How LinkedIn can benefit your Small Business

With over 1 billion users, LinkedIn is the most widely used professional network on the planet. It’s an excellent platform to network with & learn from skilled, like-minded people, creating unique opportunities for growth, networking and building your brand.  

More specifically, LinkedIn can help your business’:  

1.Brand Awareness, Visibility & Authenticity- A well-made LinkedIn profile can make sure that people understand your business and what it can offer them just by looking at it. You can utilise targeted ads, hashtags & analytics to ensure that you're reaching the right people. Additionally, by having real interactions, employee advocacy, storytelling & recommendations, it creates a very transparent and real image of your company.  

2.Networking & Relationship Building- As the world's largest professional network, LinkedIn provides a platform for you to connect with like-minded people from across the world and can potentially expand into new markets. By having very specific search options, you and your business can connect with people who meet very specific criteria & can therefore build more useful and meaningful relationships. Also, by providing personalised communication options, your business can avoid the impersonal, mass outreach via emails etc.  

3.Recruitment- LinkedIn grants you access to millions of professionals, spanning numerous industries and locations. This can help you reach candidates in niche areas, again, with the endless capabilities of their search tools and ones who perhaps aren’t actively looking for a new role but are a good fit & may be open to a new opportunity. They also offer talent insights where you can analyse the talent pool, benchmark compensation to make competitive job offers and track hiring trends to see where your competitors are hiring from.  

4.Market Research- LinkedIn can provide insights into industry trends, target audiences and customer behaviour. Your small business can find this through following industry leaders & influencers, engaging in industry groups and monitoring relevant hashtags to your industry. Additionally, it can be used for competitor analysis. You can keep an eye on their pages to track their strategies, analyse content to see what does well in the industry & monitor job listings to identify their priorities and areas of growth.   

Eamon Butterfield

Placement Student

Full Circle Management Solutions