Recently, LinkedIn announced that it would be removing the Products & Services tab from all LinkedIn Company Pages effective April 14, 2014. The response to this change has been mostly negative from marketers who have invested heavily in the feature. As is the case with most social network features, change is the norm and not the exception.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure the transition is smooth:
Archive and Redistribute Recommendations
Perhaps the most significant casualty of this change is the loss of user recommendations housed on the Products & Services tab. Previously, users could post a written recommendation of the product(s) found on a company page. Unfortunately, this powerful form of social proof is now gone.
If you didn't manually archive your recommendations before April 14th, you can submit a request to LinkedIn to have them sent to you. Administrators have until May 30th, 2014 to submit a request.
Consider reposting these testimonials on your website or other marketing collateral. Be sure to reach out to your supporters directly and request their permission first. You might even ask them to repost their recommendations elsewhere online (perhaps if your company is listed in another directory that accepts reviews).
Beef Up Your Company Page and Start Posting Frequently
With this update, your company homepage will take center stage - it needs to look its best.
Be sure to fill out all profile fields completely, add Company Specialties and list a few Featured Groups. Consider adding some of the copy from your now defunct product page.
Post articles from your blog and other useful links or updates frequently will keep your brand in your follower's newsfeeds and may even generate some referral traffic to your website.
Consider Creating a Showcase Page
Showcase Pages are a relatively new feature designed to replace a product tab listing. They look and function very similar to core company pages, but with a few more limitations. Showcase Pages only allow a 200-character description and do not support embedded video or employee listings, for example.
Given that Showcase Pages are nested beneath your main product page and require you to start from scratch in terms of building a new following, it's clear that they are best suited for individual product or service lines or sub-brands. Organizations with only one offering may find Showcase Pages to be redundant.
In this case, however, there is an opportunity to segment audiences and tailor status updates. For example, you could keep one customer-centric and the other prospect-centric.
Note: a Showcase Page cannot have the same name as your Company Page.
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