Have you ever considered using LinkedIn for marketing, as well as its more traditional job hunt offerings? As the site itself says, two new members join LinkedIn every second, and with such a high number of people using the platform, it’s not surprising that it has huge potential for lead generation. In fact, a study by Hubspot found that LinkedIn is 277 per cent more effective for lead generation than Facebook and Twitter. Here’s how you can make the most out of LinkedIn as a communication professional.

1) Post at least 20 times a month

This may seem specific, but research by LinkedIn found that businesses that post 20 times a month get their content to at least 60 per cent of their audience. People mainly use the site during working hours, so ensure you’re posting during this time.

2) Be clever with your plugins

There are a couple of plugins available from developer.linkedin.com that will help to encourage engagement. For instance, the recommend plugin can be embedded on web pages and display products and services available on your LinkedIn Products and Services page. It allows users to easily recommend these products to their immediate connections. The share plugin will also allow all visitors to share your content within their own networks.

3) Encourage engagement

LinkedIn has a lot of highly active group discussion pages. On average, status updates that contain questions receive almost 50 per cent more comments, as reported by LinkedIn. Find a couple that are relevant to your business, and start posting in them. Engage your followers by asking questions and allowing comments, and write thought-provoking content that doesn’t just sell your products – instead, it needs to educate and inform.

If you have some people regularly commenting on your posts, connect with them separately and do some market research – find out what it is about your posts they enjoy, and whether they use your product or service.

Don’t forget to get your staff members involved either – employees are 70 per cent more likely to engage with your company updates on LinkedIn, according to the social media site’s own research.

4) Don’t forget visual media

It’s easy to see LinkedIn as less visual than other social media sites such as Instagram. While there is more text than some, it’s still important that you use visual media to attract people to your posts. LinkedIn found that links to YouTube videos, for example, have a 75 per cent higher share rate than those that don’t include them.

LinkedIn has a lot more potential for communication than you may have first thought. For more communication trends, please visit our Insights page.