Since its foundation in 2003, LinkedIn has developed into an indispensable network with more than one billion members worldwide, including 24 million in the DACH region alone. With 68 million registered companies, LinkedIn is also a central platform for business networking and the exchange of specialist knowledge. In addition, the number of publicly shared content increases by 24% every year. These figures make it clear that companies can no longer imagine life without LinkedIn as a communication and marketing tool!
Toolbox LinkedIn
For VTG, LinkedIn is also a versatile tool that supports numerous aspects of our growth and, above all, our external communication – from strengthening our brand and cultivating (new) business relationships to thought leadership.
Specifically, we use LinkedIn for …
1. Reputation and Branding:
Through regular updates and contributions, we can strengthen the “VTG brand” and build a positive reputation by presenting our services, successes and innovative strength.
2. Networks and business relationships:
LinkedIn enables us to get in touch with other companies, potential partners and customers and to build and maintain (new) relationships.
3. Recruiting and talent acquisition:
Our company account is a valuable tool for HR that helps us to find qualified talent.
4. Marketing and communication:
We may conduct targeted marketing campaigns to promote our services and products.
5. Knowledge exchange and thought leadership:
By sharing specialist articles, studies and our own findings, we position ourselves as thought leaders in the industry, which leads to greater trust and credibility.
6. Customer loyalty and service:
LinkedIn offers a platform for direct exchange with customers and interested parties, which helps to improve customer satisfaction.
Who are our followers?
Our company profile on LinkedIn currently has just under 13,000 followers. But who exactly is following us? LinkedIn offers a range of analysis options that help us answer this question. For example, we know that only around 9% of our 13,000 followers are from Hamburg. The rest of our followers are spread all over Europe, which is why we always publish our posts in English and users can easily translate the content into their respective profile languages using the automatic translation function.
LinkedIn 1×1:
What are impressions?
Impressions indicate how often a post was seen by a user – regardless of whether they clicked on it or interacted with it in any other way. We can therefore use the impressions to assess how well a post is performing on LinkedIn.
Unsurprisingly, our followers mainly come from VTG-related industries, primarily from the rail transport, transportation, logistics, supply chain, truck transport and rail vehicle manufacturing sectors. We gain around ten new followers every day and publish an average of two posts per week, which achieve an average of 3,500 impressions per post.
From the idea to the post
Our posts form the heart of our LinkedIn company account. What is needed to create them? You! Because your ideas and input form the basis for our posts. It’s not about you providing us with finished posts, but rather rough ideas and suggestions for topics. So feel free to approach Anna with your ideas at any time!
„Your ideas and input form the basis for the heart of our LinkedIn company account – our posts!“
In the next step, the core messages and objectives are developed and the article is created. Suitable images are prepared in the VTG design and the publication date is set. After publication, we monitor the performance of the post, answer comments and respond to questions.
Target group is everything
In addition to membership fees for premium accounts and recruiting solutions, LinkedIn is primarily financed by marketing services such as LinkedIn Ads. We also regularly place such ads. Our goal? To increase awareness of VTG within a clearly defined target group. To achieve this, it is important to define the desired target group as precisely as possible, e.g. to exclude VTG employees from the group of recipients and to filter clearly according to industry, company affiliation or location.
LinkedIn 1×1:
What advantages do LinkedIn Ads offer us?
In addition to defining a very clear target group, we also benefit from the constantly growing LinkedIn network and the network’s comprehensive reporting tool.
We are currently using LinkedIn Ads for a brand awareness campaign based on three different focal points: rail, sustainability and innovation. To find out which of the ads is performing best, we continuously monitor the success of the campaign in the LinkedIn reporting tool and can adjust the ads on a daily basis if necessary.
And… already connected?
LinkedIn is an important tool in our external communication and offers a wide range of opportunities to present VTG to the outside world, build networks, attract talent and share our expertise.
LinkedIn 1×1:
Which posts are particularly well received on LinkedIn?
Basically, the more relevant the content is for the target group, the better! In addition, common social media logic should be observed, e.g. the most important information should be communicated right at the beginning and the post should contain prompts for interaction.
But it’s not just us in Corporate Communications who have an influence on how VTG is perceived on LinkedIn – your profiles are just as important! Hence our appeal: actively use the platform to expand your professional networks, position yourself as the experts you are and interact with our posts (like, comment, share). This not only makes the LinkedIn algorithm happy, but also us.
Excursus: Tips and tricks for your personal LinkedIn profile
You are already on LinkedIn, but your profile needs a refresh? Use the following guidelines to update your profile:
1. Profile and cover picture:
Use a current, high-resolution profile picture and, if necessary, a meaningful cover picture.
2. Employer details:
Select VTG as your employer so that you are connected to the company account and can be actively informed when there is news.
3. Field of activity and knowledge:
Keep your professional experience and skills up to date to increase your findability (e.g. via search engines such as Google).
4. Content:
Share relevant expertise, insights into your work and projects as well as experiences from events and meetings with other experts. Keep in mind that LinkedIn is a professional network and not a sales platform.
5. Interaction:
Check the VTG company profile regularly and interact with our posts, e.g. by answering user questions or presenting your own perspectives.
6. Guidelines:
Is this information intended for the public? Or is it only for customers? In the VIBES Corporate Communications section you will find the VTG Social Media Guidelines, which provide you with practical assistance for LinkedIn and the like.
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