PR Lessons from LinkedIn’s Most Influential Global Brands

linkedin content marketingAs companies and organizations of all stripes continue to produce content for the Web, the conventional wisdom that B2B brands are boring is slowly eroding. On the Internet, good content—no matter where it comes from—is well-received. And nowhere is that more evident than on LinkedIn, where people have started to embrace content from companies that don't typically face consumers.

LinkedIn's publishing platform, which at first was reserved for use only by "influencers" (read: top executives at prominent companies), was opened for public use in February, and it's rapidly maturing. The social networking service recently released its first "10 Most Influential Global Brands" list, ranking companies on how well LinkedIn members engage with their sponsored updates, company pages, groups, employee updates and influencer posts. Forbes took the top spot with other major brands and publishers including Microsoft and the Financial Times rounding out the list.

So how can you make your content marketing efforts on LinkedIn as engaging as, say, The Wall Street Journal's?

Yumi Wilson, manager of corporate communications for LinkedIn, will speak at PR News' upcoming webinar on how to use LinkedIn for thought leadership, branding and media relations on June 30. Below, she provides a few tips on how to improve your overall media strategy on the social network:

  • Optimize company profiles: Your executives and employees should have robust profiles, including details beyond just work experience. Volunteer activities, certifications and even test scores all help round out LinkedIn profiles.
  • Produce quality content: Content produces six times more engagement on LinkedIn than job posts do. Including a link in your content produces two times more engagement than not including one, and posts with images have 98% more comments than posts that don't.
  • Post in groups: People who post in groups receive an average of 4 times more profile views than those who don't.

What tips would you add to the list?

Follow Brian Greene: @bwilliamgreene

To learn more about improving your LinkedIn strategy, register now for PR News' webinar, How to Leverage LinkedIn for Thought Leadership, Branding & Media Relations, which will be held in on Monday, June 30 at 1:30 p.m. EST.