LinkedIn may be a great untapped resource for shared workspace operators. The platform is teeming with freelancers, independent professionals, remote workers and small business owners.
Between 2003 to 2016, LinkedIn grew from 500,000 users to over 500 million members. With the recent addition of video to its offerings, LinkedIn is attracting new audiences and has renewed relevance in the workplace industry. Here are eight tips for using LinkedIn to promote your shared workspace.
1. Create a Company Page
It’s important to create a LinkedIn Company Page that’s separate from your personal LinkedIn profile. With a Company Page you can put your brand front and center and invite team members to share updates and posts. This doesn’t mean you can’t promote your space from your personal profile — you can and should. It simply gives people a way to distinctly connect with, and follow, your company.
ProTip: Be sure to optimize your Company Page for SEO. Brainstorm terms users may be searching for and include those in your copy. For instance, if you run a coworking space in Phoenix, include the terms “Phoenix freelancers,” “Phoenix entrepreneurs,” “office rental in Phoenix,” etc., in your description.
2. Post Regularly
As with all social media platforms, consistency is the name of the game. You won’t get much traction for your workspace if you’re only posting once every month or two. LinkedIn pros regularly share status updates, interesting articles, tips, news, links to their own products and services, questions, insights and more.
3. Publish Original Content
LinkedIn enables users to publish content directly to their personal profile. The LinkedIn publishing experience is simple, clean and intuitive — everything you want from a publishing tool.
You can write new posts specifically for LinkedIn or republish posts from your coworking blog. The beauty of this is that LinkedIn prioritizes content published on its platform and pushes notifications about new posts to your connections and followers.
4. Curate Industry News
LinkedIn is a goldmine of shared workspace news, insights and articles. Follow industry thought-leaders and insiders on the platform and share interesting articles and posts from them. By doing so, you’ll keep your finger on the pulse of the industry and establish yourself as an industry expert.
5. Participate in LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn is massive and it can feel overwhelming for those not familiar with the layout, norms and navigation. LinkedIn Groups give users a place to talk about topics that most interest them. As the LinkedIn website explains:
“LinkedIn Groups provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content, find answers, post and view jobs, make business contacts, and establish themselves as industry experts.”
To connect with potential members through LinkedIn Groups, search for local groups of freelancers, entrepreneurs, remote workers, small business owners, coworking spaces, shared workspace, etc.
Remember to add value to group conversations — don’t spam them with promotional material and links. As with all online forums, groups are places for human discussions, resources sharing, question asking and answering, and general engagement. Use LinkedIn Groups to establish yourself as a valuable resource for your ideal customer, not to market your space or products.
6. Use Showcase Pages
An underappreciated aspect of LinkedIn is the Showcase Pages option. Showcase Pages are an extension of your company page, but they let you showcase one aspect of your brand. For instance, a software design company might have a Showcase Page for each of its major brands.
Shared workspace operators can use Showcase Pages to promote offerings and build community. This can be done around special events or regular gatherings in your space, such as accountability groups, workshops, lunch and learns, or regular networking events.
7. Test LinkedIn Advertising
LinkedIn offers two ways to target your ideal customer: through sponsored content and text ads. As LinkedIn advertising is still emerging as a marketing tool, you can boost posts and place ads on the platform relatively inexpensively.
8. Shake It Up
LinkedIn offers a lot of ways to connect and share. Shake up your approach to using the platform. Try text status updates, share photos, add a video, publish original posts, experiment with ads. See what works for you and your shared workspace and go from there.
Bonus: Liz Elam, executive producer of the Global Coworking Unconference Conference (GCUC) uses her personal LinkedIn profile to promote her coworking space, Link Coworking, and GCUC, as well as to strengthen her own brand.
As Elam explains, she gets “really solid connections” through LinkedIn, with people reaching out to her from all over the world. Some of the posts she published on LinkedIn got thousands of views. Here are her top three tips for promoting your workspace on LinkedIn:
- Write articles from the heart and publish them on LinkedIn: “The only time anything ever goes viral,” Elam says, “is when it’s authentic and real and comes from a heartfelt place. It always shows through.”
- Seek out people you admire and connect with them: After reading an article on LinkedIn that she liked, Elam reached out to the author, who turned out to be the head of NAIOP, a large commercial real estate organization. She introduced herself and her work, they had a conversation, she invited him to GCUC, he attended the conference, and now they’re looking for ways they can work more together.
- Look at your analytics: LinkedIn Analytics is a powerful tool to help you understand who your audience is, where they are, and what they’re interested in hearing about. Don’t overlook this valuable resource.
