In the world of B2B social media marketing, there’s a little known tool that’s making a big impact for companies that use it correctly. And that’s a LinkedIn Showcase page.
LinkedIn officially describes Showcase pages as “…extensions of your Company page, designed for spotlighting a brand, business unit, or initiative. Create a page for aspects of your business with their own messages and audience segments to share with.”
So, then, if a business is to have a Showcase page, it must have a Company page first; and, to have a Company page, you must have a LinkedIn Profile. Did you catch that last part? You must have a LinkedIn Profile! (If you don’t, a handy tool to get you started can be found at: http://www.healyco.com/linkedin-analysis)
We know from industry research and informal interviewing that LinkedIn Profiles are anathema to many vending, OCS and micro market owners and operators. But I’ve said it before and it bears repeating: Once you hand others your business card, they do two things; they check your website and your LinkedIn Profile. If either are not up to par, they will likely move on.
Therefore, not having a personal profile on LinkedIn puts you at a huge disadvantage, not only for your personal reputation but your company reputation and marketing efforts as well.
Why Showcase Pages?
Most companies in our industry have become rather complex, offering many and disparate products and services for which they must create multiple marketing campaigns to reach different types of audiences. This can wreak havoc on a solid marketing or sales support program, sometimes struggling to pick the right social media and digital marketing tools for each product and each audience you’re targeting.
Showcase pages allow companies with multiple product/service messages to segment them easily and deliver them to the right audiences. You can also use them to highlight key industry trends among very specific audiences.
For instance, you could create a Showcase page on “Healthy Choices” and load it up with content about everything your company offers through vending, OCS and micro markets that lean in the healthy direction. Then you can promote the “healthy” page to very specific customers — schools, universities, health care institutions, among others — through email marketing, or a blog, or your website.
(Note: Be sure to include some “curated content” on your page about the trend or product, so customers view it as a “thought leadership page” — a place where they can easily learn about a trend and what’s hot/what’s not — rather than a page filled with blatant product promotion. Showcase pages are also an ideal place for videos about the trend, testimonials from customers, links to “more information,” etc. In the end, you want the page to literally showcase your products, services and knowledge.)
Naming your Showcase page can be tricky as well. For instance, if you want to promote Cold Brew Coffee as your company’s latest, hottest (pun intended!), cutting-edge offering, you probably can’t just name it “Cold Brew Coffee” because someone else may have a page with that same name. So make it clever or personal, like “Bob’s Original Cold Brew.”
Other examples of great Showcase page ideas (but not names) include:
- Adding water service to the break room (Millennials and GenZ employees love water!)
- Going cashless: The benefits of credit/debit readers on your machines
- Picking the right micro market features
- Today’s break room: Not what your Granddaddy remembers…
- Make your break room a competitive advantage (The ROI of vending/OCS)
You are limited to 10 Showcase pages, so choose them wisely if you have myriad products and services.
The objective with Showcase pages, like any other social media tool, is engagement. So make choices in creating your company’s Showcase pages with your customers, prospects and other partners in mind. And just like you’d pick out the right ring for that special someone, make sure the engagement strategy for your Showcase page is as brilliant as a diamond!
How To Do It…
Creating a Showcase page is fairly straightforward, but there are some tips and tricks to keep in mind. It really boils down to five simple steps:
1) Go to your Company page – only an Administrator of your Company page can create a Showcase page, so bear that in mind.
2) In the top right corner of your Company page, you’ll see a drop down next to the blue Edit box; click on the box and select “Create a Showcase Page.”
3) Give the page a name, keeping in mind that it has to be something that’s not being used (LinkedIn will send you a message if your name is being used already), and assign an Administrator if it’s not yourself, then click “Create Page” in bottom right corner.
4) Pick an engaging cover photo or graphic that’s no larger than 974 x 330 pixels, and a logo image that’s no larger than 300 x 300 pixels, which will automatically be resized to 100 x 60 pixels. (I wouldn’t use your company logo there since that likely appears on your Company page.) And write a catchy description: the limit is 200 characters, including spaces and punctuation, so choose your words wisely.
5) Finally, build followers by inviting your customers, prospects, industry partners and others to Follow your page (sending them the Showcase page URL will greatly enhance your odds), and start posting content right away. The only way you will get engagement with your Showcase page is to post content there regularly.
