LinkedIn Marketing has become an extremely important business tool. Besides LinkedIn being the favoured B2B platform, it can be used to generate leads, differentiate your company from its competitors, and profile your business as a preferred employer to potential future staff members in your industry.
Turn Left Media, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions’ exclusive partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, has collated a list of South Africa’s most followed pages in 2021:
Sasol, Job Mail, CNBC Africa, Careers24, Standard Bank Group, UNISA, SAB, ABSA, Capitec Bank and MTN.
“These companies represent a broad range of industries, and each has its own unique strategy to stand out on LinkedIn,” says Marius Greeff, Founder and Director of Turn Left Media. “They are already well-known brands and would naturally attract followers but even so, these companies have used clever tactics to grow their Page followers.”
While followers, and follower growth alone, is not a general measure of success for most brands, followers continue to provide an organic community of people who’ve put up their hands and said “Yes, I’d like to learn and engage with your business”, and who are generally more receptive to receiving, and engaging with a company’s brand.
A key insight is that all 10 produce a mass of first-party content. Without this, it is difficult to build a successful LinkedIn Page with a robust community of active followers. Marius acknowledges that not every organisation has the capacity to generate and create large volumes of original content that their followers can engage with.
His advice to smaller companies is to identify and selectively share relevant third-party content. “Posting unique, creative and innovative content daily is the best way to enhance your presence and differentiate yourself from your competitors,” Marius says, “but interspersing original content with reshared posts is very easy to do and beneficial.”
Another tip he offers is to recognise the power of the reach and authenticity of your employees. “When enthusiastic team members connect their personal profiles with your Page, and re-share your content, your brand is presented to new networks,” Greeff says. “These new audiences can rapidly grow your LinkedIn Page followers.” He recommends actively looking for and resharing employee posts using LinkedIn’s Content Suggestions feature.
WHAT SA’S MOST FOLLOWED PAGES DO RIGHT ON LINKEDIN
Sasol
Sasol’s content creates awareness of the work they do in Africa, highlights employees and how important they are to the company’s success, and champions their partners in community development, suppliers and sponsorships.
Job Mail
Job Mail uses sponsored content to connect with their audience. Rarely posting on LinkedIn, they still have a big following and are one of South Africa’s biggest recruiters.
CNBC Africa
With a focus on quality African business-related news content, thought leadership and local summits, CNBC Africa posts in a variety of formats from still images to short videos.
Careers24
Careers24 posts content every day, from job ads to relevant articles. Sponsored content also plays a significant role for them on LinkedIn. This sets them apart from other recruitment agencies.
Standard Bank Group
Standard Bank delivers engaging content with vibrant images and videos at least five to ten times a week which has increased their following.
University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika
Unisa uses eye-catching still images with written content focused on education and on raising awareness of local events to deliver relevant content to their audience.
The South African Breweries
SAB uses images, videos and articles on LinkedIn to showcase their services, meet and greets, stance against gender-based violence, and to profile their employees.
ABSA
ABSA uses several different formats including eye-catching images and short videos to showcase their services. Their Empowered Women mini-series highlights ABSA women and their unique skills.
Capitec Bank
Using LinkedIn advertising to promote their services, Capitec incorporates images and statements from employees, as well as short videos showcasing banking solutions, and community outreach/activism.
MTN
LinkedIn is used to advertise MTN products, services and outreach programmes. Engagement is generated with images, short videos and articles.
Click here to view Turn Left Media’s full post on South Africa’s 10 Most Followed LinkedIn Pages. Lists for Kenya and Nigeria are also available.
