. Remember to reciprocate by endorsing and recommending others who deserve recognition. A job well done deserves acknowledgment!

Lastly, make sure your visibility settings are set to public. LinkedIn is primarily a professional platform, and your profile content should be visible to everyone. Sharing your profile and associated activities with the world can significantly enhance your professional presence.

In addition to your individual profile, LinkedIn also offers company profiles. Consider visiting the Bruce Clay company profile or exploring our LinkedIn for Business series to learn more about optimizing company profiles.

By implementing these modern techniques, using relevant terminology, and following expert advice, you can transform your LinkedIn profile into a star performer. Stand out, boost your search visibility, and unlock new opportunities for professional growth.

Ready to transform your LinkedIn presence and unlock new career opportunities? Contact us. 

FAQ: How can I stand out and boost search results through LinkedIn profile optimization?

Your LinkedIn profile stands as a crucial gateway to professional opportunities. Positioning yourself strategically for better search engine results requires more than simply showing off your achievements; I will serve as your expert consultant to enhance your profile and maximize its potential.

Craft a Compelling Headline:

Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing users see. Make it concise, yet impactful. Incorporate relevant keywords that align with your expertise and the job you’re targeting. A powerful headline not only attracts attention but also enhances searchability.

Create a Captivating Summary:

The summary section is your chance to tell your professional story. Craft a narrative that highlights your achievements, skills, and aspirations. Use industry-specific keywords naturally to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and cater to buyer intent search terms.

Optimize Job Descriptions:

Each job description is an opportunity to showcase your accomplishments. Utilize bullet points to make your achievements easily scannable. Include relevant keywords, but avoid keyword stuffing. Strike a balance between human readability and search engine friendliness.

Showcase Skills and Endorsements:

LinkedIn allows you to list your skills and receive endorsements. Strategically choose skills that align with your target audience’s search queries. Encourage colleagues and connections to endorse you, reinforcing your credibility.

Engage Regularly:

LinkedIn rewards active users. Engage with your network by sharing insightful content, commenting on others’ posts, and participating in relevant groups. Regular activity signals to LinkedIn’s algorithm that you’re a valuable and engaged member of the platform.

Step-by-Step Guide: Boosting Your LinkedIn Profile for Search Results

1. Craft a Compelling Headline: Begin by updating your LinkedIn headline with a concise and keyword-rich description of your expertise.
2. Create a Captivating Summary: Write a compelling summary that not only tells your professional story but also incorporates industry-specific keywords.
3. Optimize Job Descriptions: Enhance your job descriptions with bullet points highlighting key achievements and industry-relevant keywords.
4. Showcase Skills and Endorsements: Select and prioritize skills that align with your target audience’s search queries. Encourage endorsements from colleagues.
5. Engage Regularly: Boost your profile’s visibility by actively participating in the LinkedIn community. Share content, comment on posts, and join relevant groups.
6. Continuously Update and Improve: Regularly revisit and update your profile. Stay current with industry trends, and adapt your profile to reflect new skills and accomplishments.

LinkedIn profile optimization is a dynamic process that requires a strategic approach. By implementing these steps, you’ll not only stand out to your network but also boost your search results, ensuring that your professional journey is easily discoverable by those seeking your expertise. Your LinkedIn profile is your digital business card; make it memorable, and let your professional narrative shine.

This article was updated on December 18, 2023.  

The post LinkedIn Profile Optimization: Stand Out and Boost Search Results appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

In this post, we’ll explore LinkedIn plugins that increase visibility, ideas for cross-promotion, tracking the success of your company page and its content, and growing your company’s network on LinkedIn.

Use Plugins to Make Your Profile More Visible

The LinkedIn Developers site has lots of goodies for driving promotion and engagement for LinkedIn. Grab plugins that create buttons you can embed in your site or other collateral so people can:

• Apply through LinkedIn for jobs your company offers.
• Share your Web content on LinkedIn.
• View individual LinkedIn profiles of you and your employees, right in your website.
• View common connections on LinkedIn related to your company’s employees, see new hire information and more.
• View your LinkedIn company profile at-a-glance along with the follow button.
• View full member profiles.
• Recommend your company’s products and services directly.
• See jobs users may be interested in, personalized to them. This can be either the jobs at your company or top jobs on LinkedIn.
• Follow your company directly from the plugin.
• Streamline their experience through a LinkedIn sign in button.

