In its beginning years, LinkedIn used to be known as just a platform for finding a job.
As it has grown, however, it has evolved into much more than that.
LinkedIn is currently the world’s largest professional networking platform with 722 million users worldwide and over 50 million company pages. In addition to job searching, it is used for professional networking, sales lead generation, brand promotion, skill development, and more.
As a local pharmacy owner, you may not see an immediate need to have a LinkedIn profile. After all, you already have a job right?
But this social platform has capabilities that could help grow your business and line you up for new opportunities that you’ve been waiting for.
By creating a company profile for your pharmacy, you can connect with other local businesses and form relationships that lead to partnership opportunities in the future. You can also stay up to date with new developments from the pharmacy vendors whose products you use in your pharmacy.
In addition to this, you’ll form a strong brand image for potential customers who are looking you up online to see what kind of business you run. It’s important to make a good first impression wherever your customers may find you.
LinkedIn is one of the largest social media sites in the world, and it continues to grow.
Are you ready to take your business to the next level and get connected with your community?
In this post, we’ll go over requirements for creating a LinkedIn company page, steps on how to create one, and best practices for getting the most out of your profile.
Your own personal profile. In order to create a profile for your pharmacy, you’ll first need to have your own personal LinkedIn profile and list yourself as an employee at your pharmacy. If you create a new profile, it will need to be at least 7 days old before you can move to the next step. Your page needs to be at the All Star/Intermediate level – this is simply a measure of how complete your profile is and can be accomplished by filling out information about your pharmacy. Lastly, you’ll need to have multiple connections so that LinkedIn knows you’re not a robot. There is no specific amount needed, just connect with your staff members and other people you know in your community and you will be off to a great start.
A company email address. The email address listed under your personal account will need to be a unique email for your pharmacy instead of addresses like “gmail” or “hotmail”. If you do not already have a company email address, check with your domain provider for your store’s website. This is usually included with your website name, or comes at a discounted price.
Now that you have your personal account all set up, it’s time to create a profile for your pharmacy. You will be able to add other employees as admins later, but just be aware that whoever initially creates the page will be the Owner of the account.
1 – Open LinkedIn and navigate to ‘Work – Create a Company Page +’.
2 – Fill out your profile. Go through the profile and fill out as much information as you can. This includes a link to your pharmacy’s website, your company logo, a cover photo (this could be a photo of your staff or store), and a short tagline that embodies your company values and mission. Under the “About” section, you will have room for a long-form description where you can summarize your pharmacy in more detail. You can also add a call-to-action button on your page, such as a Learn More button or Contact Us button that leads to a page on your website.
3 – Promote your LinkedIn account. Now that you have a page, make sure everyone can find it easily! On your pharmacy’s website and Google My Business profile, make sure to add a button that leads to your LinkedIn profile.
4 – Invite your staff to follow your pharmacy page. Encourage your staff to create their own personal profiles if they don’t have one already, and invite them to follow your pharmacy’s page. This way, you can have an online network and give your team a chance to help support and promote your pharmacy online.
5 – Follow your business vendors. It’s also a good idea to connect with the different pharmacy vendors whose products you use in your pharmacy, such as pharmacy software or automation. PioneerRx is on LinkedIn and we share inspiring things our pharmacies are doing in their communities, clips from our Catalyst Pharmacy Podcast, industry news, helpful articles, and more.
So you create a great company page, but what’s next? How can you make the most of what LinkedIn has to offer? Below are some helpful tips and best practices:
Post weekly. It’s important to post often and keep your profile active. Companies that post once a week see a 2x increase in their engagement, so aim to post at least weekly. Some ideas are to share new things happening in your pharmacy, spotlight your staff, and shout-out other businesses in your area.
Tag people. It’s a small detail, but make sure to tag any person or business you mention in your posts. That’s how your networking grows – and it increases the chance of people liking and re-sharing your post.
Include images and video. According to LinkedIn, posts with images have twice as many comments, and posts with videos get 5x more engagements from other users. Grab people’s attention by supplementing your posts with multimedia.
Interact with local businesses. Network, network, network! This is how the opportunities begin. Use your company page to make connections with other business owners and healthcare providers in your area and interact with them on LinkedIn. This will strengthen your relationships and also give you an insight into what their company is currently doing and how you might fit into that. Also, they will be more likely to reach out to you if you already have a working relationship.
Pro tip: Connect with the business owners through your personal profile first, then invite their company page to connect with yours.
Show off what makes your pharmacy unique! And finally, your LinkedIn profile is a place for you to showcase your amazing pharmacy team and everything that you do for your community. Show potential customers a side of your pharmacy that they won’t be able to see anywhere else and engage with existing patients or business partners to stay connected.
Fine tuning your pharmacy’s LinkedIn presence is an ongoing process, but it’s easy to get started! Follow these steps to get your profile going and start exploring the ways it can bring new opportunities to your business.
