Let’s talk LinkedIn marketing strategy for small business. I actually have a much different view on this that may surprise you..

Don’t market on LinkedIn AS your business. Just don’t. If you’re the owner of the small business on LinkedIn, you need to market as YOU first and foremost.

Market as a human being, not a business. I see so many small businesses failing because they’re sharing content as a brand and nobody cares about it. You need to share content as a person. Let me explain..

LinkedIn Marketing Strategy For Small Business Tip #1: YOU Create

Do you know who Casey Neistat is? Casey Neistat flipped the traditional business model on its head using Youtube.

There he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q980C74SdYQ

He decided to create a daily vlog about his life. People really freaking liked it, too. He generated half a million new subscribers, became an internet sensation, and used his newfound fame to launch a company called Beme. That company later sold to CNN for $20 million. 

Casey got his audience to care about HIM first. Caring about his business, therefore, was second nature for his subscribers. So when he announced his company after a hundred or so days of straight vlogs, it blew up. It absolutely blew up overnight.

Casey built the marketing machine first with his vlog. For your small business, you need to do the same thing.

And what did Casey vlog about? Freaking anything. He did travel vlogs, family vlogs, business vlogs, New York City vlogs, vlogs where he rescued his drone from the roof of a building with 200 feet of string and a grappling hook. Here, check it out below if you don’t believe me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrcMDnPTdBU

That’s marketing done right. Vlog about yourself. Do selfie videos (I explain how to make them here). Get your audience to care about you, and they’ll care about your business. I promise you that.

#2: Let Your Employees Create

If you’re lucky enough to have any awesome employees working for you, encourage them to create content on LinkedIn, too. They’ll likely enjoy it, and they’ll help you market your business!

Encourage them to create content about whatever, too. Life lessons. Home life. Etc.

Again, people enjoy watching other people. When your employee’s audience cares about them, then they will also care about other aspects of their life such as their hobbies, their dog, their work, and the company they work for!

Bingo.

You benefit, your company benefits, and your employee benefits. It’s a win-win-win. More companies need to let their employees vlog, and, in fact, PAY THEM FOR IT! That’s a great LinkedIn marketing strategy for small business.

#3: Leverage Video

Okay, so I’ve encouraged you to create your own content for YOU. The best medium to do this is with video. It’s faster, develops more trust, and is easier to produce. Don’t believe me? Check out this video I made on LinkedIn, then. It’s a selfie video. Oh, one more thing–video does REALLY WELL in the LinkedIn algorithm!

The above video got about 4,000 views off the back of 166 likes. That’s a ton of views. Try going to Youtube to get more than 10 views on a video.

Let’s get back to what makes it easier. This is a selfie video. It took me two minutes to record it, one minute to place that title overtop of it “Manila Lock Down?” and about five minutes to write a short description. I got 4,000 views from 10 minutes of work.

Super easy. If you’re a small business owner, show us your life. Show us you running errands. Show us you at a local awards show. Show us what you’re up to at that networking event. Show us how you work out at 4 AM because you got some damn work to do today and you’re going to crush it. Show us you at your child’s weekend wrestling tournament! Give us your life through the lens of your phone. Have some fun with it. Record two minute clips when you can, and just post them throughout the week.

#4: Post Your Wins

By the way, I talk about how to literally grow a following in a different post, I’d suggest reading that to find out how you can increase your followers. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the fourth and final step here: Post your wins. Don’t be afraid to talk about a customer you really helped, or to talk about a job well done.

If you run a landscaping business, take a video of the before and after. Show how well you did. If you’re a freelance graphic designer, show off that new logo you made for a client and talk about some of the great feedback you got. For some reason, posts like this do about three times better than any other post on LinkedIn, and it’s social proof.

These posts are going to help you win business.

#5: Create Often As Hell

That’s right. I cursed. Create often. Post at least once per day during the workweek. If you’re a freelance graphic designer, I believe you could make a killing on LinkedIn. I’d be posting past work all the time and talking about how much my clients enjoyed working with me. If you don’t have clients, go create logos for non-profits. Hell, create your own clients from imagination and create mock logos for them.

Have something to show.

Give out free logos to the next five commenters. Do crazy stuff like that, but just create often. Always stay top of mind. Get your followers to look forward to your next post.

That’s how you develop a relationship, a brand, and a marketing machine for your business.

That’s a great LinkedIn marketing strategy for small business.