LinkedIn has been a go-to professional networking website for years, but recently has grown to be an established job board. Today, the site includes over six million jobs and millions of company pages, making it a one-stop site for people looking to both job search and conduct company research. Although other websites such as Glassdoor and Crunchbase are often used for company research, chances are that LinkedIn will be one of the first places where job seekers interact with your company.
LinkedIn company pages are viewed by customers as well, so you may have the inclination to fill the page with product information; however, LinkedIn’s company page should not be used as a platform to sell. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to demonstrate company values and share company culture. This is important to both potential customers and job seekers. As a recent Forbes article put it, “With 60% of consumers wanting to know what a company stands for before supporting it, company culture and the way employees are treated are paramount to your business’ success.”
What follows are four best practices to keep in mind when building your company’s presence on LinkedIn. These steps will help ensure your LinkedIn company page is telling job seekers and potential customers the story you want them to hear.
Build Out the Company Page
Every LinkedIn company page has an “About Us” section to insert company information. Use this section to communicate both your business’ mission and values. For recruiting efforts, it’s also a good idea to keep company details (location, employee count, etc.) as up to date as possible.
The company page also offers a number of branding opportunities. For starters, the avatar should be your company logo. For the background image, choose a photo or image focused on the company rather than the product. It’s important that the background image reinforces the company culture described in the About Us section. Images of internal staff, branded materials, logos etc. will also suffice.
Post Often and Focus on Culture – Not Just Business
Once you create the company page, don’t sign off and forget about it. Make a point to post to the LinkedIn company page a few times a week (many large companies will post 5 days a week). Postings should include press releases, company news and blog posts; you can also throw company culture postings into the content mix, if desired. The next staff lunch, event or professional development activity are all great things to share with your followers.
Make Sure Employees are Connected to the Company Page
A company’s employees’ profiles are the windows into a company, so encourage your internal team to link their personal LinkedIn profiles to the company’s profile page. This way, job seekers can look at the profiles of those with whom they’ll be working, giving them an idea of how they fit in with the team from a professional standpoint.
For consistency in messaging, you can also share job descriptions with your staff to include in their personal profiles. These job descriptions should mirror the descriptions included in job postings, as well.
Keep Your Job Postings Updated
Outside of keeping your company page active, pay attention to how the company is presented in job postings. When drafting a listing, take the opportunity to highlight your company’s mission, values and culture. Keep the listing current and specific. A generic job posting with unique job responsibilities isn’t enough.
Have the hiring manager draft a job post that explains the role, what to expect working with the team, the company’s core values, and how success is measured. Communicating this in the job post will attract job seekers that share your values and appreciate your company culture.
