LINKEDIN MARKETING FOR AUSTRALIAN B2B
COMPANIES IN 2015

Why LinkedIn Marketing Mattered for Australian B2B Companies in 2015

LinkedIn had become an important part of the Australian B2B marketing landscape by 2015. While Facebook dominated overall Australian social media usage, LinkedIn had a distinct advantage for businesses selling professional services, technology, consulting, industrial products and other B2B offerings.

The 2015 Australian social media data showed LinkedIn was used by 28% of Australian social media users, placing it second among the major platforms behind Facebook. Research from the Content Marketing Institute and ADMA also found that 83% of Australian content marketers used LinkedIn to distribute content in 2015, while 57% considered it effective.

For B2B companies, LinkedIn offered something different from consumer-focused social networks. The platform brought professionals together in a business context, creating opportunities to build credibility, share expertise, develop relationships and remain visible during lengthy purchasing decisions.

However, effective LinkedIn marketing for Australian B2B companies required more than creating a Company Page and publishing occasional corporate announcements. Businesses needed a strategy that connected their people, content, website, sales activity and commercial objectives.

1. Define What LinkedIn Needs to Achieve

The first step in a LinkedIn strategy was deciding what the platform needed to do for the business.

Possible objectives included:

• Building brand awareness among business audiences
• Generating qualified leads
• Demonstrating industry expertise
• Supporting sales conversations
• Distributing valuable content
• Building professional relationships
• Attracting employees and industry talent
• Supporting existing customers

Each objective required a different approach. A company focused on thought leadership would need a different content strategy from a company using LinkedIn primarily for lead generation.

Defining the objective also made measurement easier. Instead of asking whether the company had gained more followers, marketers could ask whether LinkedIn was helping create awareness, engagement, enquiries or opportunities.

2. Create a Professional LinkedIn Company Page

A complete Company Page provided a central professional presence for an Australian B2B organisation.

The Page should clearly communicate what the company does, who it serves and why its expertise matters.

Important elements included:

• Accurate company name
• Professional logo and imagery
• Clear company description
• Website address
• Relevant industry information
• Company location
• Specialities and areas of expertise
• Links to useful resources

The description should focus on customer needs rather than simply listing internal capabilities. A prospective client should be able to understand the company's value without having to decode industry jargon.

3. Treat LinkedIn as a Professional Publishing Channel

LinkedIn was increasingly being used for content distribution in Australia in 2015. This was particularly relevant for B2B companies because professional buyers often needed information before they were ready to speak with a sales representative.

Useful content could answer questions that prospects were already asking.

Examples included:

• Industry guides
• Research and reports
• Expert commentary
• Practical advice
• Industry trends
• White papers
• Case studies
• Original company insights
• Answers to common customer questions

The objective was not to publish for the sake of activity. Each piece of content should help the target audience understand a problem, evaluate options or make a more informed decision.

4. Focus on Thought Leadership

B2B purchasing decisions can involve multiple stakeholders and lengthy consideration periods. In this environment, demonstrating expertise can help a company remain visible while potential customers research their options.

Thought leadership does not require a business to comment on every industry development. It means offering a useful perspective based on genuine experience and knowledge.

Australian B2B companies could develop thought leadership by publishing:

• Commentary on industry changes
• Lessons from completed projects
• Practical recommendations
• Responses to common misconceptions
• Original research
• Expert opinions
• Predictions supported by industry knowledge

Strong thought leadership should educate rather than constantly promote the company.

5. Make Employees Part of the Strategy

One of LinkedIn's strengths for B2B companies was that business relationships were built between people, not just corporate accounts.

Employees with strong professional profiles could help expand the company's reach. Directors, consultants, salespeople, technical specialists and subject matter experts could share relevant company content with their own professional networks.

This also made the business more human.

A potential client may be more interested in an experienced consultant explaining an industry problem than in a generic corporate announcement. Employees could demonstrate expertise while building their own professional credibility.

Businesses should establish clear guidelines so employees understand what they can share, how they should represent the company and how confidential information must be handled.

6. Optimise Individual LinkedIn Profiles

For B2B sales and professional services businesses, individual LinkedIn profiles could be as important as the Company Page.

A professional profile should explain:

• What the person does
• Who they help
• What areas they specialise in
• What experience they bring
• How they can be contacted

Profiles should use clear language rather than relying on internal job titles that potential customers may not understand.

Relevant experience, qualifications, projects, publications and professional achievements can help establish credibility.

