LinkedIn® and employees

Are you LinkedIn®? Or, are you sitting on the fence not quite sure you should jump into the social media realm. Well the time is now. I have, and it is a great networking and marketing tool.

There are many pros and cons to using it. Some companies are a little leery to have their employees out there too visible promoting themselves, and thus have blocked access on their company computers. They are afraid that they might be hired away from the company or are wasting too much time socializing.

But, on the other hand, if used well and effectively, it is a great avenue to build business development, increase brand awareness, employee loyalty and spread good PR. It can be an effective tool for conducting background research on potential customers, or market research on your competitors, or seek feedback on ideas or products, or find potential employees.

BrightEdge1 conducted a study that found that LinkedIn® companies that had a greater proportion of their employees on LinkedIn® had more followers on their company LinkedIn®pages. It was reported that 9 out of the top 10 brands with the most followers on LinkedIn® have over 60% of their employees on LinkedIn®.2

Here’s a quick summary of a few key benefits of having your employee’s using LinkedIn®:

Brand Promotion:

Your employees act as the company’s brand ambassador. When your employees “endorse”, “like” and “share” status updates, they are visible to their contacts and with more views, your company gains more followers, which increases its page rank in LinkedIn® search results, which then further expands your company’s reach and acts as great endorsements.

Personal Engagement:

Your employees’ pages are an extension of your company. When someone looks at a profile of one of your employees, it not only speaks to their personal brand, but to your company brand as well. It projects a message about your company, which multiples with each additional employee profile. In doing so, your company becomes more connected on a human level, which allows for the building of emotional connections and trust with current customers and potential customers, which further builds your brand and increases sales.

So, bottom line – encourage your employees to share your content – articles, promotions, videos, and press releases. Don’t be shy. Encourage them to engage and provide them with the support and tools to build compelling and professional profiles that not only showcase themselves but also helps show off your company.

With over 300 million active users3, you are in good company!

For further information on all your printing technology needs, call us as (800) 643-2664 and immediately talk to one of our friendly representatives; or chat us up on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and LinkedIn !

Sources:
1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2014/01/07/why-every-employee-at-your-company-should-use-l...
2 http://www.brightedge.com/
3 http://mashable.com/2014/04/18/linkedin-300-million-users/