LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million members worldwide. With its massive reach, LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for networking, job searching, recruiting, marketing, and more. One of LinkedIn’s most popular features is the ability to get recommendations from your connections. These recommendations can come from coworkers, managers, clients, business partners, and anyone else you are connected with on LinkedIn. Recommendations serve as credibility boosters and social proof that you are skilled, reliable, and successful in your field. In addition to getting recommendations for yourself, you can also recommend companies and services you have worked with on LinkedIn. But should you provide recommendations for companies, and what are the benefits? Let’s explore this further.
What are Company Recommendations on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn Company Recommendations allow you to recommend and review brands, products, and services you have used in a professional capacity. They operate similarly to online customer reviews on sites like Yelp or Amazon. When you recommend a company on LinkedIn, you are sharing your positive experience working with that organization as an employee, customer, partner, etc.
Here are some key things to know about Company Recommendations:
– They appear on a company’s LinkedIn Company Page alongside employee recommendations.
– You can only recommend companies that have claimed their LinkedIn Company Page.
– Recommendations are public and part of your professional profile unless you choose to anonymize it.
– You rate the company on a scale of 1-5 stars overall.
– You can add a detailed written review explaining why you recommend the company.
– Others in your network can see, like, and comment on your company recommendations.
So in short, Company Recommendations enable you to publicly vouch for brands you believe in based on your own experience with them. It’s similar to writing a positive review of a business on another site.
Should You Recommend Companies on LinkedIn?
Here are some of the potential benefits of recommending companies on LinkedIn:
Boost Credibility for the Company
Your recommendation, especially as an employee or customer, can improve trust and credibility for the company among your connections. It serves as a form of social proof.
Strengthen Business Relationships
Recommending vendors, partners, or clients can strengthen those business relationships by highlighting your positive experiences working together.
Support Brand Awareness
Your post brings visibility to lesser known brands and helps get them discovered on LinkedIn.
Give Back
It’s a nice way to show appreciation and support a company you value and believe in. Your recommendation may also attract new customers for them.
Personal Branding
Highlighting the great companies you work with improves your professional image and personal brand as well.
However, there are also some potential drawbacks to keep in mind:
Biased Recommendations
If you only recommend companies you have an interest in, like your own employer, it may appear biased rather than authentic.
Time Commitment
Writing detailed and thoughtful recommendations takes time – make sure to only recommend companies that are worth the effort.
Not Everyone Will See It
Unless your post goes viral, only a portion of your network is likely to see it, limiting the impact.
Can’t Control Negative Feedback
Others can comment on your recommendation, possibly sharing negative opinions you can’t remove.
Overall, recommending brands, products and services you genuinely believe in and have experience with is a nice way to show your support and strengthen relationships. But be selective, share your honest experiences, and don’t feel obligated.
How to Write Good Company Recommendations
Follow these best practices when writing Company Recommendations on LinkedIn for maximum impact:
Be Authentic
Share your real experiences and opinions – don’t exaggerate or write generic praise. Back up claims with examples.
Add Details
Elaborate on why and how the company was great to work with. Give specific information.
Tell a Story
Craft a narrative with a beginning, middle and end highlighting your interactions.
Use Data
Include measurable results and data points whenever possible to support your recommendation.
Explain Your Relationship
Note how you interacted with the company (customer, employee, partner, etc.) for context.
Highlight Standout Features
Mention products, services, policies or people that really impressed you or exceeded your expectations.
Focus on Your Audience
Tailor your recommendation to resonate with your professional connections on LinkedIn.
Review for Errors
Double check for typos, grammatical errors or inaccuracies before posting your recommendation.
The more detailed, sincere and well-written your Company Recommendation, the more credible and impactful it will be. Take the time to craft thoughtful recommendations that reflect positively on you and the brand.
Examples of Good Company Recommendations on LinkedIn
Here are two examples of authentic and impactful company recommendations from real LinkedIn users:
Software Company Recommendation
5/5 Stars “As the Marketing Manager for Smith Industries, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Acme Software for the past three years. Acme’s project management software has become an invaluable tool for our marketing and product development teams. The platform is incredibly user-friendly and enables seamless collaboration across departments. We can now track multiple complex projects in real-time, identify bottlenecks, and accelerate campaign execution. The Acme team is also extremely responsive and provides stellar customer support – any issues are resolved quickly. Overall, Acme has exceeded our expectations and helped Smith Industries become more organized, efficient and data-driven. I highly recommend their services!”
HR Consulting Firm Recommendation
5/5 Stars “Over the past year, my company partnered with Elevate HR Consulting to revamp our employee recruitment and retention policies. As HR Director, I worked closely with our consultant Maggie over the course of the engagement. I was thoroughly impressed with Maggie’s business acumen, attention to detail and passionate advocacy on behalf of my organization. She conducted in-depth assessments, presented creative solutions tailored to our needs, successfully executed all deliverables ahead of schedule and under budget. Within 6 months of implementation, our key workforce metrics showed significant improvement! I can’t say enough good things about Maggie and the Elevate team. Their consulting services are truly invaluable and have made a measurable impact.”
These recommendations provide valuable social proof and visibility for each company by highlighting specific details on how they exceeded expectations. The reviewers clearly explain their relationship, tell a story using examples, cite data, and describe standout features. Recommendations like these lend credibility and can persuade prospects to become customers.
Tips for Recommending Companies on LinkedIn
Here are some additional tips to make your company recommendations as helpful as possible:
– Only recommend companies you’ve actually worked with and had a positive experience using their products/services. Don’t exaggerate or misrepresent your dealings.
– Be professional. Avoid overly effusive praise that may come across as disingenuous.
– Encourage colleagues, partners and customers to post recommendations as well to add more credibility.
– Comment on and like recommendations from others you agree with. This helps amplify positive messaging.
– Respond diplomatically to any negative commentary on your recommendations when appropriate.
– Check for any factual inaccuracies or misrepresentations in your recommendations and update them if needed.
– Periodically re-assess older recommendations. You can edit or remove them if your opinion of the company changes over time.
– Use relevant hashtags like #smallbiz, #womenownedbiz, #customerservice, etc. to help recommendations be discoverable by those looking to support similar companies.
Posting thoughtful, honest recommendations strategically can be a win-win – providing value for your connections while boosting brands and businesses you believe in. Just make sure any content you share on LinkedIn, positive or negative, is professional and adds value.
Conclusion
Recommending companies you have worked with in a positive capacity on LinkedIn can be a great way to showcase your professional experiences, strengthen partnerships, support brands you value and enhance your personal reputation. However, Company Recommendations should be done selectively and thoughtfully to have maximum impact. Focus on providing authentic, detailed and well-written recommendations for companies where you had an exceptionally positive experience as a customer, employee or business partner. Craft your recommendation to resonate with your professional connections, tell a compelling story and highlight specific examples of what impressed you about the company. Follow best practices for transparency, accuracy and professionalism. In this way, your Company Recommendations on LinkedIn can be incredibly valuable for all parties involved.