
I'm not a social media marketer by trade, so when one of my clients asked me to build their LinkedIn strategy, I knew I would have to come up with something from scratch.Use automation to get more out of LinkedInGet the free eBookThat challenge forced me to pay close attention to the companies nailing social media, think hard about how to maximize existing content, find ways to incentivize employees, and learn how to fuse creativity and fun into a professional context.And I'm ready to share what I learned.Why create a LinkedIn strategy?As a former B2B buyer and now business owner, I can attest that checking out a company's LinkedIn is one of the first things I do. It gives me an idea of the kinds of businesses they engage with, how many employees they have, the new releases they're promoting, and any big company news.With that prospect behavior in mind, having an active LinkedIn presence has a lot of benefits. It gives you the opportunity to:Promote internal thought leadership externallyBuild credibility in your industry with content that stands outRepurpose content in a refreshed way to capture people's attentionLearn about your audience, which can inform your future content strategyEngage with your audienceReel in new visitors that might form a new segmentGenerate indirect leads through website trafficBut reaping those benefits is only possible when you have a strategy to guide you. Formalizing a strategy forces you to think hard about who you want to target and how. It gets everyone on your team (and others) on the same page and helps you stay on track. And besides allowing you to plan ahead in social media management tools, a strategy sets the foundation for a testing and iteration mindset. Knowing exactly what you tried and why can help you brainstorm new ideas.The 4 components of a company LinkedIn strategyA solid LinkedIn strategy should be rooted in your goals and audience. Those elements drive the more tactical pieces of your LinkedIn approach: what to post and when to post it.1. GoalsFirst things first: nail your why. Maybe you're leaning into LinkedIn to become a more established industry leader. Perhaps it's to encourage and warm up inbound leads. Whatever it is, write it down. It should serve as the North Star for the rest of your plan.From here, map out the big metrics you want to hit. Here are some examples to get you started:X increase in visitorsX increase in follower countX increase in organic leadsX increase in LinkedIn-driven traffic to





















