Be in the Know, All the Time, with LinkedIn

Written by Colleen McKenna | Feb 13, 2018 6:30:22 AM

During a recent workshop, it became apparent that the CEO was becoming agitated. During the break, I asked him if everything was okay. He shared that he was embarrassed that his company looked so “anemic” on LinkedIn when he knew it was the one channel their clients paid attention to. He mentioned that he personally gained more insight from LinkedIn about his clients and their companies than anywhere else online and didn’t realize that he had overlooked how his company appeared.

Good lesson. Great CEO. Why? Because now that he was aware, he would fix it.

Why wait for an update from your best supplier or industry confidant when you can keep tabs on them through LinkedIn?

Now, I know that may seem stalkerish and not fit for an upstanding professional like yourself. However, there is a good chance you might gain valuable information and insight by simply paying attention to what’s happening on a company’s LinkedIn Company Page or among their employees’ LinkedIn profiles.

Here’s How to Distill an Organization’s LinkedIn Company Page

Read the company overview. After reading about who they are, would they be a potential customer, strategic partner, competitor, employer, investor, buyer, acquisition, etc.? If so, first, follow their company page so you receive their updates.

Click on Recent Updates. What are they posting about? Are their posts informative or are they just trying to sell you something? Are there any posts you could share from their company page that would add value to your network? If so, give them some love and share their post with your network. Don’t forget to acknowledge them in your brief intro to their post.

People. Notice how you’re connected to this company. Do you have any connections at the company? If so, who else should you connect with? Remember, there are typically 5.4 people involved in every B2B buying decision. If you’re not connected to anyone, click on the employee hyperlink and see who your 2nd level connections are to potentially connect with.

Jobs and culture? Can you learn about their company culture and see if they are hiring? Hiring tells you something about them, whether you are a competitor or a job candidate. Do they mention their core values? Can you learn about their leadership team? All good information, don’t you think?

The best companies are pulling themselves together and thinking carefully and strategically about how they present themselves on LinkedIn. Each person represents a brand – their own brand as well as the company they work for. For example, more and more you see branded backgrounds and headshots that are up to date and arranged by the company for a more tailored and professional look. Kudos to these companies for recognizing the importance of their digital presence.

You might notice on some company pages and profiles that it’s little more than a placeholder. Well, that in itself, tells you something, right? They may be asleep at the marketing wheel. There are lots of reasons why a company may not be posting and using these digital assets. None of these reasons are wise, though, and is fodder for another post.

Whether you’re the CEO or an emerging professional, take a nugget away and apply it to learn more about your employees, customers, prospects, and competitors. You can never have too much information, can you?

Step 1 Type a company in the search bar at the top left and go to the company’s LinkedIn Company Page.

Step 2 Once you arrive, take a minute and see what you can learn.

Step 3 Click the About us area. Learn about the company.

Step 4 Click see more for specifics like their company size, website and specialties.

Step 5 Click on the three dots at the top.

Step 6 Click Follow if you are not following.  Note: mine says unfollow because I am following their company page.

Step 7 See who you already know and are connected to at the company. Maybe you’re connected but don’t really know them. Send them a message to reconnect and further your relationship. Or, just to say hello.

Step 7 cont’d Click and see who else works at the company that may be beneficial for you to know. Send them a personalized connection request.

Step 8 Since I am already connected to these people, I can send them a quick message right through LinkedIn. Try it.  Now, if you know they are not using LinkedIn don’t bother, however, it’s a good way to find out and engage with them where they are.

Step 8 cont’d  You can see Lois and I have talked right through LinkedIn. I can even see that each message is timestamped.

Step 9 Check out their posts. Are they using LinkedIn to share content they like, information about their company and their industry?

Step 10 You can easily like, comment and share their content with your network.  Give your customers some love…share their content. They will appreciate you for sure.

Step 10 cont’d  Write a brief, interesting intro and let people know why they should read this post. Remember use the @ sign to highlight people and # to highlight companies.

Step 11 You can also send this post to another person/group of people (they will see each other so be careful.)

Step 11 cont’d Start typing in the name of the person you want to send this post to. They will need to be 1st level connections.

Step 11 cont’d  Begin to write your message in the box.

Step 12 EXTRA: Let’s look at another company,  T. Rowe Price for instance.

Step 13 Notice they have three tabs at the top; Overview, Jobs and Life.  We explored Overview already. Now, you can see jobs they have posted in the Jobs tab and Life will provide more about their culture and what it’s like to work for their company.

Step 14 At the top right, I can see their current stock price and because I am a Premium member, I can also scroll down and find out more about their hiring and their average tenure. (this data is based on employees’ profiles.) That’s it. You’re done.

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