Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all the rage recently when it comes to social media marketing. It seems like CE classes offered are only for these platforms. But what about the countless others? Many other platforms draw millions of business people and yet, so many of us spend little-to-no time marketing on them. Well we’re here to blast right through that and give you tangible tips and statistics to get you started marketing on platforms other than Facebook and IG. A big one is LinkedIn.

First of all, let’s aim to understand why we should be marketing on LinkedIn to begin with. Who can we potentially reach?

Who’s on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn now has 500 million members on its site and that number continues to grow each month. About 260 million people actively use their LinkedIn pages monthly.  Even though that seems like a huge number already, LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, has a goal to hit 3 BILLION users.

Almost 90 million millennials are active LinkedIn users as well. As we all know, millennials (ages 23-38) are currently buying more houses than any other generation. Many millennials are in decision-making positions, especially when it comes to buying their first or second home.

A lot of people are using and responding well to LinkedIn’s SlideShare. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase a current listing or give a mini presentation on interest rates, market update, etc.

Only three million LinkedIn users are actively sharing content. In comparison to how many business people are on LinkedIn (500 mil total, 260 mil active), that’s very few people getting their brand out on the platform. Which means YOUR content will be seen!

Now, we ask: What kinds of content should we be putting out on LinkedIn? Thankfully, LinkedIn is seen by most marketing executives as the best platform to find higher quality content. Typically, how-to lists or list-style posts perform the best. This can easily be used by real estate professionals in terms of content curation! For example, “3 Things to do This Weekend in Frisco” or “5 Netflix Shows to Watch this Summer” or “10 Best Family-Friendly activities in your Area!” Catch our drift?!  

Why Use LinkedIn?
According to many other businesses, LinkedIn works! According to Neil Patel, 93% of B2B marketers feel that LinkedIn is the best place to win leads.

More conversations are started on LinkedIn between business people than any other social media platform. See the below chart.

With that many people on LinkedIn and the stats to prove that gathering leads works on the site, all that’s left to do is start sharing content and getting your brand out there! 

How to use LinkedIn
First of all, set up a company profile on LinkedIn. Don’t worry – it’s free to set up! Fill in all of your information, your services in the About Us section, and include key words in this section, such as “D-FW real estate,” so that the page will come up in online searches.

Next, add a professional photo of a headshot or logo for the profile picture. You should aim to keep photos of families, dogs, or kids off the site. LinkedIn is slightly different from Facebook and people go to this site to find professionals. After that, start connecting with as many people as possible on LinkedIn.

Start adding your content as quickly as possible. Any videos, listing presentations, flyers and articles you already have is a great start.

“With more than two-thirds of LinkedIn’s users considering themselves ‘news junkies,’” Patel writes. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find an audience that is as ready and willing to consume your content.”

Incorporate LinkedIn into your daily or weekly posting habits. You can set aside 30-60 minutes at the beginning or end of the week to plan your social media posts for the upcoming week. Time blocking is crucial to being productive and your social media should be no different.

Similar to Facebook, you can create posts with just text, photos, or videos. And don’t forget hashtags! Similar to Instagram, hashtags can also be used on LinkedIn to help with Search Engine Optimization and to find followers that you normally wouldn’t without those hashtags.

Search for and join groups that are relevant to you! You can also start your own groups and be in charge of the content for that group. This is the easiest and quickest way to get in front of like-minded people and, hopefully, capture more leads. All that’s needed to start a group is to click on the “Create group” button under the “My Groups” tab. Be sure to include all the information needed to start the group and get creative with your niche.

Lastly, similar to Facebook and Instagram, ads can also be run on LinkedIn with company profiles. Here is a step-by-step article on how to run ads through LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager.

As always, First International Title is here to help! Reach out to your local rep for questions or assistance on setting up your LinkedIn page or help with any other social media platform. Need more tips? See our previous blog, “Top Seven Social Media Tips”.