On LinkedIn, a B2B company rarely gets an order straight from a post. What it gets is conversations: a comment from someone in the industry, a direct message, a "can we talk next week?" The posts that bring those show everyday work and a clear opinion. "We're proud to announce" posts usually just collect likes from coworkers.
Why you need patience
LinkedIn's B2B Institute worked with the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute on research into how B2B brands grow. Their conclusion, called the 95-5 rule: at any given moment, about 95% of your potential buyers aren't ready to buy. Their example: three out of four companies replace their computers once every four years.
For you, that means a good post rarely pays off the same week. It pays off when someone who has read you a few times finally needs what you do. The goal is for them to remember your name at that point.
The company page and the people behind it
LinkedIn says on its best practices page that company pages with complete information get 30% more weekly views, and companies that post weekly see twice the engagement. So: logo, cover image, a description using the words your clients search for, website, industry, and at least one post a week.
Conversations, though, start more often with people. From the company page you can notify employees about an important post, at most once a week, so they see it and share it. We covered how to split roles between the company page and your own profile in our article on LinkedIn for small businesses.
Five kinds of posts that get comments
- This week's job, and its problem. Write about what was hard and how you solved it, not just that you finished. A construction company showing how it reworked the installation order after a late delivery says more than ten photos from the ribbon cutting.
- A mistake you often see clients make. And how to avoid it. People in the industry comment because they've seen it too.
- A short document. LinkedIn recommends uploading PDFs or presentations. A five-page checklist gets saved and passed along.
- Real photos. LinkedIn's best practices page says images typically get twice the comment rate, and collages of 3–4 images do especially well.
- A real question at the end. "How do you handle sign-off on small jobs?" works. "Do you agree?" gets nothing.
What not to do
LinkedIn's community policies say plainly not to do anything to artificially boost engagement, and not to agree with others in advance to like or reshare each other's posts. Groups where ten companies like each other's posts on cue fall squarely into this. "Comment YES and I'll send you the PDF" looks just as bad: it brings comments, not conversations.
How to turn a comment into a conversation
Reply to every comment with something specific, not just "thanks!" If someone asks a question that needs a long answer, message them privately and ask if they'd like to talk. The pitch comes only after you know what problem they have. A cadence that works for a small company:
| Day | What you post |
|---|---|
| Monday | this week's job, with its problem |
| Wednesday | a common mistake or a checklist |
| Friday | the team or behind the scenes |
If you'd like someone to write and schedule posts with you, see our marketing services.
Sources
- The 95-5 Rule, LinkedIn B2B Institute95% of buyers aren't ready to buy now, research with Ehrenberg-Bass
- LinkedIn Pages best practices, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions30% more views for complete pages, twice the engagement for weekly posting, images, PDFs, notifying employees
- Professional Community Policies, LinkedInthe ban on artificial engagement and prearranged likes
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