When it comes to content marketing, there are so many different strategies and ways to further your reach and drive more traffic to your website. Today we are going to focus on one that many small business owners are missing: LinkedIn Pulse. Here’s more on how to publish content on LinkedIn Pulse to boost your content marketing.
What is LinkedIn Pulse (or LinkedIn Publisher)?
We get it. You are probably already struggling to find the time or the resources to create consistent content for your business. So it makes sense that you may be thinking, “Do I really need to be publishing content on LinkedIn Pulse as well? Don’t I already have a business blog and multiple social media accounts?”
Well, if you are running a B2B business, our answer is going to be YES. Here’s why.
In 2014, LinkedIn purchased the Pulse app and integrated it into its product as a new content sharing platform called LinkedIn Pulse. Initially, it was only available to global influencers like Richard Branson and Bill Gates for publishing. Then in 2015, the platform was enabled for all users to post and share their content. Today many know the platform as LinkedIn Publisher.
Why B2B Companies Should Be Publishing Content on LinkedIn Pulse
Here’s where, especially for B2B companies looking to expand their reach, it gets interesting.
LinkedIn has 562,000,000 registered members and more than 106 million people access the platform on a monthly basis. Because it is a professional networking platform, the majority of those people are business people looking to make connections or learn about new ideas to help them advance in their career or grow their business.
Starting to see why it may be a great place to share your knowledge and business information?
Many others do. In fact, more than 1 million users have published content on LinkedIn’s Pulse platform.
Those are some amazing numbers. But here’s one that you should really consider: 80% of B2B leads coming from social media come from LinkedIn – not Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
I’m hoping by now you are at least intrigued. Let’s keep going… here are some more advantages of using LinkedIn Pulse to boost your content marketing.
Advantages of Publishing Content on LinkedIn Pulse for Small Business
LinkedIn is a platform designed to help establish and grow professional relationships. LinkedIn Pulse can help you achieve that goal by allowing you to appear in front of professionals who are interested in your knowledge and products/services.
Here’s how.
LinkedIn Pulse is a content aggregator that customizes the homepage feed for each user based on their industry and interests. Based on those interests, it displays snippets of the most relevant posts published across the platform to the user. That means that even people outside your network who are interested in the topics you write on will see your posts in their feed.
If these users like what they see, they have the ability to save your article for reading later. They can also choose to follow you with a single click so they get updates on future posts you publish. With LinkedIn Pulse, your content can reach professionals at every level and across all industries.
The sheer number of LinkedIn members means that your content is likely to receive more eyeballs than if you were to publish content exclusively on a business blog. Publishing content regularly on LinkedIn Pulse will help you boost your online reputation and business reach and give you another FREE outlet to help drive traffic to your website. It will also help you connect with an audience that is actively seeking the type of information you create.
Should You Publish on LinkedIn Pulse Instead of Your Blog?
LinkedIn Pulse/Publisher has evolved a lot since it first burst onto the scene five years back. Now it is one of the best ways to grow your presence on LinkedIn and establish your brand’s voice. However, LinkedIn Pulse cannot become a substitute for your business blog.
When you publish content on LinkedIn Pulse, the content is owned by LinkedIn. Posts on Pulse must abide by the rules set by LinkedIn, and LinkedIn decides how your articles are publicized to other users.
When you publish content to your business blog on your website, you do so on your terms. You also choose how and when to share your content on other social media sites.
Most importantly, pushing people back to the blog on your website should always be a goal. Your website is your most valuable marketing asset and where they’ll discover more about you and your products and services.
The bottom line: LinkedIn Pulse is a terrific free marketing tool to establish business credibility and reach a mature audience , but you must use it in conjunction with your business blog. While you shouldn’t make it your sole method of online marketing, you can definitely use LinkedIn Pulse to boost content marketing.
7 Tips for Publishing on LinkedIn Pulse
Tip #1: As with your business blog, consistency in publishing fresh content is key to getting results on LinkedIn Pulse. Aim to publish at least one post a week of at least 500 words.
Tip #2: You can repurpose content already published on your blog on LinkedIn Pulse. But instead of reproducing articles as-is, a smarter way to do it would be to publish shorter versions of the original blog post on Pulse and add a ‘read more’ link at the end of the post directing readers to your business blog.
Tip #3: Creating more content improves the SEO rankings of your website, so when you publish content on LinkedIn Pulse, you must include backlinks to your site to derive SEO gains.
Tip #4: You can create a mix of long and shorts posts, informative and promotional posts, and posts that have more visual content (videos, infographics) than text. Note: Images that are at least 700 x 400 pixels look best.
Tip #5: It’s essential to craft your headlines with as much care as you would on your blog. Keep the headline short, sweet, simple, and to the point. Include facts, numbers, and powerful words to intrigue readers into clicking to your article.
Tip #6: To make your content more relevant to other LinkedIn users, include keywords phrases and the tagging feature to classify your posts.
Tip #7: Include a call-to-action at the end of the post encouraging readers to follow your page, share the article, or leave a comment on what other topics they want you to write on.
Many smart business owners are already using LinkedIn Pulse to boost content marketing, and it’s time that you give it a try too! For other tips on using LinkedIn to market your business, check out this article.
this article is very informative and I got many new things to learn from this about linkein publisher, the tips are also awesome I am definitely going to try them, thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you so much for sharing this one, I was not aware of the LinkedIn pulse. I have larnt so many things through this post, it helps me to boost my knowledge. Keep sharing more informative posts like this.
It is a professional networking platform, the majority of those people are business people looking to make connections or learn about new ideas to help them advance in their career or grow their business. They can also choose to follow you with a single click so they get updates on future posts you publish.