Yes, a LinkedIn business page can effectively connect with people in a variety of ways. LinkedIn provides businesses with an excellent platform to build relationships, engage with customers and prospects, promote their products or services, and ultimately drive leads and sales. Here’s an in-depth look at how a LinkedIn business page can help connect with people:
Building relationships and expanding networks
A LinkedIn business page allows companies to connect directly with LinkedIn members by sending connection requests. Accepting connection requests helps businesses expand their network on LinkedIn. Having more connections gives businesses access to a larger audience for their updates and content. Businesses can also join relevant LinkedIn Groups related to their industry or interests. Groups provide a way to meet like-minded professionals, share ideas and best practices, and gain exposure to new prospects. According to LinkedIn, being an active member in Groups can increase connection requests by up to 40%.
Engaging followers with compelling content
Businesses can use their LinkedIn page to publish regular updates, articles, images, videos, and other content. This content appears in the followers’ feed, allowing businesses to organically engage their target audience. Posting content that provides value – whether it’s thought leadership articles, tips and advice, case studies, infographics, or any other helpful information – is a great way to connect with and nurture relationships with prospects. According to LinkedIn, followers of business pages are nearly 3 times more likely to engage with content from pages they follow compared to a brand’s organic content. The more a business provides value through content, the stronger its connections and relationships become.
Promoting products, services and special offers
A LinkedIn business page gives companies a platform to promote and market their products, services, and special offers. Businesses can showcase their portfolio, highlight customer testimonials, and announce new product launches. The Company Updates section is ideal for publicizing promotions, deals, and news. Sponsored content is another paid option that delivers promotions directly into the LinkedIn feed of highly targeted members based on their demographics, interests, and other attributes. According to LinkedIn, companies that consistently post on their business pages can increase followers by up to 25% annually.
Interacting via LinkedIn Messaging
LinkedIn Messaging allows businesses to connect with prospects by sending direct messages. Messaging is a more personal way to reach out compared to general posts or updates. Messages have open rates of up to 90%, making messaging an extremely effective tactic. Businesses can respond to comments and questions on their page via messaging. They can also proactively reach out to start conversations with prospects and customers. Messaging is seamlessly integrated with CRM platforms, enabling teams to manage conversations from a centralized account.
Turning followers into customers with lead generation
A major benefit of a LinkedIn business page is generating and capturing leads. Companies can add a “Follow” button to their page allowing visitors to subscribe for updates. Each new follower represents a potential sales lead. Valuable gated content, such as guides, templates, checklists or webinars, can be placed behind a lead capture form. As a reward for completing the form, prospects receive access to the exclusive content. This captures the lead’s contact information for future sales nurturing and closes. According to LinkedIn, followers are up to 4 times more likely to convert to leads compared to visitors with no relationship.
Retargeting website visitors through LinkedIn ads
LinkedIn advertising integrates powerfully with business pages. When a prospect visits the company website but doesn’t convert, LinkedIn ads can retarget those users by serving them relevant ads across LinkedIn. Retargeting maximizes the value of website traffic by giving businesses a second chance to get in front of bounced visitors. Companies can create customized audiences and deliver ads specifically to people who have engaged with their website and content. Retargeting with LinkedIn ads has been proven to generate conversion rates up to 4 times higher compared to new prospects.
Connecting with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms allow businesses to collect leads directly from LinkedIn without sending prospects to their website. Forms can be attached to LinkedIn text ads, Sponsored Content, and Message Ads. When prospects click on the ad, a form pops up where they can immediately submit their contact information. Companies receive the lead contact details straight into their CRM. According to LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms generate 3 times more leads compared to sending prospects to company landing pages. It’s a powerful built-in lead capture tool.
Cultivating relationships with Team Links
Team Links help forge deeper customer connections by providing direct contact options with a company’s salespeople and executives on LinkedIn. Prospects can click a Team Link on a business page to view individual LinkedIn profiles and start conversations. Team Links add a personal touch, allowing customers to engage directly with sales reps and leaders they know and trust. Building these one-on-one relationships enhances customer loyalty and retention.
Turning employees into brand advocates
A LinkedIn business page allows companies to amplify their marketing by empowering employees to share company content with their own networks. This expands the reach of branded posts well beyond the business’ core followers. Moreover, when employees actively engage by liking, commenting, and sharing updates, it builds credibility and trust in the brand. According to LinkedIn, employee amplification on business pages can drive up to 45% higher follower growth and a 30% increase in engagement.
Connecting locally through LinkedIn Events
The LinkedIn Events feature allows businesses to publicize and manage real-world events through their Company Page. Local in-person events, such as conferences, trade shows, seminars, and networking events, can attract nearby LinkedIn members interested in attending. Events appear in users’ LinkedIn feeds under “Events near you”. Companies can promote their event, manage registrations and RSVPs, capture leads, and build local community engagement. After the event, businesses can thank attendees, collect feedback, and share event photos.
Showcasing authenticity with LinkedIn Showcase Pages
Showcase Pages highlight specific brands, business units, teams, or causes within an organization. They provide a way to tell localized or niche stories in an authentic way. For large enterprises, Showcase Pages can be used to connect targeted audiences with products and content relevant to them, rather than being drowned in company-wide messaging. Research by LinkedIn shows employees actively engage with Showcase Pages they personally identify with at a 3x higher rate compared to engagement with the umbrella corporate page.
