By Debbie Gregory.

The mission of LinkedIn is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.  Over the last few years LinkedIn has grown to be one of the most widely used social platforms for business. It is currently the third most popular social site, right behind Facebook and Twitter. If you are not yet on LinkedIn, you are missing out on a huge audience for your recruiting efforts, business networking, and potential new customers.Below is some information on ways to use LinkedIn to expand your Small Veteran Owned Business:

1.) Craft your Profile and Pages with SEO in Mind:

LinkedIn is a valuable source for business to business (B2B) marketing and other business-related connections. As with your website or blog, your LinkedIn profile and pages should be optimized for SEO purposes.

Areas of Focus:

• Include a title along with your last name in the name field. For example, instead of listing just Jill Brown, make changes to it reads: Jill Brown, Sales Professional. In this manner, Jill Brown’s profile will pop up when someone performs a search for a salesperson.
• Add keywords to your headline too and not simply your title. For example, instead of Sales Professional list something such as “No. 1 sales professional in the city of Portland for the last 3 years.”
• Make sure to include other keywords in your summary in a more natural fashion. Yes, LinkedIn has a specific place in your profile to list up to 50 skills (make sure to ask for recommendations on your skills too) but you should also try to pepper them into your summary text.

2.) Make Sure to Create and Optimize a Page Dedicated to Your Company:

A business page on LinkedIn is a powerful marketing tool. Make sure that your business is easy to find on LinkedIn and that all visuals on your page match the look and feel of your other online presences (website or other social channels).  Additionally, keep it up to date with regular posts!

Basics for your page:

• A concise, yet engaging, company description and overview.
• Your company logo.
• An attractive banner image.
• A call to action.

3.) Put Together Showcase Pages for Products or Services:

Once you have your business page ready to go, you should consider adding showcase pages for specific products, services, or separate arms of your core business to help users better find you and engage with the parts of your business that most interest them.

4.) Promote Your Page:

Your page will not help your business grow if no one is looking at it! Once your page, and showcase pages are setup to be robust, and compelling, your next step is to promote it and gain followers. Of course, you can simply run paid ads on the platform to boost your visibility, however, there are other ways to promote your page that will not cost you anything.

Free Ways to Promote Your Page:

• Add the page to your own LinkedIn profile.
• Add a “follow” button to your main website to drive traffic from there to your LinkedIn page.
• Promote the new page(s) in your company newsletter, blog posts, and other social media pages.
• Add a link to your LinkedIn page in your company email signature.
• Ask current employees to promote the page on their own LinkedIn profiles.

5.) Join LinkedIn Groups or Create Your Own Group:

LinkedIn groups are intended to connect like-minded individuals and similar businesses with one another to foster camaraderie and to expand knowledge. You can join existing groups and actively engage in conversations.  You may also create your own group to help establish yourself as an expert in your industry. We strongly recommend that you consider both options to make sure that you are active in the group and provide valuable tips and add robust posts.

As you can see from the information in this blog post, LinkedIn offers a variety of ways for businesses to network, market themselves, and connect with new customers. These are just a few of the ways to join in and start reaping the benefits of LinkedIn for your business.   One last kernel of information, a regular account on LinkedIn is free.  They also offer premium accounts at a reasonable cost.   Start your engines and join LinkedIn today or enhance the profile you have already set up to promote your Veteran Owned Small Business.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association invites you to join as a member.  There are not any fees or dues.   You may also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.   We provide several articles on our blog weekly with all types of valuable information.

JOIN TODAY here:   https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

By Debbie Gregory.

In Part 1 of this article we share some interesting information including some statistics about who is on LinkedIn and why, This article will provide you even more information including why marketers and sales professionals use this site and why advertising with the platform is makes a great deal of sense.

11.) LinkedIn for Lead Generation for Business Marketing Professionals:

Approximately 89% of all business-2-business (B2B) marketeers on LinkedIn use it exclusively for lead generation. About 62% of them also say that they successfully generate new leads from LinkedIn. That is over twice as much as on any other social platform.