7. Build the Right Professional Network

LinkedIn marketing is more valuable when a company develops connections with people who are relevant to its business objectives.

B2B companies could build relationships with:

• Existing customers
• Prospective customers
• Industry professionals
• Business partners
• Suppliers
• Professional associations
• Industry commentators
• Potential employees

The emphasis should be on relevance rather than collecting the largest possible number of connections.

A smaller network containing genuine industry relationships can be more useful than a large network with little commercial or professional relevance.

8. Use LinkedIn Groups Strategically

LinkedIn Groups provided another way for professionals to participate in industry discussions in 2015.

Groups could be useful for businesses operating in specialist markets because they allowed professionals with shared interests to exchange information and discuss relevant issues.

However, businesses needed to avoid turning groups into advertising channels.

A better approach was to:

• Answer questions
• Share useful information
• Participate in discussions
• Offer informed opinions
• Share relevant research
• Build relationships over time

When a business consistently contributes useful information, its representatives can become recognised members of the professional community.

9. Use LinkedIn to Support the B2B Sales Process

LinkedIn should not be isolated from sales activity.

Sales teams could use LinkedIn to research prospects, understand professional backgrounds, identify common connections and maintain relationships between formal sales conversations.

This was particularly useful for B2B companies with longer sales cycles.

A potential customer may not be ready to buy when first contacted. Useful LinkedIn content can help the business remain visible without repeatedly making direct sales pitches.

Sales and marketing teams should therefore agree on how LinkedIn supports the customer journey.

10. Create Content Around the B2B Buying Journey

B2B prospects often have different information requirements depending on where they are in the buying process.

This approach prevents a company's LinkedIn feed from becoming focused entirely on people who are already ready to buy.

11. Connect LinkedIn Content With Your Website

LinkedIn can generate attention, but the company website should provide the depth needed to support a B2B decision.

Useful LinkedIn posts can direct visitors towards relevant website content such as:

• Service pages
• Industry landing pages
• Research reports
• Blog articles
• Case studies
• Guides
• Contact pages

Links should take visitors to the most relevant page rather than automatically directing every visitor to the homepage.

The landing page should continue the message introduced on LinkedIn and provide a clear next step.

12. Invest in High-Quality B2B Content

Content marketing was becoming a significant part of the Australian B2B marketing mix in 2015. The Content Marketing Institute and ADMA research reported that around half of Australian marketers considered content a very significant pillar of their marketing efforts.

This created an opportunity for businesses that could produce genuinely useful material.

Good B2B content should be:

• Relevant to the target audience
• Based on real expertise
• Specific rather than generic
• Easy to understand
• Useful at a particular stage of the buying process
• Connected to a wider business objective

Quality mattered more than publishing a large volume of shallow updates.

13. Consider LinkedIn Sponsored Updates

LinkedIn had offered Sponsored Updates since 2013, giving B2B marketers another way to distribute content to professional audiences.

By 2015, LinkedIn advertising was becoming a more established option for companies wanting to reach defined professional audiences.

Sponsored content could be considered for:

• Promoting research
• Distributing valuable guides
• Supporting lead-generation campaigns
• Increasing awareness among target professionals
• Promoting industry events

Paid campaigns should be tested carefully. The objective should be to reach a relevant audience, not simply maximise impressions.

14. Measure LinkedIn Lead Generation

LinkedIn marketing should be measured against the purpose of the campaign.

Useful metrics include:

• Website visits from LinkedIn
• Content engagement
• Company Page followers
• Profile views
• Enquiries
• Lead quality
• Marketing-qualified leads
• Sales opportunities
• Conversions

A B2B company should not judge LinkedIn entirely by immediate sales. Some prospects may interact with content for months before becoming commercially active.

At the same time, businesses should avoid using long sales cycles as an excuse not to measure performance. Tracking website activity, enquiries and opportunities can provide useful evidence about the channel's contribution.

15. Integrate Marketing and Sales

One of the recurring challenges in Australian B2B marketing was connecting marketing activity with sales outcomes.

LinkedIn makes this particularly important because the platform can support both marketing and individual sales activity.

Marketing teams can create useful content while sales teams distribute relevant material during prospect conversations.

Both teams should agree on:

• Target industries
• Priority audiences
• Key messages
• Lead definitions
• Follow-up processes
• Reporting requirements

Without this alignment, LinkedIn activity can generate attention without creating a clear commercial outcome.

16. Use LinkedIn for Relationship Building

B2B marketing is fundamentally relationship-driven. LinkedIn can support relationships before, during and after a formal sales process.