Think about the different ways you can reach people using these plugins:

• The share button has been reported to have slightly more traffic on average than a Facebook Like button. In a BusinessInsider post, reports showed LinkedIn drove an average of 1.5 clicks back to the publisher; better than the average across other social networks at 1.1 clicks.
• Do you have product and service pages on your site? Consider adding the recommend button on those pages. You can show how many people on LinkedIn have recommended them so far, and visitors can recommend on LinkedIn with a click of a mouse. Think about other places you might want to include this button, like additional communications channels.
• If you have a share button enabled on your primary content platform, such as your blog, consider adding the “follow company” plugin as a main staple on other pages throughout your site. This way, users can follow your company page directly from the button.

And don’t forget to cross-promote your company profile presence on all your other social media networks and content products.

Grow Your Engagement and Community on LinkedIn

If you’re already enabling the sharing of your content through plugins, that’s a great start. There are a couple other ways you can have that content spread deeper and also ways to increase engagement with your audience.

Monitoring and Engaging on LinkedIn

Always respond to comments and discussion. This may sound like a “duh” point. But some companies may not have built LinkedIn monitoring into their daily social activity. Just like any other social network, if people are engaging with your company status updates, always show them you appreciate it by engaging back.

And you can also do searches for your company in the search bar in LinkedIn to see who might be talking about your business, and then reach out to that person, add them to your network. For example, use the drop-down menu to select the “Updates” search, then type in your company name:

And voilà:

Expanding Content Reach on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Today is the social network’s content aggregator, and there are ways to go about optimizing for the service so that your business content is more visible across LinkedIn. Along with the many ways you can optimize for LinkedIn Today (<– check out that article by Greg Finn on Search Engine Land for goodies), don’t be shy about reaching out to LinkedIn to become a featured content source, so that your company is added to a list of publishers people can follow directly.

Creating a LinkedIn Group

LinkedIn groups are a great way to allow people to further engage with your brand and to grow your network. You can invite people to join your group through a personal connection on LinkedIn or if you have their email address. If you already have followers on your company page or a list of subscribers to your newsletter, you could start there, since you’ve already got a captive audience, so to speak.

But remember, the group started on behalf of your company is created by an individual member profile acting on behalf of your company, not your company page; whether it’s you or the person who handles your social media, ownership can be transferred and roles can be assigned at any time.

When considering what the focus of your group will be, think about whether it will be a broad reach of topics related to your industry or company, or more targeted by product or service  if they tend to draw a different crowd with different needs. You’ll need resources to manage multiple groups.

Don’t forget to optimize your group’s information with the keywords you want to be found for when someone does a search for groups in LinkedIn. Also, late last year, the LinkedIn blog featured an interesting post worth checking out which details how it ranks group discussions so that the most interesting are at the top.

LinkedIn gives additional tips for promoting groups here.

Measure Results to Drive Strategy

Use the data that’s available through LinkedIn’s company profile page stats to get a better understanding of page views on individual tabs in your company profile by month, unique visitors, visitor demographics by industry, function and company, and total conversions on your products and services page by clicks.

Although the page stats are fairly basic right now (you can’t drill down into things like page views per day or conversions by individual products), it does offer a good snapshot of the activity on your company profile. Here’s an example of the page views chart:

Just like Facebook, number of followers shouldn’t be the only thing you measure. That’s when this graph comes in handy. Do a quick analysis of follower count against page views. What’s your page views per month divided by your followers?

The page visitor demographics for “company” is a little confusing to me:

…  Haven’t had much success with finding out exactly what this piece of data represents. If you happen to know, would you drop me a line in the comments?

Now that you have a snapshot of your company page stats, pair this with the statistics LinkedIn offer for its status updates (see Part 1 of this series for info on status updates) and other analytics info, like Google’s Social Analytics, to form hypotheses on what’s driving traffic and engagement and what content is performing.

