The c-suite is neglecting LinkedIn at its own peril
CODI founder and co-director Lisa Teh suggests the networking site is being overlooked by the sector who stands to benefit from it the most.
If you’ve been struggling to find the right people to hire, you’re not alone. There’s a war on talent and companies need to do everything they can to get an edge on their competitors.
Despite it being the world’s largest business focused social media platform, 99% of companies are under utilising the power of LinkedIn when it comes to hiring. Its ability to drive lead generation and build thought leadership is well documented, but few companies are executing an industry leading organic content strategy to engage and attract top talent.
With the current LinkedIn algorithm favouring content posted on personal pages over content posted on business pages, there is a huge opportunity to get the executive leadership team active on the platform posting content centered around the key content pillars of your business. This can be in a range of different formats including video (a fantastic way to show passion and personality), articles (great way to build thought leadership) and text posts with an image (the algorithm is pushing this at the moment).
In a world where company values can often seem generic and borderline redundant, what better way for companies to espouse their values than through their employee’s unique voice. It’s no secret people connect with people. Seeing a CMO talk passionately about brand innovation will engage people more than reading a standard line on the website about how a company is striving for disruption.
There is also still incredible organic reach on the platform which means you don’t need to pay to reach an audience. You can do a post and have minimal followers and still have it reach millions of people around the world. Out of all the major platforms, currently only TikTok would give you that kind of organic reach, and I can’t imagine the C-Suite would be too keen to record some content dancing to the last viral hit or lip syncing to one of the Kardashians.
By getting active and posting content on the platform, you not only can quickly establish yourselves as thought leaders in your industry, but you could have potential candidates come directly to you.
And why stop at senior management? Companies have traditionally provided little guidance to their employees for posting on LinkedIn. It’s one thing for the leadership team to say they have an amazing culture. If you have your teams actively posting about the work they are doing, cultural initiatives or team bonding activities, that is powerful. Not only will it show that they are engaged with the business, but most likely they will have people in their network who could be potential candidates.
If you want your team to get active, make it easy for them. Give them a clear guide on what they can and can’t post. Get experts in to provide them with LinkedIn training so they can learn about platform best practice and ways to create content. Give them a company banner to put on their profile. The banner is prime real estate on a LinkedIn page and a great opportunity to get eyeballs on your brand. Provide them with content to post. This can be whitepapers, company announcements or images from your latest team day. Sure you can post this on your company LinkedIn page, but imagine this being shared on social media at scale by your team.
While you can do all of the above and encourage your team to post, it really has to come from the top. If people see the executive team getting active on the platform, they are more likely to follow suit.
The organic reach won’t last forever and you don’t want to miss out on top talent because they see your competitors and not you. Get active now and help potential candidates connect with your company on a more human level.
Lisa Teh is the founder and co-director of CODI.
