LinkedIn business pages allow companies to establish a presence on LinkedIn and connect with customers and prospects. One key feature of LinkedIn business pages is the ability to send messages to your followers. In this article, we’ll look at whether LinkedIn business pages can send messages, who they can send messages to, and the best practices for messaging from a LinkedIn business page.
Can a LinkedIn Business Page Send Messages?
Yes, LinkedIn business pages can send messages to their followers. This messaging ability allows business pages to directly communicate with their target audience on LinkedIn.
There are a few requirements in order to send messages from a LinkedIn business page:
- The business page must have at least 500 followers.
- The account must be a Verified Page.
- The page must not be restricted, suspended or banned from sending messages.
As long as these requirements are met, a LinkedIn business page can send direct messages to its followers. This is a useful way to share company updates, promote content, send special offers and directly interact with customers.
Who Can a LinkedIn Business Page Message?
LinkedIn business pages can send direct messages to their 1st degree connections who are following their page. This includes:
- LinkedIn members who follow the page
- Employees of the company who are connected to the page
Pages cannot message 2nd or 3rd degree connections, Group members, or LinkedIn members who don’t follow their page. The messaging is limited to direct followers to prevent spamming.
Followers
The primary audience for LinkedIn business page messages are the page’s followers. Any LinkedIn member that follows the page can receive messages from that page.
Followers may include existing customers, prospective leads, partners, employees and more. Messaging these followers allows pages to directly engage their target audience.
Company Employees
Employees of the company that are connected to the LinkedIn business page can also receive messages. Company admins can use page messaging to share internal updates and announcements.
For larger companies, this can be an effective way to reach employees at scale across the organization.
LinkedIn Business Page Messaging Best Practices
When sending messages from a LinkedIn business page, it’s important to follow best practices. This helps deliver value to followers while avoiding spam-like behavior that could get your page restricted.
Here are some top tips for LinkedIn business page messaging:
- Only send relevant and valuable messages – avoid spamming followers.
- Personalize messages when possible to improve open rates.
- Focus on providing useful information and content in messages.
- Aim for quality over quantity – better to send fewer quality messages.
- Make it easy to unsubscribe – this improves deliverability.
- Segment your audience and tailor messaging.
- Test different messaging and analyze performance.
- Make sure messaging aligns with your overall content strategy.
- Only message followers who have engaged with your page recently.
Types of Messages to Send from LinkedIn Business Pages
LinkedIn business pages have a lot of flexibility in terms of what they can message followers. Here are some of the most effective types of messages to send:
Content Promotion
Share new blog posts, articles, ebooks, case studies and other content published on your LinkedIn page. This provides value to followers while directing them to useful assets.
Thought Leadership
Send followers industry insights, trends, expert opinions and thought leadership content. Position your brand as an authority.
Events and Webinars
Promote upcoming events, webinars and training sessions relevant to your audience. Messaging is a great channel to drive registrations.
Special Offers and Discounts
Send exclusive discounts, sales and special offers only available to your page followers. This incentivizes followership.
Polls and Surveys
Engage your audience by asking for feedback through quick polls and surveys. This provides valuable insights while making followers feel heard.
Company News
Share the latest news announcements, executive hires, product launches and company milestones. Keep your followers looped in.
Behind-the-Scenes
Give an insider look at your company culture through behind-the-scenes photos, videos and messages. Humanize your brand.
LinkedIn Business Page Message Metrics
LinkedIn provides metrics on the performance of messages sent from business pages. Key metrics to analyze include:
- Delivered – Number of messages successfully delivered to followers.
- Opened – Number of messages opened by recipients.
- Clicked – Number of times message links were clicked.
- Replied – Number of replies received to the message.
- Unsubscribed – Number of recipients who unsubscribed after receiving the message.
- Bounced – Number of messages blocked or reported as spam.
Analyzing these metrics helps business pages identify optimal messaging strategies and fine-tune their approach for better results.
Conclusion
LinkedIn business pages can be very effective at engaging their audiences through direct messaging. With the ability to reach followers directly in their inbox, messaging opens up new opportunities to promote content, drive conversions, and build relationships.
By following LinkedIn’s guidelines and best practices around messaging, business pages can take full advantage of this powerful channel without being seen as spammers. Sending thoughtful, personalized and valuable messages will lead to great results.