In the business world, having a profile on LinkedIn is essential when it comes to online networking. In fact, a LinkedIn account is one of our top four recommended social networking platforms and part of our Essential Solution marketing program.
If you already have a LinkedIn account, you may have noticed that in addition to individual profiles there are also LinkedIn Company Pages. These pages can be followed by LinkedIn users, allowing the company's posts to be viewed in their news feed.
So, do you need a Company Page for your practice?
Well, it depends. Let's break down the pros and cons of these pages and you can decide for yourself.
The Pros
- Great for Multiple-Attorney Firms: Although you don't have to be part of a large firm to create a Company Page, it is a helpful solution for creating "one voice" on LinkedIn. When designing and building a firm's website, it can be challenging to determine whose LinkedIn page will be accessible from the website when there are multiple attorneys in the practice. A Company Page allows each attorney to be connected to one page, while also maintaining their own individual profiles for networking. You can also add connected employees as admins to your page, offering more options for page management.
- Brand Recognition: When creating a Company Page, you can upload your logo and banner to brand the page to your firm. This gives your followers recognition of your brand through a visual element in their news feed.
- Company Profile: Filling out a company profile for your firm page allows you to introduce your business to your network. Users will see your firm name and email address, business description and mission, your post updates, your blog posts (if shared), and your practice size and employee connections.
- Highlight Products & Services: Your specialties will be listed on your profile, allowing you to showcase the practice areas you focus on. Pages should be unique to your firm's offerings.
- Job Postings: Your page allows you to create job postings for any open employment positions. You can even create a targeted ad to allow your posting to show up in front of more qualified applicants.
- Analytics: Company Pages come equipped with analytics so you can track key metrics and trends of your posts. This allows you to see which posts followers are engaging with, which will help you fine-tune your marketing strategy.
- Follower Base: A page allows you to not only connect with other professionals, but it also gives you the means to build up your follower base of current clients, potential clients, and referral sources. LinkedIn is a great platform to share industry articles, blog posts about important topics, and firm-related events and updates.
- Sponsored Updates: LinkedIn does allow Company Pages to do paid ads or sponsored updates. Since these ads are targeted, you can reach better quality leads and referrals sources that align more with your area of expertise.
The Cons
- Profile First: In order to create a Company Page, you must first have a personal page set up with your real first and last name.
- Required Connections: You must also have several LinkedIn connections already established before you can create a page. So if you are trying to do this with a newly created profile, you will likely have to build it up before you can continue to your company page setup.
- Profile Strength: Your profile strength must be Intermediate or All Star in order to create a page. This means your individual profile needs to be as complete as possible, you need to connect with your contacts, and you should ask for endorsements for areas of expertise.
- Company Emails & Domains: LinkedIn wants to make sure you are qualified to create a page on your firm's behalf. They want to see the firm and your position in your profile's Experience section. They want to see a company email address added and confirmed. They also want to make sure your firm's domain is unique to your firm. So using email addresses from Gmail or Yahoo will not work when trying to create a page.
Now that you have the scoop on LinkedIn Company Pages, you can make an informed decision on whether or not your firm needs a branded page. Contact an IMS account manager if you need help creating your firm's LinkedIn page. We're happy to assist you!