LinkedIn is a great way to stay up to date on companies and organizations you’re interested in or want to learn more about. Following an organization on LinkedIn allows you to see their updates in your feed, learn about new products and services they offer, and keep up with their company news.
Why Follow Organizations on LinkedIn?
There are a few key reasons you may want to follow an organization on LinkedIn:
- Stay current – Following companies and organizations lets you keep up with the latest news, product launches, events, job openings, and more.
- Research – If you’re interested in a company, following them can help you learn more about their work culture, values, and business focus.
- Networking – Connect with employees who work at organizations you follow to build your professional network.
- Job opportunities – Follow companies you’re interested in working for to keep up with their hiring opportunities.
- Industry news – Keep tabs on trends, innovations, and changes in your industry by following key companies and thought leaders.
How to Follow an Organization on LinkedIn
Following an organization on LinkedIn only takes a few simple steps:
- Go to the organization’s LinkedIn page – You can search for their name on LinkedIn or Google to find it.
- Click “Follow” – On the organization’s LinkedIn page, you’ll see a blue “Follow” button. Click this button.
- Confirm by clicking “Follow” again – LinkedIn will ask you to confirm by clicking “Follow” a second time.
And that’s it! Once you follow an organization, you’ll start seeing their posts in your LinkedIn feed. You can stop following them at any time by going back to their page and clicking “Unfollow.”
Where to Find Followed Organizations
Once you follow an organization, where can you see their updates? There are a few places on LinkedIn to view posts from pages you follow:
- Home feed – Your main LinkedIn feed will show posts from connections, followed pages, LinkedIn groups, and publishers you follow.
- Organization page – Go directly to the organization’s LinkedIn page to only see their posts.
- Following feed – Use the “Following” tab on LinkedIn’s desktop site to view only updates from companies and people you follow.
Following vs. Connecting with Organizations
What’s the difference between following a company and connecting with them on LinkedIn?
- Following – Lets you see their posts and public information but doesn’t create a connection.
- Connecting – Links your profile to the company for all LinkedIn members to see and allows you to message the company.
In most cases, following an organization is sufficient to stay up to date with their LinkedIn activity. But if you want to build a closer, more networked relationship, connecting can make sense too.
Customize Your LinkedIn Feed
To get the most out of following organizations on LinkedIn:
- Follow companies strategically – Curate your feed by following organizations relevant to your interests and goals.
- Take advantage of tabs – Use tabs like “Following” to focus your viewing on updates from pages you follow.
- Toggle notifications – Turn on notifications for organization posts so you never miss an important update.
- Utilize search filters – Search by company name and filter by updates to find their latest posts.
- Follow influencers – Follow key executives, thought leaders, founders, and managers to get their unique insights.
Maximize Your Organizational Following
Here are some additional tips to optimize following organizations on LinkedIn:
- Follow your competitors – Keep an eye on competitor company pages for intel on their offerings, marketing, and thought leadership.
- Discover new organizations – Use LinkedIn’s Suggested for You section to find pages aligned with your interests to follow.
- Follow brands you like – Keep up with brands, stores, nonprofits, publications, and other organizations you want to support.
- Stay up to date on your industry – Follow trade associations, advocacy groups, conferences, and other industry organizations.
- Track hiring trends – Follow companies you may want to work for someday to stay looped in on their job postings.
LinkedIn’s Company Follow Limit
Is there a limit to how many organizations you can follow on LinkedIn? There is no published limit, but most experts recommend keeping it under 500 total follows. Following thousands of organizations can become noisy and overwhelming.
Focus on following a targeted, strategic list of companies aligned with your professional interests, goals, and aspirations. Quality over quantity is key to getting value out of following organizations on LinkedIn.
Understand Social Media for Businesses
Following organizations on LinkedIn can be a great social media strategy. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle. For a full understanding of social media for businesses, it’s important to grasp these key things:
- Social media goals – Define your objectives, like driving awareness, traffic, leads, and sales.
- Your audience – Analyze your target demographics, interests, and needs.
- Platform distinctions – Know the unique value propositions of each major social network.
- Content strategy – Plan what types of content to share and promote.
- Social media management tools – Use tools to schedule posts, analyze data, and manage accounts.
- Advertising options – Leverage paid social campaigns and sponsorships.
- Tracking analytics – Use available metrics to identify successes and areas for improvement.
With the right social media mix, following organizations on LinkedIn can be a valuable piece of an integrated strategy.
grow your professional network by following key organizations
Here are some tips on using organizational following to grow your professional network on LinkedIn:
- Follow companies you want to work for – This puts their job postings and company updates right in your feed.
- Follow your clients and vendors – Strengthen these key business relationships by engaging with their content.
- Discover followers of organizations – Look at who else follows key companies in your industry to find new connections.
- Interact with organization posts – Like, share, and comment on their posts to get on their radar.
- Follow executives and employees – Get to know key leaders and talent at organizations you admire.
- Attend events – Go to conferences, seminars, and meetups that organizations you follow host or participate in.
- Send connection requests – If you follow an employee of a company, try connecting with them directly.
The more you engage with and follow influential companies and professionals, the more opportunities you’ll have to expand your network in strategic ways.
Should you unfollow organizations you no longer want in your feed?
Here are some best practices on unfollowing organizations on LinkedIn:
- Regularly audit your follows – Review the pages you currently follow and evaluate if they still align with your goals and provide value.
- Unfollow irrelevant organizations – Don’t clutter your feed with organizations that no longer interest or apply to you.
- Control notifications – Turn off notifications from organizations that overload your inbox but that you still want to passively follow.
- Use LinkedIn’s “Following” tab – View only followed company pages here so irrelevant ones don’t show up in your main feed.
- Exercise moderation – Be thoughtful about unfollowing, as it can limit your insights and network. But don’t keep follows out of obligation either.
- Focus your feed – Curate your followed organizations to showcase your professional brand and interests.
The key is keeping your followed organizations list focused, fresh and aligned with your career purpose. Doing regular audits and spring cleans of your follows helps achieve this.
What are some of the best practices for optimizing my LinkedIn feed?
Here are some top best practices for optimizing your LinkedIn feed:
- Follow a targeted list of organizations relevant to your industry and interests.
- Connect with professionals and thought leaders who regularly share valuable insights.
- Use hashtags and keywords to find topical content from sources worldwide.
- Reduce noise and clutter by unfollowing irrelevant organizations and people.
- Customize notifications so you get alerts on key updates.
- Leverage tabs like “Following” to focus your feed and find the best content.
- Interact frequently by liking, commenting, sharing, and posting yourself.
- Limit memes, jokes, and viral posts that don’t align with your professional brand.
- Select “See First” on your top connections to prioritize their posts.
- Report inappropriate or promotional content that violates LinkedIn’s policies.
The ideal LinkedIn feed should energize and inspire you, highlight diverse perspectives, and continue growing your knowledge as a professional.
Conclusion
Following the right organizations on LinkedIn is a simple yet powerful way to support companies you admire, stay up to date on industries and topics important to you, and grow your professional network. Take a strategic approach to determine which companies will best align with your goals and interests.
And optimize your feed to surface the most relevant, engaging content from organizations, executives, influencers, and professionals worldwide. Use LinkedIn’s following tools to showcase your passions, gain insightful news and intel, and advance your career.
