LinkedIn, the world`s largest professional network with more than 80 million members worldwide, announced the launch of Company Pages to help businesses of all sizes attract new customers using trusted, professional product and service recommendations.
Company Pages will help bring a brand to life by showcasing standout products and services on LinkedIn, an environment where millions of professionals turn to their networks for help making critical business decisions every day. By making it easy for customers and employees to become brand ambassadors, the feature will help grow a company’s business through word-of-mouth, the most trusted form of advertising. At the same time, business professionals can write and share such endorsements to build out their personal brands, highlight their expertise in a given field and provide additional value to their connections.
“Company Pages take product and service recommendations to another level, allowing professionals to benefit from the considered perspectives of those whom they trust and relate to the most–the people they know,” said Jeff Weiner, chief executive officer of LinkedIn. “By displaying their strongest recommendations to prospective customers and employees on LinkedIn, businesses can use Company Pages to accelerate growth and trust in their brands.”
Tens of millions of professionals follow more than a million companies on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on new developments and opportunities. Company Pages makes it easier for businesses to engage with these professionals by serving as a dynamic, content-rich profile of record. In addition to product and service endorsements, businesses can display videos, featured product information and targeted ads on their Company Pages to drive sales and interaction. Company Pages are powered by LinkedIn’s new InPages platform, which in addition to enabling businesses to highlight product and service recommendations, allow them to spotlight star employees on their LinkedIn Careers tabs.
“Businesses in India increasingly want to participate in conversations on behalf of their brands by leveraging the power of networks to engage with consumers,” said Hari V Krishnan, country manager, LinkedIn India. “Company Pages provide this opportunity to speak directly with more than 7 million Indian LinkedIn members and 80 million LinkedIn members globally. This allows for viral distribution of information and opinions on products and brands allowing professionals and businesses to gain insights, while providing direction to their conversations.”
Announced at LinkedIn Connect:10 in New York, LinkedIn’s annual marketing and advertising customer summit, several charter customers have already launched Company Pages to showcase their products and recommendations; including companies based in India like Volkswagen India, Spear Logistics and Indus Net Technologies.
Commenting on being one of the very first corporate houses to use the LinkedIn Company Pages in India, Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing and PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt. Ltd. said, “While the online and digital medium has become a powerful tool of communication it is important to be able to address the relevant audience to ensure effective communication. With our initiative with LinkedIn we are confident of not only being able to successfully communicate with the professional members but also engage them with the Volkswagen Brand.”
