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5 ways to leverage LinkedIn and boost your PR strategy

by | Jun 3, 2020 | Analysis, Public Relations

LinkedIn has always been looked at as a job search or recruiting tool. In reality, it’s a lot more than that. With 310 million monthly active users, you will be surprised to know that this platform offers ample potential to connect with media members, build a strong network and strengthen brand reputation.

As the line between SEO content marketing and public relations continues to blur, PR professionals must integrate the two and leverage LinkedIn to share knowledge and become a trusted source of authority.

So, let’s take a look at five ways you can use LinkedIn to boost your PR efforts.

Optimize your company page

You have created a company page on LinkedIn but is it optimized to draw attention, build awareness and strike conversations?

Your LinkedIn company page needs to demonstrate your brand image. An optimized page helps users get a better understanding of your brand and instill trust in you.

According to LinkedIn, pages with complete information get 30 percent more weekly views. So, make sure you fill in the following details:

  • Logo
  • Cover photo
  • Company overview
  • Tagline
  • Industry
  • Company size
  • Founded
  • Specialties
  • Location(s)
  • Website URL
  • Call-to-action

While crafting the overview, include relevant search keywords to improve discoverability and communicate what your brand is about in 2,000 words or less.

Here’s an example of a well-written and complete LinkedIn company page.

5 ways to leverage LinkedIn and boost your PR strategy

Publish engaging content

It’s not enough to create a presence on LinkedIn. You need to maximize its potential and remain top of mind by constantly sharing engaging content.

Whether it’s a new product announcement, an employee engagement program or CSR initiative, it’s important to maintain an editorial calendar that is focused on telling stories and giving journalists (and customers) an insight into your brand.

Make your page visually appealing by embracing engaging formats such as videos, and LinkedIn presentations and using in-house original graphics to grab attention and generate buzz.

5 ways to leverage LinkedIn and boost your PR strategy

5 ways to leverage LinkedIn and boost your PR strategy

The idea is to devise a LinkedIn content strategy that is focused on giving your brand a voice that attracts media attention and boosts reputation.

Connect with media

How many times have you sent out PR pitch emails only to get no response?

One of the ways to improve email deliverability is by focusing on developing relationships first. You can’t just send an email when you need coverage and expect to be considered.

Let’s not forget that relationship building is a huge aspect of public relations.

While it’s not something that can happen overnight, social media platforms such as LinkedIn can help you identify relevant media and strike meaningful conversations. You should also consider engaging with their content by leaving comments and sharing it on your page.

It’s a good idea to make a list of target journalists and follow their work closely for a more targeted outreach strategy. This will help you send relevant pitches their way and uncover coverage opportunities.

Promote thought leadership

At a time when trust has grown to become the biggest currency, brands must find new ways to appeal to their audience, gain their trust and establish authority.

One of the most effective ways to achieve that is by making thought leadership an integral part of your PR strategy and what better platform than LinkedIn.

A thought leadership strategy is driven by the creation of valuable and insightful content that builds brand equity and influences purchasing decisions.

Start with identifying key candidates in the organization who can be positioned as a reputable source. Apart from being passionate about the industry, they need to be trained to create compelling content, join relevant groups and put themselves out there.

Encourage employee participation

Your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors. Unfortunately, not too many brands leverage that.

Empowering your employees to share content helps brands expand reach and appear more authentic as compared to promoted content. So, why not formalize the process and roll out an employee advocacy program that encourages active participation?

Not only does this tactic keep employees engaged and aid personal branding but it also hugely benefits your corporate brand image while giving your PR efforts an additional boost.

An example of a brand that launched a successful employee advocacy program is Visa. They turned their employees into “social professionals” and got them to share interesting branded and non-branded content on LinkedIn.

This resulted in 4x more company page followers, 3x more company page views and a 30% increase in Content Marketing Score (CMS).

Conclusion

PR is centered around telling stories, cultivating positive relationships and brand building. Well, here’s a platform that lets you achieve all this and more.

So, it’s high time you stop disregarding the power of LinkedIn and leverage it to supercharge your PR efforts by making the right connections, expanding your network and developing a strong brand image.

Simki Dutta
Simki Dutta is a content marketer at Venngage, a free infographic maker and design platform. When she's not working, she can be found refreshing her Twitter feed and binge-watching Netflix shows.

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