Social Media for Your Performing Arts Marketing Plan – Part Six: LinkedIn
Why Should You Link Up with LinkedIn?
Here are a few statistics put together by LinkedIn Trainer and Expert, Wayne Breitbarth of Power+Formula (click here to view his original LinkedIn infographic). In 2013, LinkedIn was most helpful for enabling people to:
- Research people and companies (75.8%)
- Reconnect with past business associates and colleagues (70.6%)
- Build new relationships with people who may influence potential customers (45%)
- Increase face-to-face networking effectiveness (41.2%)
Not only does LinkedIn help us to connect online with our industry, but these numbers also reveal that LinkedIn will help us successfully connect in person!
If this doesn’t convince you, also consider that a LinkedIn page can help you improve your search engine rankings. Finally, the demographics of this particular network encourage a mindset shift from the other popular platforms: your messages will be more professional, your dialogue will be focused on partnerships and everything is centered around advancing careers or building businesses.
Three Best Practice Tips for LinkedIn
- Follow the 4-1-1. This rule refers to the ratio of content and updates your organization posts. Aim for four pieces of new content, one re-share and one self-serving post. This ratio is the key to building relationships with your prospective clients; their trust hinges on your ability to regularly encourage informative dialogue.
- Check out the LinkedIn Ad Platform. Take advantage of this advertising platform because it is without a doubt more powerful than Facebook’s ad platform. This is especially true when you consider that LinkedIn’s user demographic is primarily made up of movers, shakers and decision-makers.
- Choose to engage specific target audiences. LinkedIn allows you to create targeted updates that are tailored specifically for your intended audience. This enables you to share with “all followers” or to a “targeted audience”. Whenever possible, opt for the second choice; this will allow you reach your followers based on their geography, industry, company size and level of seniority. Nobody likes a “one-size-fits-all” approach!
It’s now estimated that the LinkedIn network grows at a rate of one person per second. With its astonishing breadth of professional personnel, LinkedIn is a wonderful network to include in your performing arts marketing plan because it will help your organization reach out and connect with collaborative partners, sponsors and other recognized people in the performing arts industry. Click here to read more about what LinkedIn can do for your organization.
Don’t forget to check out the previous installments in our Social Media for Your Performing Arts Marketing Plan series:
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Ticketing Systems for Arts Organizations | Performing Arts Ticketing Software | Ticketing Software Performing Arts
