SMO: Best LinkedIn Strategies for Small Businesses

Social Media Optimization and LinkedIn

Social Media Optimization is a key component to your overall inbound marketing strategy. Developing a LinkedIn marketing strategy should be a highlight of your social media marketing plan. With over 600 million users on LinkedIn today, you don't want to miss the opportunity to boost your following on one of social media's most well-respected platform. Let's find out how you can develop an SMO LinkedIn strategy for business.

But first the basics. Why SMO?

SMO helps you:

• Drives more traffic and increases leads
• Improves search engine rankings
• Customer service improvement
• Distribute information quickly
• Do business with social media users directly

Some businesses need Social Proof and the best way is optimizing your Social Media status.

SMO gives CRO (Conversion rate optimization) meaning when your web visitors come to your website they need to know how you are doing, and what others say about you and your top products. Social Media gives all the answers!

Now that you're all caught up on the importance of SMO, let's dive in to how you can grow your business through LinkedIn. Whether you're a business professional looking to establish professional connections, or you're trying to grow your team, a strong LinkedIn marketing strategy can help your business soar.

Best LinkedIn Strategies for Your Business
SEO:
Be sure to optimize your LinkedIn SEO so your page performs well in search engines. This will help boost organic traffic to your page. Here are a few ways to optimize your LinkedIn page for SEO:

• Create a keyword rich platform
• Post regularly and use hashtags and keywords
• Create user-friendly posts such as listicles, quick tips, videos, how-to guides etc.
• Share industry related news

Set Your KPI:
Setting a key performance indicator will help you stay on track of your LinkedIn marketing goals. One way to set a KPI is to take a look at your original S.M.A.R.T Goal and ask yourself how, specifically am I achieving this goal? A few things to focus on for new businesses is awareness and customer feedback.

A good LinkedIn KPI for small businesses is to regularly keep track of followers and visitors and set a definite goal on how they can be improved.

Post Relevant Content Frequently:

As a business owner, you wouldn't promote irrelevant content on your Facebook or Instagram pages, would you? Of course not! The same principle applies to LinkedIn. Company updates, photos, job opportunities, crisis management, resources, etc. are among the many helpful things you can post to your LinkedIn's company page.

But how do you know what's relevant? As usual, the secret is knowing your audience. For those who need a little extra help, LinkedIn offers a helpful tool called: Content Suggestions.

This helps you narrow down your target audience based on industry, location, and seniority.  Soon you'll discover via articles and videos what your audience cares about the most. The best part is you can refine your search at any time so there's no need to feel limited.

Remember that all successful marketing strategies have to be tested, analyzed, and determined based on your audience's likes and needs. One of the best things you can do for your LinkedIn strategy is to be adaptable. Don't expect perfection from the get go. Even the experts have to reassess current and past mistakes. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all.

Now get out there and start connecting!