Businesses can use the platform to stay informed about customers, recognise professional achievements, share useful information and maintain contact between meetings.

The objective should not be to turn every connection into an immediate sales lead.

Relationship building creates value when businesses become useful, familiar and credible to the people who may eventually need their products or services.

17. Avoid Constant Self-Promotion

One of the easiest ways to weaken a B2B LinkedIn presence is to make every update about the company.

Posts such as company announcements, awards and service promotions have a place, but they should not dominate the feed.

A more balanced approach can include:

• Industry education
• Expert opinions
• Customer-focused advice
• Research
• Relevant news
• Company achievements
• Product or service information

The guiding question should be simple: why would the target customer find this useful?

18. Make LinkedIn Content Specific to Australia

Australian B2B companies should not simply reproduce international marketing content without considering the local market.

Australian customers may face different regulations, industry conditions, business environments and commercial expectations.

Local relevance can be created by discussing:

• Australian industry developments
• Local market conditions
• Australian customer challenges
• Relevant local regulations
• Australian business events
• Local case examples
• Industry issues affecting Australian organisations

Local expertise can help a B2B business differentiate itself from international competitors publishing generic content.

19. Use LinkedIn as Part of a Wider Content Strategy

LinkedIn should not require a completely separate content engine.

A strong B2B article can become a LinkedIn update, an email resource, a sales discussion point and part of a broader website content strategy.

For example:

1. Publish a detailed article addressing a common customer problem.
2. Share the article on the company LinkedIn Page.
3. Ask relevant employees to share or discuss it with their networks.
4. Use the article during relevant sales conversations.
5. Monitor website traffic and engagement.
6. Develop follow-up content based on audience response.

This creates greater value from every substantial piece of content.

20. Keep Company and Personal Activity Consistent

Company Pages and personal profiles should support one another.

The Company Page can provide official information and distribute branded content. Employees can add personal expertise and perspective.

The result can be more natural and credible than relying entirely on corporate posts.

Employees should not all publish identical messages at exactly the same time. Personal commentary can make shared content more useful and encourage genuine professional discussion.

21. Build a Sustainable LinkedIn Publishing Schedule

Consistency matters, but B2B companies should prioritise relevance and quality.

A simple publishing plan might include:

The schedule should be realistic for the available team and resources. Publishing less often with genuinely valuable information is preferable to filling a feed with repetitive updates.

22. Track What Your Audience Responds To

LinkedIn marketing should improve over time.

Review which subjects receive meaningful engagement, which articles drive website visits and which types of content generate enquiries or conversations.

If technical guides consistently attract the right audience while generic corporate announcements receive little response, the content strategy should reflect that evidence.

Testing can also help businesses understand which topics, formats and messages resonate with their target market.

23. Create a LinkedIn Marketing Plan for 2015

A practical LinkedIn marketing plan for an Australian B2B company could follow these steps:

1. Define the target market: Identify the industries, organisations and professional roles that matter.
2. Set objectives: Decide whether the priority is awareness, authority, relationships, leads or sales support.
3. Optimise profiles: Improve the Company Page and relevant employee profiles.
4. Create content themes: Identify the questions and problems the business can address.
5. Build a publishing calendar: Plan useful content consistently.
6. Activate employees: Encourage relevant staff to participate professionally.
7. Support sales: Use content and LinkedIn relationships throughout the buying process.
8. Test paid promotion: Use Sponsored Updates where additional targeted reach makes sense.
9. Measure performance: Track engagement, traffic, leads and opportunities.
10. Improve continuously: Use results to refine the strategy.

LinkedIn Marketing Checklist for Australian B2B Companies

Conclusion

LinkedIn marketing for Australian B2B companies in 2015 was about much more than maintaining a Company Page. LinkedIn provided a professional environment where businesses could demonstrate expertise, distribute useful content, develop relationships and support longer B2B sales cycles.

The Australian market was already showing strong adoption among content marketers. With LinkedIn used by 83% of Australian content marketers surveyed in the 2015 Content Marketing in Australia research, it was clear that the platform had become an important content distribution channel.

The most effective approach was to connect LinkedIn with the rest of the marketing and sales strategy. Company Pages, employee profiles, thought leadership, website content, paid promotion and sales follow-up could work together to create a consistent professional presence.

For Australian B2B companies, the key lesson was simple: use LinkedIn to be useful before trying to be promotional. Businesses that shared genuine expertise, participated in professional conversations and measured meaningful outcomes had a stronger foundation for turning LinkedIn activity into long-term business relationships.