Following is a happening trend in the social media game, and LinkedIn is the latest service to throw in its chips. The professional social networking site recently introduced the new Follow Company button, which brands can place on their websites. It pretty much works like the same feature offered up by Twitter and Facebook as it allows visitors to click a button and easily keep up with all the updates a company publishes to LinkedIn. While some may say the social media veteran is a little late to the party, others would say better later than never.
Perks for Small Businesses
The launch of a LinkedIn follow button similar to the functionality on other popular social networks is definitely a good thing for small businesses. By implementing the button on your website or blog, you are essentially providing a convenient way for people to stay aware of the events, job opportunities, and other news related to your business. More importantly, it gives you the ability expand and increase your visibility. The fact that your updates appear in the follower’s LinkedIn news feed means more eyes on your content.
A Social Network on the Rise
LinkedIn has been quite busy over the last year. Apart from going public, a lot of that time was spent adding new features to enhance the usability of the platform. The service has experienced notable growth as well. LinkedIn currently has more than 150 million registered members, and according to research, many of them will fully embrace the Follow Company button. The firm’s very own study showed that 70% of the user base currently or would use LinkedIn to follow a specific company. Over 50% of those users said they would anticipate content from those brands showing up in their news feeds.
Adding the Company Follow Button
The LinkedIn Company Follow button can be obtained from the developers section of its official website. Don’t worry. You don’t need a developer’s skill level to add it to yours. From the appropriate page, adding the button is pretty much a simple three-step process.
1. Enter the name of your company or select it from the drop-down menu that appears after you start typing.
2. Choose (or not) count mode option. The LinkedIn Company Follow button gives you the option to choose whether you want to include a counter that displays the number of users following your page.
3. Grab the button code. The last step simply calls for you to copy a snippet of code and insert it into the appropriate section of the web page you want the button to appear on.
LinkedIn’s new Company Follow button is among the latest in several new features the social networking firm has launched in 2012. Whether it is implementing on your website or blog, this is one enhancement that can play a big hand in taking your presence to new heights.