The oil and gas industry is one that is known for moving slower than other industries with the times and digital marketing is a topic which falls under that slow moving trend. Of course, nowadays, digital marketing practices in oil and gas are widely adopted, especially after the effects that the Coronavirus pandemic had on the industry around the world. Across most professional industries, LinkedIn is regarded as one of the most popular social media tools individuals and companies can use to network, recruit, and promote. Conversations on LinkedIn can be incredibly valuable and powerful, and its usage is growing ever more important in our industry. So why is it such as useful tool and how can we best use it?

LinkedIn as a marketing tool

Of LinkedIn’s 185 million members, LinkedIn’s daily active users (DAU) account for 16.2% of them, working out at around 29.97 million users that log in to the platform daily. The platform is also home to over 58 million companies. According to LinkedIn, their growth rate is at two new members joining per second. This shows just how far and wide one can connect and network on this app.

In fact, 55% of decision-makers use engaging and inspiring content to determine which organization to work with. 1 in 5 investors says it’s the best platform when you want to learn about a topic. Furthermore, LinkedIn internal data has discovered that engaged employees influence 8x more Company Page views, 4x more Company Page followers, 7x more job views, and 4x more job applications.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool which is still developing that people have now been using for years to promote their business to other business, decision makers, and future employees. A strong LinkedIn strategy can provide results organically for ones business which is hard to do on any other social app.

Why is Linkedin Useful in our industry

LinkedIn is a far more useful tool than a lot of people in our industry think it is. In a study regarding it usage in Oil and Gas, of the 275 professionals profiled within national, international and independent oil and gas companies, 37% said social media and related tools boosts productivity, 95% claimed it helped them with work flexibility and over 36% said that social media aided the ability to complete projects on time and on budget.

While marketing oil and gas services may seem overwhelming, its importance cannot be overstated. It’s so important that 97% of marketers are using social media and 78% of oil & gas salespeople outsell their peers by using social media for their business. Plus, its benefits extend far beyond increasing sales.

LinkedIn can be used to engage with your current clients, find new ones, engage with your employees and find new ones, and it can also be used as a way to grow a community around certain topics or ideas your business has. In our industry, with more and more SSE employees and a growing amount of working from home, utilising both the free and paid for aspects of LinkedIn can allow a company or an individual to develop their brand and promote it further than they could before.

How can you best use it?

          There are a variety of useful and effective ways to use LinkedIn as a tool to connect and promote your Oil and Gas business.

Thought Leadership: One of LinkedIn’s most underutilized features is the “LinkedIn Status Update” in your LinkedIn Profile. This is one of the best ways to stay in front of your target audience on a consistent basis. And when used correctly, these little messages pack a big punch.

Longer messages and posts which ask questions from the audience, produce polls people can interact with, or provoke thought are some of the most engaged with pieces of content on the site. In an industry where there is a lot of regulation, and standardized way of working, being a thought leader and inspiring new ways of thinking or ways to think about old ways of work in a new way goes a long way in growing your following and impressing new visitors on LinkedIn.

Recruitment: On LinkedIn, you can find active groups in the field you are recruiting for. Post jobs in the feeds here if it’s allowed in the group rules! You can also look at talent in similar roles to the one you are hiring for. Along the same lines, talent can discreetly mark that they are open to new roles. This makes your job easier!

Utilising the paid features of LinkedIns recruitment marketing and having a person or a team that will tailor your recruitment ad to fit your exact requirements can go a long way in finding that perfect person for the job.

Employee engagement: LinkedIn makes it easier to engage with your employees and build an online community with them where they can interact with the company, receive updates on jobs, congratulate each other on promotions, posts, and achievements, as well as giving the opportunity to recommend employees and their skills. This is an easy way to market your company as one who cares for its employees and to connect with them on a regular basis.

We hope you enjoyed this blog about LinkedIn and the Oil and Gas industry. Why don’t you pop over to our account and let us know how we are doing?