5 Mobile Social Media Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

#1: Connect With Prospects On LinkedIn Mobile

The LinkedIn mobile app brings a streamlined version of the desktop site to your smartphone or other mobile device. You’ll have access to all the key LinkedIn features, including updates, your profile, messages and groups.

An example of the LinkedIn home screen on a smartphone.

From your LinkedIn home page, tap on your profile photo to access your profile screen to see who has viewed your profile recently. If someone has viewed your profile, it’s a good indication that they might be interested in hearing from you.

With the mobile app, you can reach out to them from your phone or tablet. Justtap on their profile photo and say hello to them via LinkedIn.

Allowing the app to send you push notifications is a great way to stay in touch with your LinkedIn connections, even when you’re away from your desktop computer.

#2: Build Your Brand on Instagram

Many people think of Instagram as nothing more than a photo-sharing app for personal use, but you can also use it to promote your corporate or personal brand.

In addition to sharing photos of his own travels, Dave Kerpen, author of Likeable Business and CEO of Likeable Media, uses Instagram to build brand awareness by posting pictures of the Likeable foam hand at baseball games around the country.

A picture of the Likeable foam hand from Dave Kerpen’s Instagram feed.

Shelly Kramer, founder of integrated marketing firm V3 uses humor to extend her brand’s personality when she shares Instagram photos with her clients and followers.

Shelly Kramer posted “More evidence of my really bad, terrible, horrible day.”

When you post images from your mobile device to Instagram it can help youform a strong connection with your audience and build a visual representation of your brand. Consider using similar tactics to promote your brand and build awareness through this popular social platform.

#3: Use Promoted Tweets to Target Mobile Users

Did you know that 55% of users who log into Twitter every month do so at least once using a mobile device? You can reach these people by using Promoted Tweets todisplay your tweet to users who access Twitter from a mobile device.

Sprint uses promoted Tweets to capture the attention of potential customers who are using Twitter from their smartphones with a tweet that offers $100 to people who switch to Sprint as their mobile carrier.

Sprint’s Promoted Tweet is surfaced only to users viewing Twitter on a mobile device.

Mobile targeting on Twitter will let you tailor tweets to appeal to prospects and customers who use smartphones. You’ll want to keep this tactic in mind as mobile usage continues to grow.

#4: Drive Traffic to Mobile Sites With Facebook’s Promoted Posts

Unlike Facebook Ads or Sponsored Stories, which display in the right sidebar,Promoted Posts are visible to mobile users because they display in the Facebook news feed.

Below is an example of a Promoted Post that drives traffic to a landing page on the company’s mobile website. The image on the left shows an ad that’s integrated into a user’s Facebook stream. The ad drives prospects and customers to a landing page on the company’s mobile website, as shown in the image on the right.

Use Facebook’s Promoted Posts to show ads in the news feeds of mobile users.

Retailers, e-commerce sites, mobile app developers and traditional businesses have all used Facebook’s native advertising to acquire new customers cost-effectively.

#5: Use a QR Code to Increase Your Social Audience

Research indicates that 27% of all smartphone owners have scanned a QR code. And, while QR codes aren’t going to be around forever, they’re still a great way toconnect with people using social media on their mobile devices.

Use a QR code to grow your Twitter audience.

Here’s a simple technique you can use to get more Twitter followers using QR codes. Copy the URL and visit Mobile-Barcodes. Paste the URL into the QR code generator and hit Submit. Instantly, you’ll have your very own QR code, which can be saved to your desktop.

Now you can add the QR code to any printed materials—business cards, brochures, posters, even T-shirts. People who scan the QR code will be driven to your Twitter page, where they can follow you from their mobile device.

Go on, grab your smartphone and scan the code.s

5 Tips for Optimizing Your LinkedIn Company Page

Do you have a LinkedIn Company page?

Have you employed the newly designed look and features?

If you haven’t created a LinkedIn Company Page, now is the time to do so.

The new layout makes it easier for people to find, follow and engage with your Company Page.

Here are the new design updates and features that you can take advantage of on your Company Page.

#1: Banner Images

Bring your Page to life! Add a banner image to the top of your LinkedIn Company Page.

Social Media Examiner's LinkedIn Company Page banner.

The default landing tab for your Company Page is the Home tab. Your banner image will show up at the top of this tab.

This is very similar to the Facebook Cover Image that you are able to utilize on your Facebook Business Page, although the image size is different. The size of the LinkedIn Company Page banner image should be 646 x 220 pixels.

Use the banner space to illustrate and extend your unique branding and messaging.

Note that you will not be able to place a clickable URL behind your primary banner image.

Sprout Social's LinkedIn Company Page banner.

Don’t be afraid to make your banner image eye-popping or attention-grabbing! This is an opportunity to earn new followers for your Page.

