Creating A Value-Added Corporate Presence On LinkedIn

The Challenge

In 2012, a Top-25 specialty insurance company reached out to The Friedman Group for guidance on how to use LinkedIn to enhance their name recognition and business development efforts. The firm had more than 500 brokers in offices around the country and in several other countries, so it was important all their representatives had robust LinkedIn profiles that presented a consistent brand message.

The Solution

As a first step, we overhauled and optimized the firm’s own LinkedIn Company Page, incorporating critical keywords in the messaging and taking advantage of all of LinkedIn’s features—including its use as a recruiting tool.

Next, we created a few sentences of a branded profile Summary section template and a detailed guidance document regarding best practices for completing one's LinkedIn profile and company messaging that the brokers could use to draft the key sections of their profiles.

In collaboration with the firm’s internal marketing staff, we developed a top-down communication strategy for the project to help drive urgency within the offices and practice area teams. After the program guidance and materials were distributed, we followed up with brief calls with teams and individuals.

I really had my doubts about this LinkedIn initiative until I got a call out of blue from someone who found my LinkedIn profile when they were searching for someone with healthcare insurance expertise! I was even more thrilled when I closed the new business.

- Specialty Insurance Broker

As brokers completed their template drafts, we edited the content and then returned the materials to them to post. In some cases, we uploaded the information for the brokers and even established their LinkedIn accounts and wrote their entire profile.

Finally, we held a series of webinars to train the brokers on how to strategically use LinkedIn and their new profiles to share the company’s posted information and enhance their and the company’s visibility.

The Results And Path Ahead

We continue to manage the company’s LinkedIn Company Page, based on guidance and input from the marketing team. The Page now has more than 2,000 followers and the number is growing by roughly 100 followers each month. The company has grown to over 1000 brokers and we are hard at work to optimize every one of their profiles.

More important, we and the marketing staff quickly began hearing about many instances where brokers were receiving client leads and closing new business as a result of their LinkedIn presence and activity. We currently are working with the firm to create a process to identify and measure the ROI of the program.