Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn: Delivering Growth

Let us learn to leverage trade marketing networking on LinkedIn for multiple benefits. Because in today’s fast paced business environment it can feel very easy and be even easier to jump from one project or task to another.

We can all be incredibly busy but at the same time feel like progress towards real commercial goals are not as fluid as it should or could be. And particularly not as focused when internal metrics, measures and politics take over.

However, if we step back and look at trade marketing it has undoubtedly gone through a remarkable period of transformation. Where as it use to be solely about business representatives and industry trade shows. Nowadays, you can reach buyers through various channels, including face-to-face interactions, as well as digital, visual, and written forms.

We chose to write this article as LinkedIn has emerged and kept growing as a powerhouse for trade marketing. So we are going to explore and unravel how to leverage LinkedIn to achieve business growth.

Understanding Trade Marketing in the Digital Era

You as a leader of sales and marketing now more than ever have an opportunity to engage with your trade customers. No longer is it kept to trade show conversations potentially missing prospects and relevant conversations.

Additionally, with the progression of communication we can engage more consistently with more professionals on product placement, promotional strategies, building brand awareness and interest through to rapport building and high level brand/product knowledge.

As we look to engage with more prospects and buyers with more valuable content and information the range of platforms we publish across is important. Buyers are not looking for your catalogue to be digitised and copied and pasted across their LinkedIn feed. They are looking to be engaged, interacted with and educated. As a result, trade marketing networking on LinkedIn has become an essential component of modern B2B strategies.

The LinkedIn Advantage for Trade Marketing

Whereas your buyers may well be on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok it is on LinkedIn you will find them focused on work. Their frame of mind on LinkedIn will focus on networking, opportunities and growth. Therefore it is of no surprise that Buffer in their article highlight that LinkedIn usage is favoured on weekdays versus weekends.

Here’s why it’s become an indispensable tool for trade marketing:

Targeted Audience: It is undeniable that LinkedIn is packed full of business professionals. And in addition they represent a wide range of different industries such as construction and manufacturing. Through to information technology and real estate. And as said above users come to LinkedIn with a work focused mindset. Whereas TikTok maybe for entertainment and Pinterest for inspiration the LinkedIn mindset means they are ready to engage with professional content. However that doesn’t mean it cannot be interesting and entertaining.

Advanced Targeting Options: Furthermore, LinkedIn has robust targeting capabilities. So yes focus on language, location and job experience. But also target company categories to specifically target companies such as those in the S&P 500. Or focus the targeting around actions, such as people who have visited a specific page on your website.

Content Marketing Opportunities: Additionally, you can publish a wide variety of different content types on LinkedIn. From single image and multiple image posts to short form videos and videos up to 15 minutes long. You can also write in various lengths from text posts, to informational articles, regular newsletters and even publish documents like PDFs. This variety provides many ways to distribute content and guide, tell and show customers and prospects interesting information.

Implementing Effective Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn

Being that we want to gain a commercial benefit from your trade marketing activity, consider the following strategies:

1. Optimise Your Company Page

First and foremost, whether your business provides a service or product turn your LinkedIn company page in to your digital storefront. Therefore, we also advise that it is complete, and filled with engaging information. Importantly keep your page regularly updated with relevant content. Furthermore, use keywords related to your industry and business activity in your LinkedIn company description to improve search-ability.

2. Leverage LinkedIn Groups

Secondly, join and actively participate in relevant industry groups. As well as sharing insights and knowledge, answer questions. In order to establish credibility answering questions will show your involvement in the industry. Coupled with the knowledge you impart in your answers you will allow potential clients to build trust in you and your business as a thought leader.

For example you may search pharmaceutical in LinkedIn and then go to groups and ‘see all groups results’. From here you can join groups and take part in relevant conversations offering advice and answering questions.

3. Utilise LinkedIn Advertising

Thirdly, LinkedIn’s advertising platform offers powerful tools. And as I have said above you can be very specific to target the right audience to ensure a positive ROI. For example with Sponsored Messaging alone you can drive website traffic, invite people to events or provide product education. As a tool for trade marketing networking is it a real advantage. You can utilise a Conversation Advert, provide a strong call to action to drive engagement with landing pages or lead generation forms. All the while being highly trackable data to calculate ROI.