Check out an in-depth article I wrote on how you can use Google’s Social Analytics reporting to get a better understanding of how users of individual social networks engage with your content and your site.

For example, you can find out what a user’s behavior was on your site when he or she followed a link to your blog from LinkedIn. You can also find out how LinkedIn traffic fares against Twitter and Facebook, track conversion from LinkedIn, measure the performance of your LinkedIn share buttons and much more.

Use the data you uncover through the LinkedIn page statistics, the status update data and the Google social reports to get a big picture of how LinkedIn is performing as a social medium for your business.

You can also compare what you’ve found out about LinkedIn with analytics from your other social networks to better understand how it fits into your social media portfolio. You might find your engagement level is higher than your Facebook, even when you aren’t trying as hard.

That concludes our three-part series on LinkedIn for business. Got ideas for marketing on LinkedIn? Tell us what you think below!

The post LinkedIn for Business: Optimizing Your Company Profile — Part 3 appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Product and Services Tab

First, for editing purposes, always be on the tab you want to edit and select Admin tools > edit. Same goes for editing individual products and services, you must select one first, then edit.

Product and Services Overview

The product and services description is a great place to give an overview of your offerings. You can drill down into individual services and products later in the page. Here, you have 2,000 characters with spaces to introduce what your company has to offer. Note: the character cutoff before the “more” link is 291 with spaces.

Think of this “real estate” the same way you would any type of promotion within a limited space; you want to highlight and entice your users with the most important key terms and takeaways up front. So how will you best optimize the title of your products and services overview  as well as the body content?

For the title, think about using words related to what your business does, versus just a generic “welcome” message. Same goes for the body text – what company specialties did you add in the overview tab? Not a bad idea to include those in the copy here as well.

In the body text, you can do some light customization to layout, like bullets points and bold font – nothing fancy. But you may want to consider using bold on key terms that you want to stand out. People are used to seeing their keywords bold in the SERPs, so this could be a familiar way for people to scan and collect information quickly.

The body text condenses itself when you publish, so don’t bother trying to make separate paragraphs with hard returns. This is where you’ll want to put a little thought into how the information is presented so it’s not overwhelming, especially if you have a lot of text. Bullet points might be your best bet.

Product and Service Spotlight

Here, you can upload up to three custom banners that link out to any Web property you’d like, whether it be quote forms, marketing campaign landing pages, pages within your site or somewhere else you want to drive the LinkedIn community to.

What’s awesome about this section is the ability to show different products and services to different audience segments – but we’ll get to that later.

The banner images can’t exceed 2MB and can be PNG, JPEG, or GIF. They will automatically be resized to 640 x 220 pixels, so you may want to size them accordingly before loading so they aren’t warped once resized.

LinkedIn states it creates a rotating banner for you out of those images, but the user actually has to manually press the arrow to be presented with the next one; you might want to consider placing your most important banner first, in case a user does not manually rotate them.

Don’t forget to add a URL to each banner to the page you want to drive traffic to.

Individual Products and Services

Scrolling down the page, you see there’s a products and services section where you can add up to five products or services, and highlight them individually on their own tab. LinkedIn gives a great step-by-step guide on how to get started with products and services section, so I’ll leave that to them. But here’s some tips and things to think about:

• Outside of individual products and services you offer, what other things can you promote? If you have a blog, newsletter, ebook or other type of content you’re promoting, you can do this here.
• LinkedIn has recommended in several instances to add as much content as you can surrounding your products and services, so try to use every field available to you in the editing mode. You can upload a logo, add a video and add key contacts for the service. Administrators for the company page need to be personally connected on LinkedIn to any person they want to add in as a point of contact for a service.
• You have up to 2,000 characters with spaces to talk about your individual products and services. Apply the same discretion and marketing savvy here as you did in the product and services overview. Use key terms to describe your service or product and make it compelling. Here, you’ll be able to do a little more formatting of the text by breaking it up in paragraphs. When you list your number, in many cases it converts it to a click-to-call format.
• In the “list of key features” area, you have 10 fields to add in text that will create a bulleted list about the products and services. LinkedIn tells us to use this space “to list the key benefits or use cases of your product or service,” rather than key terms you want to be found for. It certainly can’t hurt to use a mix of both, if it comes naturally, for each bullet point.
• Anywhere that you can use key terms related to your business, do it. Don’t keyword stuff, but make sure that your business is well represented with the words you use throughout the titles and descriptions in this section.

