Nobody wants to be average … so Great vs Average Companies on LinkedIn: What’s the Difference?
It makes sense to define what great and average looks like first
Great Companies On LinkedIn: The company is using LinkedIn to increase visibility, deeper relationships and and sales. Success is the standard for all key employees and without LinkedIn, the business would be in a very different position.
Average Companies on LinkedIn: The company are active on LinkedIn – but everything is inconsistent and they don’t stand out. It’s ticking a box and average effort = average results. NotAs well as the fact LinkedIn isn’t a key part of the marketing plan, the company needs to look more widely as their action marketing plan.
Now lets delve into Great vs Average Companies on LinkedIn: What’s the Difference?
GREAT COMPANIES ON LINKEDIN
Great Companies Have Clear Business Objectives And Communicate Them To Staff
Twice a year the company have an away day that the whole company look forward to it.
The directors outline the businesses objectives, what has changed since the last away day and feedback on what has gone well and not so well.
As well as the directors there are external speakers, team building, great catering and at the end of the day there’s a meal or activity for those that wish to join in. Because the team get on so well, 90% of the team stay around and the day is always seen as productive.
Going forward everyone is on the same page with the same desire for success.
Great Companies Train Their Staff On LinkedIn
Training is in the companies culture and they regularly have training sessions on all aspects of the business.
So as such they have a robust training plan for LinkedIn, as they realise it’s a key part of their business.
Initially this was rolled out to a small number of digital champions in the business, importantly including the managing director who believes in leading by example.
Later on there was a further training rollout to the wider team with people opting into the training session rather than being forced.
With all new starters it’s now a key part of the Job Advert, Interview and the induction process includes LinkedIn Training.
The company realise they won’t get everyone active on LinkedIn, but all key roles are.
Great Companies Give Their Staff Time To Build LinkedIn
The company realise that staff need time to use LinkedIn.
They’re not expecting staff to be so busy that LinkedIn is something they have to do out of hours.
Because LinkedIn is driving business forward they’ve been able to make new hires so that individuals don’t suffer stress and burnout.
The whole team is busy, but everyone is encouraged to spend time each day on the platform building meaningful relationships and posting content.
Great Companies have Consistent Posting From Key Digital Champions
The combined impact of multiple people in the same organisation is a huge opportunity.
A business with 30 people not posting is zero shots at success
A business with 30 people posting just once a week would be 1560 shots at success.
A business with 30 people posting 3x per week would be 4680 shots at success.
Quality over quantity every time, but with the training the staff have been given – 90% of Digital Champions are posting at least 3x per week and 10% are posting 5-7x a week.
In Great Companies LinkedIn is Mentioned Regularly In Team Meetings
LinkedIn is mentioned weekly in meetings.
It’s always used to highlight great content from people in the company and great content employees have seen on LinkedIn.
They don’t just look at competitors posts.
They look across a range of different industries because they realise inspiration can come from anywhere.
By doing this it encourages people to be active on the platform and content is always improving.
In Great Companies LinkedIn Is Key Part Of Their Role And Performance Review
Because LinkedIn is a key part of their role, something they’re given training for, something that is mentioned each week in meetings and something staff are given time to do.
It’s a part of their performance review each year.
At the performance review it’s a very open discussion and if staff feel they need any help in any area of the business they can request further 121 training and support in their areas of weakness.
Because of this staff retention is higher than the average and everyone wins on the investment.
In Great Companies Results Are Measured
Whilst the company didn’t expect to LinkedIn to drive results instantly.
They track their sales and steadily they’ve seen LinkedIn go from £0 sales years ago to a key part of their business.
It enhances everything they do from Sales Calls, Websites, Email Marketing, Expos and Networking.
LinkedIn is another touchpoint in the sales process and they’ve used LinkedIn to grow visibility, relationships and sales.
AVERAGE COMPANIES ON LINKEDIN
In Average Companies Staff Don’t Know The Businesses Objectives
The company might have business objectives, but they’re buried in a 50 page report that nobody in the company ever reads.
There’s a poster on the wall that says “This Is Manchester, we do things differently Here” and next to it a vague statement about values that the company director bought off Etsy because it looked cute.
People are at the firm and they’re more than competent at their job. But there’s no direction from the top and everything feels a bit stagnant.
In In Average Companies Staff Are Asked To Post On LinkedIn Without Direction
Everything feels a bit random and a bit last minute dot com.
Out of nowhere in a meeting suddenly the managers asks
“We’re a bit slow at the moment – can everyone just post on LinkedIn a bit”
There’s no direction, no training or even the slightest suggestion of what to post or why.
So a couple of posts go out about networking meetings or the latest company blog and then it all grinds to a halt.
In Average Companies Staff Are Time Poor
There’s good busy and bad busy.
And in an average company the staff are often bad busy.
And by that I mean it’s feast or famine. One month there’s not enough hours in the day to serve clients, never mind networking, social media or content production
And as a result the next month is so quiet.
I always find I’m best when I’m working about 85% capacity. It means I have the 15% capacity to do business development and there is a more balanced workload with less peaks and trough.
In Average Companies there’s Irregular Posting From A Couple OF Members Of The Team
Average companies don’t have an employee advocacy program.
There are a couple of members of the team that post when they can, but that’s as much as they can hope for.
The post themselves gain a little traction, but it’s not enough to drive meaningful results.
98% of staff are completely inactive on the platform and don’t know where to start.
In Average Companies LinkedIn is mentioned once a year and forgotten about
New year. New start.
This is the year the company gets active on LinkedIn.
And they do until Quitters Day – the 2nd Friday of the year.
Nobody thinks to bring up LinkedIn again until the next year.
In Average Companies LinkedIn Is Seen An Add On To The Role and Is Never Mentioned When Hiring
If it’s not in the job advert and it’s not in the Job interview then don’t expect it to be a key part of the role.
But that is the reality for a lot of companies.
It’s an add on when people have started or 3 months into the role and therefore it’s never taken seriously.
Why would it be when it’s just a “Oh and BTW, can you just”
In Average Companies Nothing Is Measured
It’s not just LinkedIn that isn’t measured here.
The success of networking, PR, expos, websites, SEO or any other form of marketing isn’t measured.
Nobody really knows what works even though something clearly is working for the business to be in business.
Which brings us to the quote “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
Everything should be measured and you should know where leads come from.
Which choice are you making – Great or Average?
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Looking for authentic ways to grow your social media
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* TikTok
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
