Meet the eight B2B brands excelling at LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most popular social network for B2B brands and here are the best examples on how to use it.

According to ‘B2B Content Marketing – 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America’, 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn, which makes it their primary choice among social networks for their company.

LinkedIn is offering a unique opportunity for B2B brands to combine:

• brand awareness
• lead nurturing
• lead generation
• customer retention
• nurturing relationships
• recruiting

However, as most B2B brands join LinkedIn, the question is, how do you stand out from your competitors?

How 8 B2B brands excel in LinkedIn

Microsoft

3,059,536 followers

Microsoft’s LinkedIn presence may serve as the perfect example on how B2B brands can use the platform, going beyond the promotion of their products.

Microsoft is aiming “to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more” and that’s the focus on its LinkedIn page, featuring stories of innovation, technology and how its tools and services can help people from various industries succeed.

Its inspirational stories create the right human element for such a big company, helping its customers understand its services in the most authentic way, hoping to make a difference with its content.

With more than 3m followers it’s certainly challenging to be relevant to everyone, but it still creates an interesting diversity of content, posting about tips, trends, insights, or even the life in Microsoft’s HQ.

What’s more, it takes advantage of Showcase Pages to highlight all the divisions the company is known for, such as Office, Skype, Outlook, Bing, Microsoft Training & Certification, in order to keep its customers up-to-date with the latest updates.

IBM

2,994,580 followers

IBM offers a unique LinkedIn presence by picking the beta version for its Company Page, in order to present all (Read more...) diverse features in a more appealing way.

Its LinkedIn page reminds me of a simplified version of an actual website, full of information on a range of topics, along with a broad coverage of topics, such as technology, innovation, leadership, data, research, science, development. While there are also updates on its latest collaborations, its latest reports, but also inspiring stories around the world.

There is a great mix of content derived from its numerous offered services and products, and it is also divided according to the specific division through its 10 Showcase Pages (Cloud, Analytics, Security, Commerce, Social Business, etc).

Moreover, IBM encourages its 2.9m followers to discover its culture, by creating a separate display with more details on what it’s like working for IBM, enticing future candidates to join the company.

HP

2,272,043 followers

HP certainly knows how to use LinkedIn to appeal to its audience and it counts 2.2m followers who explore the brand’s diverse and appealing content, from branded visual content to thought leadership and big data.

As it mentions in its description:

We create technology with a purpose: to make life better for everyone, everywhere.

LinkedIn serves as the ideal platform for HP to showcase its technology, finding the right way to approach its large community and promote its mission of creating technology with a purpose.

Its content leads to great interaction, whether it’s about sharing an insight from the company’s technology, or a promotion of its latest notebook.

Moreover, it also highlights its “Careers” page featuring a cover photo that clearly states: “Big thinkers wanted” along with a video and more details on what the HP experience may offer.

Oracle

1,842,209 followers

Oracle’s diverse services in software and hardware systems could lead to a complicated social presence, but in fact, its LinkedIn page stands out with its simplicity and its minimalism.

Oracle tried to create a page featuring all its services, targeting a broad audience of 1.8m followers, still without overwhelming them with complex content. It focuses on innovation, technology, marketing tips, leadership, retail, industry reports and updates from the company, while its visual content as a support to its blog post may lead to a great amount of likes, and comments, due to its appealing presentation and the unique perspective of promoting a blog post. 

What’s more, it also features 11 Showcase Pages narrowing the interest to particular products (Marketing Cloud, Social, Big Data, Retail, etc), with Oracle Marketing Cloud numbering 22.235 followers.

This allows Oracle to target marketers and professionals in a more efficient way, highlighting its technology, its products, but also its innovation in the industry in a balance that can be appreciated.

GE

1,233,485 followers

GE’s LinkedIn page focuses on technology and innovation, showcasing the company’s services in the most creative way. A mix of graphics, inspiring quotes, curated links, insights, interviews, and announcements make a very appealing presence and its 1.2m followers appreciate how the company focuses on the community, judging by the number of likes, comments, and shares the posts have.

Moreover, GE uses its Affiliated Company Pages (GE Healthcare, GE Power, GE Capital) to expand its content and inform its followers on more specific areas, which provides another great opportunity to stand out with its originality.

For anyone interested in joining GE, there is also the LinkedIn Group ‘Official GE Careers Group’ with 170.873 members discussing what it’s like working at GE, along with tips and news in hiring, training, and development.

The focus on the community and the way its technology can be used in all the different ways helped GE grow even bigger with its social strategy, serving as a great example for every B2B brand wondering how to use content to expand its reach.

Adobe

594,140 followers

Adobe’s focus on content creation in Digital Media and Digital Marketing is also present on its LinkedIn page. It posts visual content that blends insights, tips, news, but also a sneak peek into Adobe HQ, its company culture and its values, in order to blend the creative promotion of its products with the increase of brand awareness.

Moreover, it also features a “Careers” page where it encourages its followers to join Adobe’s diverse community of creative and analytical thinkers, also sharing a video of a day in the life at Adobe to entice future prospects.

Its 594k followers followers know what to expect from such a popular company and it manages to deliver it in the best possible way.

HubSpot

156,076 followers

HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform, which is also popular for its content and its LinkedIn page is the same.

It focuses on adding value with its content, making the lead generation easier with marketing guides that are useful for marketing professionals, also bringing a significant number of likes and comments on each post.

Except for its 156k followers on its company page, it has also created the LinkedIn group “Inbound Marketers – For Marketing Professionals” counting 148.840 members who are more or less interested in the industry and thus, serve as potential customers for Hubspot.

Hays

1,418,698 followers

Hays may be different from all the B2B brands mentioned above, but its LinkedIn presence is impressive enough to deserve a place in this list.

The recruiting company has found the right platform to promote its service, using LinkedIn both to promote its presence, its branding and of course, to help people build their career path.

With 1.4m followers on its LinkedIn Page, its cover photo aims to enlighten its audience with what to expect:

“industry-leading advice and insights on the world of work, to help you succeed in your career”

What’s more, it also proudly features the fact that it is the #1 recruiter on LinkedIn, building a trusting relationship with its followers through the right content.

Its content spans from career tips, interview advice, job prospects, industry reports, targeting a wide audience of professionals interested in the company’s posts, which leads to a great number of likes and comments.

Takeaway

LinkedIn is the first social network that B2B brands include in their social efforts, but just because it’s more professionally-oriented, doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for creativity and experimentation with the types of posts a brand may create.

The examples above can give you an idea on the numerous ways a B2B brand can use LinkedIn, depending on its set expectations about its social strategy.

You don’t have to be a large B2B company to create an impressive LinkedIn presence, all you need is the focus on the right direction and the consistency to succeed in your social efforts.

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