New LinkedIn Pages Features to Enhance Your B2B Marketing
With an estimated 1 billion members worldwide, LinkedIn offers unparalleled opportunities for B2B marketers to reach and engage their target audience. It has long been the go-to platform for businesses looking to connect with decision-makers, showcase their expertise, and build unshakable brand authority.
But LinkedIn isn't content with the status quo. They're constantly evolving and introducing new features that improve the LinkedIn experience for both users and companies.
LinkedIn's latest announcement includes tools that put your best content front and centre, help you reach your ideal audience with laser precision, and engage with your audience to build relationships that drive real business results.
There are also exciting developments on the horizon, with LinkedIn testing a new Premium Company Page subscription, which could unlock even more exclusive features and tools.
Join us as we explore these latest features and discover how you can use them to enhance your brand's visibility, build stronger relationships with your audience, and drive meaningful results.
What Are the New LinkedIn Pages Features?
Featured Posts
The new Featured Posts function allows professional services firms to showcase their most valuable content prominently on their LinkedIn Page. By maintaining a dynamic selection of featured content, companies can continuously engage audiences with their latest and most relevant messages.
Featured Posts ensure that priority content such as key insights, major announcements, or critical thought leadership remain front and centre, effectively capturing the attention of page visitors.
LinkedIn Page Super admins can highlight up to three posts prominently on the Page's Home tab. This is in addition to the ability to pin a post to the top of the feed, providing more flexibility in boosting content visibility and showcasing important assets.
Firms might select to feature posts that demonstrate their expertise and value proposition, enhancing their brand authority and influencing audience perception.
They might also strategically feature content that aligns with ongoing marketing campaigns to create consistent messaging that boosts user engagement and drives specific campaign objectives.
Timing and content rotation will help ensure a balanced mix and that Featured Posts remain fresh and relevant.
Sponsored Articles
Sponsored Articles extend the reach of a company's content directly to the feeds of their target audience, enhancing the precision of marketing efforts on LinkedIn.
It enables the promotion of native LinkedIn content within the platform, enabling businesses to reach specific audiences using LinkedIn’s precision targeting options. By targeting specific demographics—such as industry professionals, job functions, or seniority levels—companies can ensure that their thought leadership reaches the stakeholders who influence purchasing decisions or strategic directions.
Firms can promote content from the company's LinkedIn Page, as well as from employees and other thought leaders they have permission to collaborate with. They can be boosted individually or as part of a campaign through LinkedIn's advertising tools.
This could be particularly valuable for sharing executive summaries of research papers, detailed case studies, or expert articles that showcase the company’s expertise.
To create effective Sponsored Articles, convert high-performing blog posts from your company’s website into LinkedIn Articles. This repurposes existing content in a format that is optimised for LinkedIn’s audience, potentially increasing the effectiveness of content marketing strategies compared to external links or less integrated promotional tactics.
LinkedIn is currently rolling out this update, so if you don’t have access keep checking back.
Page Messaging
Pages Messaging enables direct communication between LinkedIn members and Page admins through a dedicated messaging inbox.
With this feature, LinkedIn opens new pathways for real-time, one-to-one conversations with various stakeholders, including job candidates and customers. Companies can respond quickly to inquiries, assist with problems, or manage customer relationships directly through LinkedIn.
Such interactions not only reinforce the brand's commitment to its audience but also provide invaluable insights that can guide future content and strategy adjustments.
By integrating Pages Messaging with one of LinkedIn’s API partner platforms (e.g. Hootsuite, Zoho, Oktopost), firms can streamline communications and maintain a comprehensive record of interactions that underpins stronger relationships.
To effectively implement Pages Messaging, establish clear guidelines for handling inquiries and assign dedicated team members to manage the messaging inbox.
Set targets to ensure high engagement and responsiveness. Automated workflows and personalised response templates can help ensure timely and effective communication with leads and customers.
Competitor and Newsletter Analytics
New analytics features allow Page admins to track and compare their performance.
Competitor Analytics provides insights into how a business's LinkedIn Page performs compared to similar Pages. This includes metrics on followers, content creation frequency, and trending posts to benchmark and strategise for improvements effectively.
Enhanced analytics for LinkedIn Newsletters provide insights into performance metrics like views, engagements, and subscriber demographics. Marketers can use these insights to better understand their audience, refine their newsletter content, and improve engagement with their subscribers.
The insights provided by Competitor Analytics and Newsletter Analytics can help professional services firms adapt their marketing strategies based on real-time data. By monitoring competitor performance and newsletter engagement, firms can quickly identify opportunities for improvement and optimise their approach.
What Makes LinkedIn's Latest Offerings Stand Out
These updates are a continuation of LinkedIn’s evolution over the past couple of years, designed to keep the platform at the forefront of professional networking.
