Linkedin Announces Company Showcase Pages

This week LinkedIn announced the introduction of Showcase Pages, a tool that firms can use to focus attention on a particular segment or sub-brand in their company. According to Aviad Pinkovezky of LinkedIn,

“Showcase Pages are dedicated pages that allow companies to highlight different aspects of their business and build relationships with the right community. Whether it’s a brand, a business unit, or an initiative, following a Showcase Page will provide you the updates you are most interested in.”

Essentially, they are a niche Company Page that your followers can opt-in to learn more about a certain product or sub-brand. In the case of professional services firms, be they law firms, accounting firms or other such entities, this could be a particular practice group or industry segment.

How do showcase pages work?

From a technical standpoint it’s very easy to create your firm’s own Showcase Page.  There are a few simple steps you should follow:

1. Identify which of your firm’s practice areas or industry groups need a Showcase Page. (You can make up to 10 pages so choose carefully.)
2. Work with your firm’s Company Page administrator to set up the page on LinkedIn. (They just need to go to the “Edit” dropdown menu and select “Create a Showcase Page.”)
3. Once created, you can start sharing practice or industry specific content from your page such as previously created client alerts and blog posts.
4. Remember to monitor the performance of your Showcase Page through the LinkedIn analytic tools found under the Company Page area.

Here’s an example of a new Showcase Page for Microsoft’s “Office” Brand.  By comparison, below is the Microsoft Company.

Are Showcase Pages right for your firm?

Before you dive head first into making Showcase Pages, there are a number of items you should consider.

1. Do you have numerous practices or industry groups that are distinct and have very different types of buyers (e.g. Labour & Employment versus Intellectual Property)?
2. Do you have robust content from multiple internal sources for each showcase area to provide more relevant content that will flow from these pages into your followers newsfeed?
3. Do you have the resources, both from a marketing and lawyer standpoint, to maintain your Showcase Pages in addition to your Company Pages and other Social Media efforts?

It’s important to recognize that no matter how enticing it may be to use this new and admittedly very attractive tool, that not all firms will need Showcase Pages. Sometimes, it’s better not to dilute your brand especially if you are trying to focus on raising the profile of your firm and want your clients to focus on your key messages. But, if you have an established brand and have very distinct and separate practices with separate audiences, Showcase Pages are a new feature you should consider implementing.

If you’re interested in creating a Showcase Page for your firm, LinkedIn is slowly rolling them out to all users so keep an eye on your Company page to see when this option becomes available to you.

If your law or accounting firm does move in this direction, send me a link or drop a note in the comments and I’ll promote your page here.

Lynn
Fitzpatrick Foley

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