12.)  LinkedIn for Content Marketing for Business Marketing Professionals:

Currently, 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for content marketing because this platform is viewed as more trustworthy for delivering accurate and worthwhile business-related content than any other social platform. With LinkedIn, your company is not forced to fight with parties, opinions, vacation photos, or personal updates to be seen. LinkedIn is free of most of that since it is widely viewed as a place where people expect and seek out work-related content.

13.) LinkedIn for Sales Generation: 

Over 59% of sales professionals surveyed count on social platforms to sell their products and services. Sales professionals know how important networking and networking platforms are to their success.  Most of them, 70 percent use LinkedIn more than any other platform.  This is quite a testimonial for sales generation.

14.) LinkedIn For A Cost-Effective Way to Place Ads:  

Did you know that LinkedIn also has ads? Not only is their audience primed for your messages, the cost per click or lead on LinkedIn is, on average, 28% lower than other popular pay-per-click (PPC) ad platforms inlcuding Google AdWords.

15.) LinkedIn Offers More Bang for Your Buck:

An ad on LinkedIn has the potential to reach approximately 12% of the world’s population over the age of thirteen years of age and costs 28 percent less than other ad platforms.

16.) Linked In has Better Performing Email Campaigns:

LinkedIn offers a wide variety of different ad placements and formats.  Their InMail offering is one that is quite interesting. On average, their sponsored InMail campaigns have a 52% open rate, which is more than double the average for a traditional email campaign on any other platform (MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc.).

17.) More People Will View Your Content on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is not simply a recruitment platform anymore. It is also a place where professionals go to connect, educate, and inform themselves. Content posted to LinkedIn typically has 15 times more content impressions than any other posts. This means LinkedIn is very valuable to content marketers, especially those in B2B content marketing.

18.) LinkedIn Allows You to Specifically Target Decision Makers:

Part of the appeal of LinkedIn for professional marketers is that LinkedIn gives them the ability to target people by their job or title instead of simply their basic demographics. Currently, four out of every five users on LinkedIn are the people in their respective companies that are the decision makers who drive business and purchasing decisions.

19.) Majority of LinkedIn is From Mobile Users:

Currently, there are approximately 57% of all LinkedIn users access this platform via mobile devices. Even though this number is lower than other social platforms, such as Facebook with approximately 98% mobile users, it is an excellent idea to optimize all of your posts for mobile and not just desktop.

20.) LinkedIn Continues to Grow and Gain Steam:

Engagement and use of the LinkedIn platform has increased 50%, year after year, over the last several years. It has evolved from a simple recruiting site into a full-featured business connection site. This platform continues to add more and features every year and is a great tool for businesses to share their content on.

As you can see, LinkedIn is a great tool for businesses, and it is still growing by leaps and bounds. If you are not yet on LinkedIn, stop what you are doing and join now.  Remember that a regular profile is free, and the premium membership is very inexpensive. –  Do it NOW!

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association invites you to join as a member.  There are not any fees or dues.   You may also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.   We provide several articles on our blog weekly with all types of valuable information.

JOIN TODAY here:  https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

By Debbie Gregory.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association is bringing you a series of articles on our blog on Linked In.   There are some interesting things about LinkedIn that you may want to learn.

LinkedIn has been slowly growing into a popular social platform for companies to connect with their employees, potential hires, and other businesses. Below are some interesting facts and statistics about the platform’s usage that you may or may not know.  Knowledge is power and we hope to provide you information that will enable you to better use LinkedIn and expand your reach.

1.) Sell & Recruit for Your Company on LinkedIn:

Currently, there are over 30 million companies on LinkedIn with dedicated company pages. The platform may have been added to your company’s social platform presence as a tool for your recruiting department to find talent.  Over the last few years LinkedIn has been gaining traction as a great tool for sales and marketing people to connect and sell as well.