LinkedIn is clearly serious about making it easier for businesses to scale their engagement efforts through their Pages. Whether through automating processes, sponsored posts, streamlined messaging systems, or integrated analytics, these features support a scalable approach to community building and customer interaction on LinkedIn.
Elevated Brand Presence
Featured Posts and the ability to promote content directly through Sponsored Articles enable brands to maintain a stronger and more consistent presence on LinkedIn.
Collaborations with Pages are equally important for individual professionals aiming to establish themselves as thought leaders. By being featured consistently, sharing insightful content, and engaging in the comments, individuals can also build a recognisable and respected professional brand.
For both brands and individuals, It’s not just about visibility. It's about positioning your expertise and becoming a stand-out source for valuable content within your industry.
Content Lifecycle Extension
These tools also allow businesses to extend the lifecycle of their content. By featuring high-performing posts and sponsoring articles, content that might otherwise have faded from view can gain prolonged exposure. This maximises the return on investment for content creation and can lead to longer-term engagement with target audiences.
Improved User Engagement
By allowing Pages to feature posts and engage directly with users via Pages Messaging, LinkedIn is likely hoping to see an increase in user engagement rates. This can lead to more meaningful interactions, as users are likely to spend more time on pages that provide more value by being actively managed and dynamically curated.
New Communication Dynamics
LinkedIn’s new features are likely to alter the dynamics of how professionals interact with companies on the platform. For instance, the increased capability for direct communication and more personalised content will raise expectations for more bespoke interactions rather than one-size-fits-all communications.
More Responsive LinkedIn Strategies
The data gleaned from the new analytics options can help businesses be more agile and responsive. By analysing trends and adapting strategies in real time, companies can stay ahead of the curve and respond more effectively to the changing dynamics of their audience and industry.
Integration with the Broader Marketing Ecosystem
LinkedIn’s announcement of API integrations with major marketing platforms like Hootsuite and Zoho simplifies the management of LinkedIn Pages and integrates them seamlessly into broader marketing campaigns. This connectivity ensures that LinkedIn strategies are more aligned with other marketing efforts, improving consistency across platforms.
What’s Next? Premium LinkedIn Pages?
Another significant development looks to be on the horizon with Techcrunch reporting the testing of a new Premium Company Page subscription.
Subscribers will get verified status with a golden badge and a range of exclusive tools for content creation, follower growth, and profile enhancements.
Admins will be able to review recent visitors to their pages (where user settings allow), which expands the potential for follow-ups and ongoing engagement beyond immediate connections.
People who engage with your content can also be auto-invited to follow your page.
AI-assisted content creation will help businesses to produce a consistent stream of high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their target audience.
Subscribers will also be able to display prominent testimonials and custom call-to-action buttons. This both enhances a business's credibility and the visibility of a customer’s next actions.
The new subscription model is rumoured to cost around $99 per month when it rolls out.
Stay Ahead of the Competition with LinkedIn's Newest Features
LinkedIn's regular feature updates continue to offer professional services firms a wealth of opportunities to enhance their B2B marketing efforts.
By strategically leveraging these tools, firms can increase their visibility, build stronger relationships with their audience, and drive meaningful business results. Staying up-to-date with the latest features and best practices will be essential for remaining competitive and standing out.
To fully capitalise on LinkedIn's new features, professional services firms should take the following proactive steps:
Conduct an audit of your current LinkedIn strategy
Assess your existing approach to identify areas where new features can be integrated to improve performance and engagement. This audit will help you prioritise the most relevant features for your firm and develop a roadmap for implementation.
Develop a content strategy that aligns with the new features
Reevaluate your content strategy to ensure that it takes full advantage of the opportunities provided by Featured Posts, Sponsored Articles, and Pages Messaging. Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that showcases your expertise and resonates with your target audience.
Provide training for your marketing and sales teams
Ensure that your teams are well-versed in the evolving functionality and best practices on LinkedIn. Create clear documentation or invest time in workshops to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively leverage these tools in their day-to-day activities.
Set clear goals and metrics for success
Establish specific, measurable goals for your LinkedIn marketing efforts, and determine the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you track progress. Regularly monitor your analytics to make sure you’re taking advantage of new metrics as they become available. Use the best measures on offer to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Collaborate with a digital marketing expert
Consider partnering with a digital marketing expert who specialises in LinkedIn to guide the integration of these new features into your comprehensive B2B marketing strategy. An experienced professional can provide valuable insights, help you avoid common pitfalls, and accelerate your path to success.
Maximise your B2B marketing potential on LinkedIn with 1827 Marketing. You can stay informed about the latest features by signing up for our newsletter. Ready to take action? Schedule a consultation with our team and let us guide you to LinkedIn success.
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