Engage with Your Audience Directly: Pages Messaging Has Arrived

One of the top requests we’ve heard from marketers and business owners on LinkedIn is for more ways to connect with your audience directly as a brand. With Pages Messaging, organizations now have the ability to engage in 1:1 member-initiated conversations through a dedicated inbox.

This exciting capability is rolling out to all LinkedIn Pages starting this week. Read on to learn everything you need to know about how you can fully take advantage and build your brand community.

What is Pages Messaging?

Pages Messaging is a feature that organizations can activate on their LinkedIn Page, enabling members to click a Message button and communicate directly with the Page. It’s now easy for job candidates, customers and prospects to reach out and start a direct conversation with your brand.

To support this launch, we’re also excited to announce the first six API integrations with Bird CRM, Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Oktopost, Sprinklr, and Zoho. Integrating with one of these partner solutions for messaging capabilities will help bolster admins who may already be using one of these platforms. Admins can now manage their messaging at scale through specialized solutions with an API integration with one of these partners. 

How does Pages Messaging work?

The messaging feature for LinkedIn Pages can be enabled or disabled through your “Inbox Settings” from your admin view. When active, a “Message” button will appear near the top of your organization’s Page, enabling members to easily reach out for a variety of reasons. They can select from a dropdown such as requesting a demo, inquiring about a job posting, or support. 

When your LinkedIn Page receives a message, you’ll get a notification, and you’ll be able to view the message in a dedicated Pages inbox. Note that you must have super or content admin level access in order to see and reply to messages. Currently, admins can only respond to a message to a member if that person messages the Page first.

When setting up your inbox, you can configure different conversation topics to convey the lines of inquiry your LinkedIn Page is open to receiving. These include service/demo requests, customer support, or job inquiry/careers.

Why is this feature valuable for brands?

It’s clear that people want today’s brands to be more accessible and interactive. A recent study found that 93% of consumers “desire brands to demonstrate their responsiveness.” By turning on Pages Messaging, you can answer the call for a variety of folks in your audience, who may have different motivations for reaching out. 

Brands and marketers continue to be laser-focused on building online communities. LinkedIn is committed to providing you with the tools and technology to carve out your own community in the world’s largest online professional network. Pages Messaging helps brands build relationships on LinkedIn.

Best practices for Pages Messaging on LinkedIn

Here are a few tips to make sure you are getting the most out of LinkedIn Pages Messaging as a way to connect with your most valuable audience.

• Let people know! Once you’ve enabled messaging on your Page, share an update or two giving your followers a heads-up, and highlight some of the topics you’re eager to hear from them about. 
• Think strategically about the people at your company who are assigned to super or content admin roles, and their ability to effectively manage these conversations. For example, if you’re inviting job seekers to reach out, it makes sense to have a specialist from the hiring or talent side involved.
• Try to respond to incoming messages as quickly as you can. It could mean helping someone before a competitor has the chance. As CX expert Shep Hyken emphasizes, “Customers don’t want to wait.” We’ll also display a response time to help members understand when they can expect to hear back from Pages. 
• Use the messaging capability as a CTA within your LinkedIn Page copy. If you focus a lot on company culture and employer brand in the content, remind readers that they can reach out to learn about open roles.
• Take advantage of our API integrations. Using Pages Messaging through partner solutions like Bird CRM, Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Oktopost, Sprinklr, and Zoho helps you incorporate the capability seamlessly into your social media marketing strategy.
  

Ready to take your brand’s LinkedIn presence to the next level? Turn on Pages Messaging by going to the admin view of your Page, or learn more about Pages Messaging by visiting our website.