In its simplest form, marketing communication, or MarCom, can be defined as every media or message you deploy in an effort to communicate with your respective market. In other words, it involves highly targeted interactions with prospects or customers through one or more types of media such as magazines, newspapers, radio, television and in an age where digital communications reign supreme; social media.
According to Statista, hiring solutions is one of the resources through which the professional network generates a hefty portion of its revenue. Therefore, the fact that some of the working class dismisses LinkedIn as a simple job or recruiting platform does not come as a surprise. Millions of professionals use the LinkedIn as a means to connect with other career professionals like themselves. Building a successful network means not only sharing but commenting on posts in the B2B network.
This begs the question; can comments on the social media platform be used as marketing communication as well?
Some like B2B expert Steve Maurer are proponents of such a perspective and see online interactions on LinkedIn as a means of forging meaningful business relationships –
“….LinkedIn is where my best prospects hang out.
I follow companies I’d like to work with. That way, I get their updates. When I see one that I can comment on intelligently, I do so.
If they are watching their LI feeds, they’ll see my comment. Because it’s not generic, it interests them. Often, one or more of their staff will check out my profile. I know this because I get notified when they do.
I send them an InMail, thanking them for the profile peek. I mention something about the article or their company that impresses me (homework involved!).
Then, I ask them if they would like to connect. It would be an honor for me. And lastly, in a most un-salesy manner, I let them know that if they could use my services in the future, they should feel free to contact me.And … they have”
Others however, are not so sure. While the professional network does allow people from different walks of life the chance to connect on a professional level, some professionals like John Prpich opine that hardly any messages on LinkedIn leads to full blown discussions which in turn prevents the fulfillment of business interests –
“Here’s the challenge with Linkedin, there’s very little discussion, people are interested in posting comments, often times the same comment is made. Without discussion, there’s little value in posting a comment, nothing is gained. This is why I find linkedin to be most disappointing, people thinking and saying the same things over and over again, and what’s really compelling is that there opinion can’t hold water”
Gaurav Vyas, in his comment considers comments on Linked as tools for marketing one’s brand as well –
“And also there are times when you consider the comment to be made is not that significant but it turns out that the comment which you made may bring our a new dimension to the whole discussion. So keep posting and write freely the opinions of yours.”
Others like James Edgar Johnson disagree –
“No, I consider it an attempt to aid the reader.”
While some professionals see LinkedIn as nothing more than a professional network, a majority vehemently disagree. Most of the latter claim that anything that professionals post on the social network becomes a part of their personal brands which promotes healthy brand management. Others perceive LinkedIn comments as a means to communicate with their respective markets; a perception that fully embodies the true purpose of MarCom itself.