Conclusion
A LinkedIn business page serves as the digital hub that connects every marketing and sales effort on LinkedIn. It’s the single touchpoint driving all engagement, communication, and conversations with prospects and customers. With a wide range of functionality from publishing content to generating leads, LinkedIn business pages provide powerful options for businesses to build relationships, increase awareness, boost engagement, and ultimately drive sales.
In summary, the diverse connection opportunities of a LinkedIn business page include:
- Expanding networks with direct connections
- Engaging followers with valuable content
- Promoting products, services and offers
- Connecting via LinkedIn Messaging
- Generating and capturing leads
- Retargeting website visitors with ads
- Collecting leads with Lead Gen Forms
- Cultivating relationships with Team Links
- Empowering employee advocacy
- Driving local engagement through Events
- Showcasing authenticity with Showcase Pages
With its unmatched professional audience and powerful tools for lead generation, thought leadership and relationship-building, a LinkedIn business page is an essential platform for connecting with customers in today’s digital world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business connect with anyone on LinkedIn?
No, a business can’t connect with just anyone on LinkedIn. To send connection requests, a LinkedIn business page must have a paid subscription. The least expensive option is LinkedIn Sales Navigator Team at $79.95 per month. This plan allows sending up to 30 InMail messages per month. Each InMail counts as an individual message, so businesses can use their monthly allowance to send customized connection requests.
What types of content best connect with LinkedIn users?
The most effective content varies by industry and audience, but generally the top performing post types are:
- Thought leadership articles and long-form posts
- Behind-the-scenes company updates and news
- Informative guides, ebooks, templates, and presentations
- Infographics and visual data
- Customer testimonials and success stories
- Trends, insights, and data-driven analysis
- Video updates, product demos, and tutorials
Posts that provide value, insights, education, solutions, and entertainment tend to drive the most engagement and connections.
How often should a business post content on LinkedIn?
Most industry experts recommend posting 1-2 times per day during the workweek and scaling back on weekends. This provides a steady stream of content without overwhelming followers. But posting frequency isn’t a hard rule. More important than pure quantity is providing quality content consistently on a planned editorial calendar.
Best Practices for Connecting on LinkedIn
Here are some top tips for optimizing a LinkedIn business page to maximize connections:
- Craft a strong, descriptive business page headline.
- Customize the business description and summary sections.
- Upload images such as logo, cover photo, and products.
- Showcase the team with employee photos and bios.
- Publish regularly educational, helpful, or entertaining updates.
- Respond promptly to comments and messages.
- Send personalized InMail connection requests.
- Leverage content marketing and LinkedIn ads.
- Track performance analytics to optimize efforts.
- Expand reach by sharing updates in relevant LinkedIn Groups.
- Encourage employees to like, comment on, and share page content.
The more a brand provides value to its audience and nurtures relationships, the greater its ability to connect and engage.
Sample Data Table
| Connection Method | Potential Reach | Engagement Level |
|---|---|---|
| InMail Connection Requests | Medium | High |
| Content Marketing | High | Medium |
| Paid Ads | High | Low |
| LinkedIn Groups | Medium | Medium |
| Employee Advocacy | Low | High |
This sample data table visually displays different connection methods available on LinkedIn along with an analysis of their potential reach vs engagement level.
Tips for Measuring LinkedIn Connections
To assess the success of their LinkedIn business page, companies should measure and monitor the following metrics:
- Followers – Track total number of followers and monthly follower growth rate.
- Engagement Rate – Calculate engagement as % of followers who like, comment, share, or click on page content.
- Clicks – Count number of clicks on external site links or calls-to-action in updates.
- Leads – Record number of leads captured from LinkedInConversion source.
- Conversions – Monitor website visits, downloads, purchases, signups, etc from LinkedIn referrals.
- Employee Engagement – Analyze how many employees actively comment and share company page updates.
Regularly assessing these metrics provides insight into how well a brand is connecting with its audience on LinkedIn and where there is room for improvement. Tracing conversions and leads back to LinkedIn helps quantify the business impact of each connection and level of engagement.
Tools to Enhance LinkedIn Connections
Some popular tools that integrate with LinkedIn to help companies improve their connections and results include:
- Hootsuite – Social media management platform to efficiently publish, engage, and analyze LinkedIn company page performance.
- BuzzSumo – Analyzes what content performs best on LinkedIn to inform content creation strategy.
- Luminate – Social media monitoring to listen and respond to mentions plus identify key influencers.
- Nimble – CRM that builds contact lists by tracking social media connections and interactions.
- Privy – Generates leads on LinkedIn through website popups, email collection, and mobile messaging.
- ManyChat – Marketing automation for LinkedIn messaging and chatbots to qualify and convert leads.
Integrations with these tools can help businesses streamline LinkedIn management, create targeted content, identify influencers, capture more leads, and nurture relationships.
Summary
A LinkedIn business page provides a central platform for forging connections through multiple avenues:
- Direct networking with other professionals
- Publishing engaging, relevant content
- Promoting products, services and company news
- Encouraging conversations via LinkedIn messaging
- Generating leads with gated offers and forms
- Paid advertising to targeted audiences
- Empowering employees to amplify branded content
- Planning local events to connect in-person
- Launching Showcase Pages for niche audiences
With its expansive network of 740+ million members, LinkedIn is a vital channel for B2B brands to build connections, nurture relationships over time, and ultimately drive measurable business results.
An optimized LinkedIn presence, thoughtful content strategy, and integration with marketing automation tools are key to maximizing LinkedIn’s potential for meaningful engagement with prospects and customers.