 2.) Employees Like to Engage with their Company on LinkedIn:

Approximately 30% of a company’s engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc) on LinkedIn comes directly from their employees. Your employees care the most about the success of your company and they will be the ones boosting your reputation and sharing your brand on LinkedIn.

3.) Employees Will Share Your Company Content on LinkedIn:

Employees are 14 times more likely to share content from their own employers than other types of content. They work hard for the company to help it grow and they should be proud of the achievements of their company. It is a good idea to encourage your employees to help share your company posts and engage with your company’s social media accounts. Content shared by an employee is also viewed by others and deemed over 53% more trustworthy than the same content shared by the CEO or simply by your business’s page.

4.) LinkedIn Users Engage More with Coworkers Than Other Connections:   

A recent study shows that users are 60% more likely to engage with a coworker than anyone else on the platform. They will comment, share, or message with colleagues more than anyone else; This is exactly what LinkedIn was originally designed to do.

5.) LinkedIn Has Become a Social Media Powerhouse:  

LinkedIn has slowly grown to join the other popular social platforms as an excellent place to position your company. Currently, LinkedIn has over 675 million monthly users! That is an increase of 14% increase from the prior year. Instagram typically has about a billion monthly users, Facebook has about 2.5 billion, and Twitter about 330 million users a month.  LinkedIn is growing to be one of the most popular platforms. If your company is not yet on LinkedIn, you are missing a lot of potential talent and customers.

6.) Majority of LinkedIn Users are Outside the US:

It is enlightening and amazing the most of LinkedIn users are not in the United States.  Currently more than 70% of LinkedIn’s users are outside the USA and the platform operates in 24 different languages.

7.) Americans are Using LinkedIn More:

Americans are slowly migrating towards LinkedIn and currently about 27% of Americans use the platform regularly. LinkedIn is the fifth most popular social media platform for the USA today, beating out both Snapchat, and Whatsapp.

8.) More Men Use LinkedIn Than Women: 

According to a recent study conducted by We Are Social, the average LinkedIn user identifies as male. The stats state that 57% of LinkedIn users are men, and 43% are women.

9.) LinkedIn Users Range from 25 to 34 Years of Age:

It should not be surprising because LinkedIn was designed as a business networking and recruiting portal.   It seems that LinkedIn would be less attractive to the younger crowd, though it could be beneficial for the older crowd to keep in touch with ex-colleagues or students to start networking prior to graduation. Right now the majority, 61%, of LinkedIn’s users are 25-34 years of age.

10.) Over 50% of LinkedIn Users Have a Degree:

Currently, about 51% of all Americans on LinkedIn are college educated and have at least an undergraduate college degree. Among college-educated Americans, LinkedIn is even more popular than Instagram or Pinterest. Americans who make over $75,000 per year are also more likely to use LinkedIn than any other platform.

We encourage you to stay tuned for our next blog article with more things you might not know about LinkedIn.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association invites you to join as a member.  There are not any fees or dues.   You may also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.   We provide several articles on our blog weekly with all types of valuable information.

JOIN TODAY here:   https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

By Debbie Gregory.

In Part 1 of this article, we went over properly naming your profiles, adding consistent logos or images, utilizing reviews to build trust in your brand and proper image sizes for the most popular platforms. Below you will find more tips to help make your social platforms more professional and engaging for your followers.

6.) Untag yourself from inappropriate posts

Tags are an excellent way to connect with more fans, but only if they are used in a correct manner.  When tagged in an inappropriate photo or post, you can actually harm your company or brand’s overall image and this can also result in you losing followers, which is the last thing you want.

Almost all social networks allow you to:

• See where you’ve been tagged
• See who can see your tagged photos and posts
• Approve photos you’ve been tagged in before they appear
• Remove tags from unwanted photos and posts
• Restrict who can tag you in photos

Make sure to keep a close eye on any photo you are tagged in and remove any that do not align with your brand or image. Never leave yourself tagged in inappropriate or spam posts.

