LinkedIn is the world’s largest networking platform and a perfect fit for growing your security industry business. There’s hardly a person who has not heard of it, and most professionals at least have a profile on the popular social media platform. And most recognize that it is one of the best tools to build long-term relationships and influence prospects outside their network.  

However, very few leverage the platform to its fullest. Why? Because just being there isn’t enough. To use LinkedIn to the fullest, dealers, integrators, manufacturers, and service providers need a plan to attract, educate, and convert prospects.  

Here are the top tips to get the most out of your LinkedIn marketing. 

Consider Context

To begin to lay a foundation for LinkedIn success, consider the context of the platform. In addition to making connections, members use LinkedIn to be more productive and successful at their work. This causes them to be more open to helpful content, marketing messages and ads. 

Understand that It is About Education

LinkedIn is less about selling or marketing your products and services than other social platforms. On LinkedIn, blatantly pushing your business, spamming and obvious hard-selling are highly frowned upon. This is why having a marketing strategy specific to the platform is so important. Because the network consists of a totally different audience, LinkedIn marketing requires an educational or problem-solving approach to get the results you want.

Identify Your Audience

According to LinkedIn, 65% of audiences felt that marketing messages were not relevant to them. Many times, it is not that your solutions aren’t relevant to them, it is that they just don’t know how your service or technology can serve them. This is why it is so important to identify your audience and target them specifically with relevant content that solves one of their problems.

Target a Buying Committee

Most buying decisions are made and influenced by more than one person, and those people are all on LinkedIn. LinkedIn research shows that 76% of buying committees are individually on LinkedIn and engaging with vendors and service providers.  

Harvard Business Review suggests engaging with people serving in four key roles in any organization: 

• Decision maker: This is the person who signs the check. Likely, they are the vice presidents or C-suites of companies. Most marketers only target this basic stage. 
• Influencers: Audiences who might or might not be in the same department. But their voice holds weight in the decision. They could be familiar with your industry and his/her colleagues rely on their feedback on vendors. They might not be direct decision-makers, but they get to define the priorities of capabilities and vendors they recommend. 
• Gatekeepers (Finance): Purchasing departments that will negotiate the bidding and contracts. 
• Users: These are the employees who will be using the solutions day-to-day. 

Do Your Homework

Do a deep dive into the verticals you want to target. Get involved in groups and ask questions. Chances are good that by opening a line of communication you will be able to identify problems you can help solve.  

Post High-Quality Content

Publish high-quality content that solves problems and helps the reader accomplish their goals. This naturally establishes you as an industry leader and nurtures connections. 

Use LinkedIn Analytics

The LinkedIn Analytics tool is probably the most under-utilized tool out there for audience research. You can use it to discover the demographics of your audience and see who is engaging with your content, job locations, company sizes, and more. Having this information can help you crafts even more helpful content and effective ads. 

Invite Contacts to Your Email List

Write a letter to each connection and invite them to join your email list. Provide regular and relevant content to stay top of mind. 

Create Educational Opportunities & Promote Them On LinkedIn

Consider creating vertically specific webinars where you can discuss security solutions and how they can solve their pain points. Keep the webinars concise and short enough that your prospects feel they can fit them into their schedule and still come away with valuable information.  

LinkedIn provides a wealth of opportunities to security industry organizations. LinkedIn is home to 800 million members and 310 million active monthly users. If you want people to actually listen to you on this platform, you don’t bring a megaphone. You need precise messaging and targeting — saying the exact right thing to a  limited group of people at the party.