Solicit Recommendations

Unlike Yelp, LinkedIn supports and promotes going out there and asking people to endorse you, your products and your services. The recommendations feature allows you to gather and feature endorsements on individual products and services in this section of your company profile.

You need to be connected personally to these people, however,  in order to ask them for a recommendation. So start connecting with people using that database of names and companies you have on file. Make it a habit of connecting with new leads on LinkedIn, so the request for a recommendation comes more naturally and not right after you connect with them.

LinkedIn tells us the recommendations show up not only on the products and services section of your company page, but also on the profile of the person who recommended you. Though I had a hard time finding the recommendations myself on a person’s profile, they are easily viewable on the products themselves.

The stats LinkedIn provides shows you how many times the recommendation for that product has been viewed organically, and the impression per reviewer. Think about how those who have more optimized profiles and higher follower counts could affect the impressions of these recommendations. This is where quality over quantity could be more valuable.

Segment by Audience

How cool is this: You can serve up an entirely different product and service pages depending on the audience that’s visiting you. If you have several products and services that cater to different types of clients, this feature is for you.

The features that are customizable for this function is the product and service spotlight (the banners) and the individual products and services (up to five for each segment). Think of the possibilities. You can have varying promotions, content offerings and more that cater to each type of audience.

If a user doesn’t fall into the audience criteria you’ve defined, they are led to the default segment. So have something more broad for that particular audience that highlights your most important – or all – of your services.

Take a look at your followers list to get an idea of the type of audience that’s interested in your business already. Also check out your page statistics for more insight. Use that data plus what you know about the people who buy particular products or services you offer to help you define segments.

In part 3 of this LinkedIn for business series, we’ll look at promoting, growing and tracking your presence on LinkedIn.

The post LinkedIn for Business: Optimizing Your Company Profile – Part 2 appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

• Creating engaging status updates
• Optimizing your company description and specialties
• General information on LinkedIn
• Cultivating an active community of employees
• Enabling your blog RSS feed
• FAQ: How can I optimize my LinkedIn page for business success? 

Creating Engaging Status Updates

Similar to Facebook, status updates on LinkedIn play a pivotal role in keeping your community engaged and expanding your network. LinkedIn recommends making your updates “authentic, relevant, and short” to encourage sharing. Avoid spammy content that may hinder your visibility in search results. Experiment with different types of updates, such as text, videos, photos, and links. LinkedIn provides detailed audience insights, allowing you to tailor your messages effectively. Analyze engagement data and compare it with other metrics, such as Sprout Social or Agency Analytics Social analytics reports, to gauge your content’s impact on your business goals. Remember to strike a balance between meaningful updates and the frequency of posting to avoid overwhelming your followers.

Optimizing Your Company Description and Specialties

Your company description on LinkedIn is an opportunity to provide important information about your business and optimize it with relevant keywords. While LinkedIn doesn’t disclose specific ranking factors, keywords, and network connections appear to influence search relevance. LinkedIn recommends ordering your keywords by importance in the “specialties” list. You want to craft a compelling company description. Analyzing search results for popular keywords, it is evident that keyword usage and placement matter. Include your important terms upfront to enable quick assessments by users scanning your profile. Prioritize your specialties list with keywords you want to be found for on LinkedIn.

General Information on LinkedIn

When setting up your LinkedIn company page, you can have one location. Choose the locations strategically, prioritizing those most relevant to your products or services. LinkedIn users often search for companies based on location, and the company directory is generated based on activity per industry and location. Additionally, consider your industry classification and conduct research to understand how potential clients search for products or services similar to yours. Test different industry categorizations and monitor their impact on search results and profile views using LinkedIn’s page statistics.