7.) Cross promote your social media accounts

Almost every social media platform allows you to add one or more websites to your profile. The first one is usually your company’s main website. but don’t forget to add links to your other social media pages here as well. LinkedIn, YouTUBE, Facebook, and Pinterest all allow you to add multiple links to your profile.

8.) Use the right keywords so that you are discoverable in a search

Adding the right keywords to your profile allows you to be discovered much easier for your business, industry, or niche. Keyword tools such as SEMrush and Google Keyword Planner can help you identify the right words and terms to use. Don’t simply stuff the keywords into your profile in places they do not belong. Make sure that you are using the keywords naturally in the text of your profile and posts.

9.) Make sure to fill out your profiles

Make sure that every field, for every profile, is fully filled in with engaging content. This makes your page appear more professional. You need to clearly and succinctly explain what you do, what your followers can expect from you and a clear call-to-action for what your followers should do next.

10.) Test all of your links

When you post a link to your profile or page, it is important that you make sure that the link works as intended. There is nothing more frustrating for a follower than to click on a broken link. Typos do happen but make sure they are not interfering with your customer’s experience with you.

Social media is part of almost everyone’s daily life. Make sure that your profiles are as professional and recognizable as possible. Utilizing all these quick tips will help you craft the clean, professional, and optimized social media profiles that you need to succeed.  VAMBOA hopes that this information is helpful to your small veteran or military owned business.

By Debbie Gregory.

Our last two articles went over what a hashtag is, why you need to use them when posting on social media, as well as how to find the best hashtags to use for your posts. In this article, we will go over tips on how to use those hashtags on each of the popular social platforms.

TWITTER

We will begin with Twitter because this platform was the first to utilize hashtags. Hashtags on Twitter are best sprinkled into the post itself to emphasize or highlight important parts of your Tweet.

Keep in mind:

• Utilize relevant hashtags
• Twitter recommends no more than 2 hashtags per post
• More is not better, too many hashtags looks spammy

INSTAGRAM

You want to put hashtags after your photo caption, in your stories, in your profile as well as in the comments section when you are engaging your followers.

Keep in mind:

• Instagram recommends no more than 10 hashtags per post (the largest number of all the social media platforms)
• Instead of posting your hashtags with your images caption, consider adding them as the first comment on the post so that your followers can focus on your caption without being distracted or put off

PINTEREST

You want to add hashtags when writing a pin description or a description for a pin you are re-pinning.

Keep in mind:

• Pinterest recommends no more than 5 hashtags per post
• Pinterest is more like a search engine than a social platform so make sure that your hashtags are searchable, specific, and contain relevant keywords

FACEBOOK

You can include hashtags in any part of your written post or in the comments.

Keep in mind:

• Facebook recommends no more than 2 hashtags per post
• You can search for a hashtag using Facebook’s search bar
• You can click on any hashtag to see the posts using that same hashtag

YOUTUBE

You want to add relevant hashtags to your video title or video description.

Keep in mind:

• YOUTUBE recommends no more than 3 hashtags per post
• Adding too many hashtags to your video can get your content flagged as spam
• Hashtags are made into clickable links in titles and descriptions on YOUTUBE so followers can find other content with the same hashtags
• If you don’t include hashtags in the title of your video, the first three hashtags in the description will show above your videos title

LinkedIn

You want to add hashtags in your LinkedIn updates and any articles you post to the platform.

Keep in mind:

• LinkedIn recommends no more than 2 hashtags per post
• LinkedIn is more of a professional platform than other popular social media sites You need to be sure that you keep your use of hashtags professional too
• You can follow hashtags on LinkedIn to see recent posts that include hashtags
• Hashtags can be searched using the platform’s search bar
• Trending hashtags will show in the “news and views” section on your home page

Regardless of which social platforms you use, make sure that the hashtags you add to your posts are timely, relevant, specific to your business, and make sure you don’t use too many of them.

We hope these articles on Hashtags have been helpful to our VAMBOA members.