Lookalike Success in Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn

Naturally it is easy to say we want growth. But what is the question surrounding how we reach growth. Add in that potentially you feel time restricted, with limited resources. Yet you know this opportunity will generate additional opportunity and revenue that will benefit your company.

So let us examine how a B2B can successfully use LinkedIn for trade marketing:

You are company X, a manufacturer of industrial equipment. The opportunity is in reaching new distributors. How would you implement a comprehensive LinkedIn strategy focusing on trade marketing networking:

1. Initially, focus on creating tactical content. We want to show, tell and guide customers and potential clients through a series of content. Initially this content can be around your industry experiences, your businesses ‘hidden’ USPs and your products benefits for them.
2. Next, from tracking and analysing the tactical content identify which performed best. ‘Best content’ can relate to reach, how many likes or how many comments. If you want to spark a conversation and build rapport lean towards the post(s) that gained the most reactions in the comments. Then look to repurpose the content on LinkedIn as a Sponsored Content advert. All the while targeting it to reach procurement managers in your target industries.
3. Finally, and throughout the above activity be focused on rapport building and engagement in your industry-specific LinkedIn groups. Be visible and supportive by sharing valuable insights and advice. Doing so will build trust, credibility and relationships.

Measuring the Success of Your Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn

Before diving into your content creation it is important to identify what success looks like. How you define your progress and what positive ROI looks like.

Ultimately selling is the overall objective. Typically when we look at overall engagement and activity online and on social media we are after the 1% who will take action. In comparison, not the individual who likes and comments on everything, everywhere.

It is important to remember your potential client may not see your content within a specific time period, they may not even engage with it. As your reach grows and content is shared, your opportunity increases.

1. Engagement Rates: These are the footfall of social media. First, monitor likes, comments, and shares on your content. Also, pay attention to who is behind the numbers, as internal staff and ex-employees often drive likes.This is where the understanding that 5 engagements from the right people can be worth more than 1000 likes.
2. Lead Generation: Capture the data, if you have used call to actions and especially paid advertising track the number of inquiries or contact form submissions following LinkedIn activities.
3. Conversion Rates: Lastly, but probably of most interest is what is converting and generating opportunities. Basically within LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager you have the opportunity to analyse many factors. Set up tracking correctly, and you can measure everything from booking appointments to downloading information. Undoubtedly having this information also allows for optimisation. As the variables to adapt and improve include the advert (copy and visuals) that sent people to the website, the web page copy and call to action and the form/information they had to fill out.

The Future of Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn

As long as digital platforms develop and evolve so will the strategies required for trade marketing. In similar fashion if your look at general end-consumer consumption of social media it has evolved from being text based, to peer groups, photos and memes and has now focused on videos being the dominant type of content.

Consequently, to move forwards and be ahead is a combination of the knowledge you can impart and value you provide. Combined with an adoption of current trends, from content type to populous topics (providing they are suitable).

Moreover go beyond the monthly or one post a week mindset. Take time and effort to build the connections with the 67 million businesses on LinkedIn. After all that is where you start to build a community of buyers who know, respect and want your solutions.

Conclusion: Embracing Trade Marketing Networking on LinkedIn for Success

In conclusion, businesses can achieve B2B success by leveraging trade marketing networking on LinkedIn. Particularly when you consider that LinkedIn has established itself as the dominant business networking site.

With LinkedIn’s extensive features you can incorporate LinkedIn activity into overall marketing strategies. As not only will you identify leads, you will generate rapport with them, qualify them and build their awareness and knowledge of your solutions before converting into a client.

Remember, successful trade marketing networking on LinkedIn requires adaptability and embracing the features such as groups. Activity here will set you apart as a valuable industry leader. And using the targeting capabilities will bring you information on leads to optimise what you do to increase revenue.

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James Ambel

With over a decade of B2B expertise across multiple industries and a passion for integrating new technology to elevate his ROI James’ writing allows all of this to come together. His belief is many B2B businesses could maximise their time, focus and ROI to an even higher level.

Experiment with different messaging, content formats, and communication channels to determine what resonates most effectively with your target audience. Use A/B testing and data-driven insights to refine your approach and maximise results over time.