How LinkedIn Can Help Online Retailers Grow Their Business

While Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram are all making moves to enter the e-commerce industry, there is another social media platform that e-commerce businesses often overlook—LinkedIn. This network of likeminded business professionals can be key to gaining new customers, making lasting partnerships and more.

While it might seem easier to launch a sponsored post on Facebook or load your site up with retargeting ads, LinkedIn allows companies of all sizes to establish a genuine presence. It is not about posting random photos or sharing 140-character tweets. LinkedIn empowers businesses to create thoughtful profiles and share actionable insights with their online community.

In other words, LinkedIn is where you go when you want to make real connections.

Here are just some of the reasons why e-retailers should embrace the power of LinkedIn in their marketing efforts:

Create Connections

Whomever you connect with on LinkedIn—be it like-minded business professionals, potential partners, or prospective customers—there is a great opportunity here to establish long-lasting relationships built on a shared foundation. LinkedIn offers a number of channels through which you can do this, too, including connection requests, page follows, group memberships, and more.

Gain Visibility

Often when businesses start a new a social media marketing strategy, they have to sit back and wait to see what happens. On LinkedIn, however, you can actually see who’s viewed your profile, followed your company page and reacted to posts on your company page, or joined a group you manage—which is incredibly valuable information when you are trying to identify your audience and to find out what they really want.

Get Involved

Unlike other social media platforms with a single newsfeed, LinkedIn offers Groups that overlap with your trade and related interests. It is in these groups where you can establish yourself as part of a community, get involved in conversations affecting your business (and audience), and grow your reach.

Learn More

Because your LinkedIn feed revolves around the people and topics you want to hear about, this is a great place to keep yourself educated. Find out about upcoming trends, changing consumer preferences, and what your competition is doing. You can also stay informed on the matters that may affect your business and audience in the short- and long-term.

Share Your Insights

Content marketing is an essential part of every business’ marketing strategy, and LinkedIn provides a great spot for you to create, publish, and share long-form and interesting content. If you are involved in e-commerce, nothing is more important than gaining your audience’s trust. Helpful content that provides actionable insights is the perfect way to start building that trust and establishing your influence.

Get the Word Out

Once you have developed a solid presence on LinkedIn, connected with the right communities, and initiated thought-provoking conversations, then it is time to consider more traditional marketing efforts. LinkedIn Ads and Sponsored InMail messages are two ways for e-commerce companies can use LinkedIn to reach new prospects. Moreover, because of LinkedIn’s advanced search settings, you can better target the decision makers and consumers that are interested in and need your service or product.

With professionals joining LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second, and more than 467 million members worldwide, it seems like a given that you should be using LinkedIn to grow your e-commerce business!

About Endicia

Endicia is a leading provider of internet-based postage services that make it easier and more affordable to ship parcels through the U.S. Postal Service®. We know that shipping can be complex and our goal is to simplify your shipping operations so you can focus on doing what you do best. Visit us at www.endicia.com to learn more.