I wrote a guest blog for freight logistics company Cerasis in October which discussed how companies within the manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and industrial industries can increase their B2B visibility on LinkedIn.

The catalyst for writing the blog were results from a recent survey focused on the supply chain and logistics industry.  58% of respondents rated LinkedIn as “very impactful,” and 37% rated LinkedIn as “somewhat impactful.”  At the same time, respondents reported challenges associated with strategy (33%) and a lack of understanding about the application of social media (24%).

Leveraging LinkedIn

There are over 3 million LinkedIn company pages.  Being present on LinkedIn is critical, but is not enough.  To maximize your LinkedIn presence you need to take steps to increase your B2B visibility.  Here’s how:

1. Create a compelling company page

Your company page is an extension of your company.  Make sure that the page is compelling, informative, and presents your company as a leader within the industry.

2. Be active

In addition to keeping your company page up-to-date, you need to be active on LinkedIn on a daily basis.  LinkedIn groups are great.  Actively participating in LinkedIn groups will allow your company to: 1) gain business and market intelligence; 2) introduce you to new, interesting, and relevant topics; 3) help you increase brand awareness; and 4) position your company as an industry leader.

3. Distribute content

If you want your content to be seen you need to get it out there; you need to distribute your content.  Distribute your content and curated content via your company page and (when relevant) within the LinkedIn groups to which you belong.

4. Employee engagement

Your employees are your brand ambassadors.  Empower your employees to be active within LinkedIn groups as representatives of your company.  Encourage employees to share your content and industry content with their connections.  Additionally, encourage employees to share open positions with their LinkedIn connections, and to identify great talent within their network.

5. Prospect for leads

LinkedIn is an effective prospecting tool.  Use LinkedIn to prospect for leads and to build your sales pipeline.

6. Optimize your profile

Every employee is a reflection of the company.  Encourage employees to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles.

7. Don’t be annoying

You will fail if you take a “me, me, me attitude.”  Constantly self-promoting is bad for business.

If your company is not using LinkedIn you are missing out on opportunities and revenue.