Cultivating an Active Community of Employees

LinkedIn’s power extends beyond your company page. Building an active community of employees associated with your profile can boost your profile’s authority. Encourage your employees to affiliate themselves with your company profile, actively engage on LinkedIn, optimize their personal profiles, and expand their networks. These efforts contribute to enhancing your company’s online presence and credibility.

Enabling Your Blog RSS Feed

To further enhance your LinkedIn presence, consider enabling your blog’s RSS feed. By copying and pasting your blog’s feed URL to your LinkedIn news feeds, you can automatically stream your blog posts on your LinkedIn page. However, don’t solely rely on this feature. Continue sharing your most important content through status updates to ensure maximum visibility and engagement.

Optimizing your LinkedIn company page is a valuable strategy for engaging your audience and improving search visibility. By creating compelling status updates, optimizing your company description and specialties with relevant keywords, and cultivating an active community of employees, you can maximize your LinkedIn presence. Remember to monitor the impact of your efforts using LinkedIn’s analytics and refine your strategies accordingly. With these expert tips, you’ll be well-equipped to leverage LinkedIn for the success of your business.

Ready to maximize your LinkedIn potential? Take charge of your business’s success by optimizing your LinkedIn company page today for enhanced engagement and skyrocketing search visibility. Contact us. 

FAQ: How can I optimize my LinkedIn page for business success?

LinkedIn has evolved from a mere professional networking platform to a powerful tool for business success. Optimizing your LinkedIn page is crucial in establishing a strong online presence and attracting the right audience. As an expert in digital marketing and SEO strategies, I’ll guide you through key steps to ensure your LinkedIn profile stands out, driving business growth.

Craft a Compelling Headline and Summary:

Begin by crafting a compelling headline that succinctly defines your professional identity. Use buyer intent keywords relevant to your industry. In the summary section, focus on buyer-centric terms that convey the value you bring. Share your unique selling points and showcase your expertise.

Keyword Optimization in Experience and Skills:

Integrate relevant keywords in the experience section to enhance searchability. This not only helps your profile surface in searches but also aligns with buyer intent. Additionally, prioritize skills that potential clients or employers are likely to search for, reinforcing your expertise.

Engage Your Audience Through Content:

Regularly share insightful and industry-relevant content on your LinkedIn feed. This positions you as an authority in your field, catering to the buyer’s need for valuable information. Leverage the LinkedIn algorithm by using buyer intent search terms in your posts.

Build a Network Strategically:

Quality over quantity should be your mantra when building your network. Connect with professionals who align with your industry and potential buyers. Personalize connection requests to establish a genuine connection. Engage with your network’s content to boost your visibility.

Optimize Multimedia Content:

Enhance your profile with multimedia content such as videos, presentations, and documents. Visual elements capture attention and contribute to a more engaging profile. Ensure that these assets are labeled with relevant keywords, enhancing your discoverability.

Step-by-Step Guide to Optimize Your LinkedIn Page for Business Success:

1. Headline Magic: Craft a compelling headline incorporating buyer intent keywords.
2. Summarize Success: Write a buyer-focused summary highlighting your unique selling points.
3. Keyword Integration: Sprinkle relevant keywords throughout your experience section.
4. Skillful Selection: Prioritize skills relevant to potential buyers’ needs.
5. Content Is King: Share insightful and industry-relevant content regularly.
6. Engagement Matters: Engage with your network’s content to boost visibility.
7. Strategic Networking: Connect with professionals aligned with your industry and potential buyers.
8. Personalized Connections: Personalize connection requests for genuine connections.
9. Multimedia Enhancement: Incorporate videos, presentations, and documents labeled with keywords.
10. Consistent Optimization: Regularly update your profile to reflect your evolving expertise.

Optimizing your LinkedIn page involves a strategic blend of keyword optimization, engaging content creation, and thoughtful networking. By aligning your profile with buyer intent, you enhance your visibility and position yourself as a go-to professional in your industry. Follow these steps diligently, and watch your LinkedIn page become a powerful asset for business success.

This article was updated on December 14, 2023.  

The post Maximizing Your LinkedIn Company Page: Expert Tips for Engaging Content and Search Visibility appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..