Opinion: LinkedIn is a necessary tool for businesspeople

If you’re a LinkedIn user, you may have noticed an increased presence in recent weeks from Springfield Business Journal staff members.

That’s intentional.

At a recent business publication conference, colleagues and I were told again and again how important LinkedIn is for the readers we serve. It was a bit of a light-switch moment: The social media network where users talk shop, share promotions and post their resumes? Of course, that’s where businesspeople want to be. And as a publication that serves businesspeople, it’s where we want to be, too.

Expect us to keep showing up in your feeds, providing insight into our work and sending out “reactions” and striking up conversations with you and your employees.

If you aren’t on LinkedIn yet, think of it as digital networking. Better yet, think of it as digital networking without much of the political bickering and negativity that traditionally comes with social media, especially Facebook. If you’re tired of that kind of online discourse, you’re likely to find LinkedIn to be a breath of fresh air. For the most part, the experiences tend to be uplifting, and there’s a ton of information users are willing to provide for free to build up their networks.

For new and existing LinkedIn users, I thought it might be helpful to share our general strategy to get things moving in the right direction.

Here’s some ideas on how to build reach and engagement on LinkedIn:

1. Tag your business or employer in your posts. The admin of the employer page can share posts from individual employees, building engagement for both sets of audiences.
2. Use at least three hashtags. These can be organic, like including a #hashtag in a sentence format, or they can show up at the end of the post. Your goal here is to increase the number of eyes your post will travel to. Of course, personalize your hashtags depending on your business.
3. Be personable. Post about things that are exciting or rewarding in your work. This resonates with people, and it shows an inside look into what you do on a daily basis. This could work toward your benefit in recruiting new employees or customers.
4. Comment back, or at least react, when people engage with your posts. This shows you’re paying attention, builds rapport and creates a network that will be there the next time you post.
5. Don’t include a URL, at least not right away. At the business publication conference, we were told that including a URL does not play well with the LinkedIn algorithm, meaning it could result in lower engagement and reach. Don’t fear though, you can add a link by editing the post, and the algorithm is none the wiser.

Think of LinkedIn as one of the tools in your toolbox to grow your personal and business brands. Just like websites, Facebook and Instagram, a LinkedIn presence for your organization is incredibly important. 

Arguably, it’s more important, given the nature of LinkedIn as a place for businesspeople. It’s a social media network for organizations to prosper and for individual workers to boost their careers. Let’s connect!

Springfield Business Journal Digital Editor Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net.