Why LinkedIn is important for your small business

For the longest time we can think of, LinkedIn has been one of the most underrated tools used by small business owners to grow their businesses. LinkedIn is a professional social media platform boasting 690 million users across the globe. Still, many business owners refuse to promote their brand on the platform or even open an account, because of the popular opinion that LinkedIn is only for job seekers and employees.

But this is far from correct. In this article, we discuss why LinkedIn is important for your small business, how to create an account, and other tips to increase your LinkedIn presence and find customers. Your knowledge of LinkedIn will prove useful for your business, whether you sell products or offer services.

To many small business owners, maybe even you, social media platforms may seem like an extra burden. When you’re occupied with the task of connecting with customers and selling products/services physically, there’s hardly any time to find customers and make sales online. At the same time, platforms like LinkedIn remain highly effective in reaching a lot of new customers.

So, while it’s difficult to manage physical and online presence at the same time, it’s important if you want to move your business forward. To make things easier, LinkedIn offers a smart and more organized way to reach customers and have them reach you. And because most of its features are free, you have so much to gain.

Reasons why you should leverage LinkedIn for your small business marketing

LinkedIn is important to every small business for a lot of reasons, and it can be the tool you need to take your brand to the next level.

Direct Connections to target customers

No matter what products/services you offer, building connections with people interested in your business will always do you much good. Being on LinkedIn gives the impression that you’re passionate about what you do, you’re a professional in your market, and you would like to meet other professionals and potential customers. Also, if you need people to invest into your business, LinkedIn can be the perfect place to find them.

Build legibility and online presence

In today’s world of business, customers and clients have a habit of searching brands online before they use their products/services. A LinkedIn page increases your chances of appearing at the top of search results, because your LinkedIn profile is full of keywords that search engines love. Also, the more customers interact with your LinkedIn page, the more credible your business is on the internet, and the more you will appear in search results—especially when customers search for brands offering your products/services.

Still not convinced? Here are some numbers. According to Hubspot, LinkedIn is 277% more effective in generating leads (that is, potential customers who have shown interest in your brand) than Facebook and Twitter. Also, 79% of marketers think LinkedIn is a very good source of leads, and 80% of leads for business-to business (B2B) marketers comes from LinkedIn.