Without collecting followers, any updates you post to the Page most likely will not be seen.

LinkedIn has stated that you only need 100-200 followers for your Company Page to reach the tipping point to start making an impact and driving engagement. That’s great news!

The “About” section of your Company Page has been moved down to the bottom of the page. Still, it’s a good idea to review this area and make sure it’s up to date.

The "About" section now sits at the bottom of your LinkedIn Company Page Home tab.

In the Specialties section of your company description, you will want to use relevant keywords for your company so you’ll be found in LinkedIn searches.

Take full advantage of the Home tab and maximize all of the features here!

#2: Career and Products Now Featured on Home Tab

Rather than burying information about your company’s products and services or careers, there are now sidebar spaces on the Home tab that feature these sections of your LinkedIn Company Page. This makes it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for on your Page.

Dell's LinkedIn Company Page sidebar.

If you are not utilizing the Careers tab section of your Company Page, you will see a default image of your logo icon and some default text that says “Learn more about our company and culture.”

For the Products and Services section in the sidebar, the first product that you’ve created in the Products and Services section of the Company Page will be featured here. Make sure your first product is the primary product you want featured.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with the products or services that you create. Think outside of the box. They don’t have to be products and services that you offer in the traditional sense.

Rather, you could showcase free downloads or special reports, a free assessment or even a conference or event on your Products and Services tab.

Showcase interesting offers from your company under the Products/Services tab.

The goal is to get your Company Page visitors interested in learning more about how you can help them accomplish their goals! Showcasing unique content in this tab will drive engagement and potentially encourage recommendations for your business.

#3: Product Recommendations More Prominently Featured

There’s one major update on the Products tab of your Company Page.  Product recommendations are more prominently featured in the sidebar! Any visitor to this area of your Page can see who in their network is endorsing your products or services.

These recommendations are extremely valuable and are a display of social proof. We’re influenced by what our peers and network connections recommend.

Ask for Product/Service recommendations, which are now prominently featured.

The best way to get recommendations for your products and services is to ASK!

Consider running a campaign and reach out to existing clients, customers, partners and vendors and ask them to provide a recommendation.

You might also ask their permission to showcase these same recommendations on your website or blog.

#4: Featured and Targeted Updates

The updates you share to your LinkedIn Company Page are now going to be front and center on the main Home tab. Images from your updates will be larger and more visible as well!

Given that updates are going to be highly visible, you will want to make your updates valuable, relevant and interesting!

Use images to make your LinkedIn Company Page updates more visible and engaging.

When you post an update, you will need to copy/paste your link to the specific article and LinkedIn will pull in the image and post for you. From there you can edit and publish.

Keep in mind that you can delete the URL that you pasted into the update after LinkedIn pulls it in. This will keep your update looking more clean and concise.

You can delete the URL from your status update once the content has been pulled in.

Don’t forget to customize the text in your update and ask a question or ask for feedback to drive engagement!

You can also post your events here and even create polls to share with your followers.

To achieve the best opportunity for engagement, I recommend that you post your company status updates manually rather than by relying on third-party applications.

Another new aspect of sharing updates to your Page is the ability to feature an update and move it to the top of your Home page. This is very similar to the way you can highlight or pin a featured post on your Facebook Business Page.

Feature select updates at the top of your LinkedIn Company Page.

New targeting options for your updates are also available. In other words, you candecide which groups of followers you would like to target with each specific Company Page update.

Target your LinkedIn Company Page updates to a specific segment of your followers.

Remember to review how your updates are performing. After 24 hours, LinkedIn will show you impressions and engagement for each of your Company Page updates. In some cases, these updates can perform better than running paid advertising on the network!

Consider featuring posts at the top of your Home page that have received good engagement from your Company Page followers.

Feature updates that your followers have engaged with.

#5: Visibility on Mobile Apps

Last but certainly not least, LinkedIn has added Company Page visibility to its mobile applications and to the iPad specifically.

LinkedIn Mobile Apps feature Company Pages.

You can view Company Pages that you follow; find and follow additional Company Pages; see how you’re connected to the company through your network; and view job openings, the latest Company Page updates and suggested or similar companies to follow—all from within LinkedIn mobile apps!

At this time you cannot update your LinkedIn Company Page from any of the mobile apps. However, just by building out your Company Page, you can become visible and valuable to employees, clients, customers, partners, vendors and prospects anywhere and everywhere!

Clearly LinkedIn is focused on providing companies, brands and small businesses an opportunity to tell their stories and engage with customers and advocates through Company Pages.

Take full advantage of the ability to extend your brand and achieve greater visibility,as well as add value to your industry and marketplace.

Not only can you benefit from within the LinkedIn network, but your LinkedIn Company Page will also create a valuable search result for your company. Any positive link and gateway to your brand online is a positive for your business!

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